Excel All-in-One For Dummies

Introduction

Excel All-in-One For Dummies brings together plain and simple information on using all aspects of Microsoft Excel. It’s designed to be of help no matter how much or how little experience you have with the program. As the preeminent spreadsheet and data analysis software for all sorts of computing devices running Windows (desktops, laptops, tablets, and even smartphones), Excel offers its users seemingly unlimited capabilities too often masked in technical jargon and obscured by explanations only a software engineer could love. On top of that, many of the publications that purport to give you the lowdown on using Excel are quite clear on how to use particular features without giving you a clue as to why you would want to go to all the trouble.

The truth is that understanding how to use the abundance of features offered by Excel is only half the battle, at best. The other half of the battle is to understand how these features can benefit you in your work; in other words, “what’s in it for you.” I have endeavored to cover both the “how to” and “so what” aspects in all my discussions of Excel features, being as clear as possible and using a minimum of tech-speak.

Fortunately, Excel is well worth the effort to get to know because it’s definitely one of the best data-processing and analysis tools that has ever come along. From let-Excel-do-all-the-work features such as Flash Fill and Analyze Data to eyebrow-raisingly powerful tools such as PivotTables and Solver, Excel ...