Data Smart, 2nd Edition

1Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Spreadsheets but Were Too Afraid to Ask

This book assumes you have some experience working with spreadsheets. You won't need to be a spreadsheet expert, but if this is your first-time opening Excel, you might find this chapter a bit challenging. If that's you, I would recommend pairing this chapter with a For Dummies book or a beginner-level online class.

Even so, what follows in this chapter might still surprise the most seasoned, self-professed Excel pros. So, regardless of your Excel experience, this chapter should not be skipped! In the following pages, we'll describe a wide variety of Excel features that we'll use throughout the book.

Before moving forward, let's talk about the different versions of Excel out there and how they might affect you. First, everything in this book will work seamlessly in Excel 365 and Excel 2016 and beyond for Windows.

This book is going to use Excel 365 desktop for Windows. Excel 365 generally represents the latest versions of Excel, to which Microsoft pushes monthly updates. Some institutions still use enterprise versions of Excel such as Excel 2016 and Excel 2019. These versions will work, too. To ensure you are using the latest version of Excel, call the IT department at your school or your office and let them know you'd like to get the latest build. They'll know what you mean.

The story for Mac is a bit different. If you're on a Mac, some of keystrokes will be different. There are different icons ...