What is Excel?

Excel is an online spreadsheet service provided through office 365. It allows you to:

  • Work with Large Scale Datasets, ranging from cleaning through visualization and analysis

  • Automate Complex and Tedious Processes. Excel allows you to perform complex calculations and work with automative coding languages.

  • Collaborate on Large Projects with ease through using the microsoft suite.

Note: Excel is a Paywalled Software. You can use Google Sheets as a open access replacement if needed. The majority of this guides material will be useful for either software.

Why learn Excel?

Excel is a multi-disciplinary software.

  • It’s Connections Through Office 365 make it effective to use across organizations.

  • It is Accessible and Easily Usable with other software’s & coding languages

  • Excel Offers Learning Experiences for script writing, data management, and SQL logic.

  • Excel is Widely Used Within Diverse Workforce’s, making learning it a great for career development.

Resources for Learning Excel

In addition to these guides, there are many CSU courses and free resources available for learning Excel.

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Here are some of the free resources available organized by category.

Applied / Domain-Specific Resources

Resource Author / Provider Best for (goal) Level
Excel Functions: Complete List by Category Spreadsheet Planet Learning about different types of excel functions Beginner
Kawser Ahmed Excel Demy Understanding how to write VBA Code Intermediate
Summary of “Data Organization in Spreadsheets” (Broman and Woo, 2018) Broman and Woo Understanding good data organization habits New to Programming

Online Courses / Structured Learning Paths

Resource Author / Provider Best for (goal) Level
Code Academy: Analyze Data with Microsoft Excel Code Academy Learning how to visualize and analyze data in excel spreadsheets Beginner

Video Courses / Structured Learning Paths

Resource Author / Provider Best for (goal) Level
Udemy: The Ultimate Excel Programmer Course Udemy Learning to write VBA Code, functions, loops, and other coding applications in Excel Advanced
Next: Excel Fundamentals »