Uses of MS Excel

List of Top 12 Important Uses of Microsoft Excel

There are plenty of uses of excel and list goes on but here we have listed some of the important uses of Microsoft excel to start the things for a beginner.

1. Get Quick Totals
2. Data Analysis and Interpretation
3. Plenty of Formulas to Work with Data
4. Data Organising and Restructuring
5. Data Filtering
6. Goal Seek Analysis
7. Flexible and User-Friendly
8. Online Access
9. Building Dashboards
10. Interactive Charts and Graphs
11. Dynamic Formulas
12. Automation Through Excel

Now let us discuss each of them in detail along with an Example  –

#1 – Get Quick Totals

Getting the grand total or subtotal is a common task, so excel provides a quick sum of numbers with its Auto Sum option. For example, look at the below data in excel.

We have monthly numbers above, so to get the quick total in cell B7 simply press the Auto Sum shortcut key ALT + = sign.

As you can see it has inserted SUM function in excel, hit enter key to get the result.

There you go we have a quick total of numbers above.

#2 – Data Analysis & Interpretation

The spreadsheet contains data so telling the story behind the data is what the decision-makers need to make decisions that are vital in the business world. So when the data is available with excel we can make use of MS Excels features like pivot table and formulas to quickly analyses the data and interpret the numbers quickly and efficiently.

#3 – Plenty of Formulas to Work with Data

MS Excel comes with plenty of built-in functions to work with data. There are 450+ functions in excel, so these functions are categorized as “Financial, Logical, Text, Date & Time, Lookup & Reference, Math & Trig, Statistical, Engineering, Cube, Information, and Web.

#4 – Data Organizing & Restructuring

You cannot get the data that is ready to use, so using tools of excel we can organize the data and in fact, we can reorganize the data according to the needs of the users.

#5 – Data Filtering

Using the option of Filter in Excel we can filter the particular data from the number of rows of data. Not only a single column filter can be applied but also we can apply the filter to multiple columns to match multiple criteria to filter the data.

#6 – Goal Seek Analysis

When the target is set and at a certain stage of the project we may need to review that target achievement. So using excel we can track all those things and also identify what needs to do in the remaining steps to achieve the desired goals.

#7 – Flexible and User-Friendly

When you compare MS Excel with other spreadsheets you will find MS Excel as relatively friendly and flexible enough to fit in the needs of the users. One needs to have the proper training to get start the things in excel.

#8 – Online Access

Not all the time we get he done offline, so some of the data needs to be fetched from online websites as well. We can import data from “MS Access File, Text File, From Web, From SQL Servers, From XML Data Import” etc… So getting the data to excel is not a constraint.

#9 – Building Dashboards

When the story behind the data is read to tell end users may want to see those summary results in a single page view, so using MS Excel we can build dashboards which can tell the stories in a single page view. Not only we can build a dashboard but it also makes the dashboard interactive as well.

#10 – Interactive Charts and Graphs

Charts and Graphs can attract user attention so using MS Excel we can build interactive charts and graphs to tell the story better than the summary tables alone.

#11 – Dynamic Formulas

When the excel formulas are applied we can make them dynamic so that when the data range gets addition or deletion our formulas shows the updated results instantly.

#12 – Automation Through Excel

At last, when you move to the advanced level of MS Excel you may get bored of daily routine works in excel, in that case, we can automate the reports in excel by using the VBA coding language.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to Uses of Excel. Here we discuss the top 12 important uses of Microsoft Excel that include Get Quick Totals, Data Analysis & Interpretation, Plenty of Formulas to Work with Data, Data Filtering, etc along with examples and downloadable excel template. You may learn more about excel from the following articles –

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