How to Audit Someone Else’s Excel Workbook
Inherited a mystery workbook? Follow this forensic workflow to map sheets, trace formulas, expose hardcoded values, and document everything you find.
June 11, 2026
Microsoft Excel, explained simply
1,655 step-by-step tutorials, formula references, and practical guides — for every skill level, free.
Start-to-finish guides to Excel's most important skills — each one links to every tutorial you need.
Excel Formulas and Functions
Master Excel formulas from the ground up: references, the essential functions in every family, error fixes, named ranges, and dynamic arrays.
Excel Cell References and Ranges
Master every Excel lookup method—VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, INDEX MATCH, multi-criteria lookups, cross-sheet pulls, and #N/A fixes—in one definitive guide.
Excel Charts and Graphs
Master Excel charts from data selection to combo charts, trendlines, and pivot charts. One guide covering every chart skill, with fixes for common problems.
Excel Date and Time Functions
Master Excel dates and times: serial numbers, formatting, DATEDIF, NETWORKDAYS, date math, durations, and fixes for text dates and regional format chaos.
Excel Data Validation and Conditional Formatting
Master Excel data validation: build dynamic and dependent drop-down lists, set number and date rules, write custom formulas, and catch bad data fast.
Working with Text
Master Excel text functions: extract with LEFT and MID, join with TEXTJOIN, clean with TRIM and SUBSTITUTE, split with TEXTSPLIT, and format with TEXT.
Excel Macros and VBA
Learn Excel macros and VBA from scratch: record macros, read and edit code, add loops and variables, run with buttons, and avoid common security traps.
Excel Data Analysis
Master personal finance in Excel: build budgets, track spending, run loan and amortization math, set savings goals, and model investments and retirement.
Pivot Tables
Master Excel pivot tables step by step: build your first report, group dates, add calculated fields and slicers, fix refresh problems, and chart results.
Inherited a mystery workbook? Follow this forensic workflow to map sheets, trace formulas, expose hardcoded values, and document everything you find.
June 11, 2026
The 25 Excel keyboard shortcuts power users rely on daily, with Windows and Mac keys, plus exactly when each one beats reaching for the mouse.
June 11, 2026
Clean imported data in Excel the right way: remove duplicates, trim spaces, fix dates and numbers stored as text, and validate — in the correct order.
June 11, 2026
Merged cells, numbers stored as text, volatile formulas — these 10 common Excel mistakes corrupt data and slow workbooks. Here is how to fix each one.
June 11, 2026
Master the 12 Excel functions that handle most real office work — lookups, conditional sums, text cleanup, and more, with copy-ready example formulas.
June 11, 2026
Stop guessing which Excel chart to use. A practical guide to 15 chart types, the data each one is built for, and the mistakes that ruin them.
June 11, 2026
Master Excel charts from data selection to combo charts, trendlines, and pivot charts. One guide covering every chart skill, with fixes for common problems.
June 11, 2026
Master Excel data validation: build dynamic and dependent drop-down lists, set number and date rules, write custom formulas, and catch bad data fast.
June 11, 2026
Quick-reference cheat sheet for Excel date functions: TODAY, DATEDIF, EOMONTH, NETWORKDAYS and more, with syntax and real examples you can copy.
June 11, 2026
Find exactly what you need, from first steps to advanced analysis.
Step-by-step guides for specific Excel tasks.
This category revisits Excel's core features, making it a great refresher for seasoned users or an ideal starting point for beginners. It covers basic operations, use of ribbons and toolbars, keyboard shortcuts, and more.
This category explores Excel's robust capabilities for working with dates and times, including performing calculations with dates, converting date formats, extracting specific parts of a date, and more.
In this category, delve into Excel's rich assortment of formulas and functions, which allows you to perform complex calculations, data analysis, automate data manipulation, and much more.
Create interactive worksheets with form controls.
This section guides you through creating and customizing various types of charts and graphs in Excel. Visualize your data and make meaningful interpretations with bar graphs, pie charts, scatter plots, and more.
Excel is a powerful tool for data analysis. This category helps you understand how to use Excel to analyze and interpret your data, using tools like pivot tables, conditional formatting, and various statistical functions.
Manage and manipulate text data in Excel.
Understand how to efficiently create, save, retrieve, and organize your Excel workbooks. Also learn about file formats, version control, and how to protect your files from unwanted changes.
This section provides a comprehensive understanding of the basic Excel operations. From entering and formatting data to basic arithmetic operations, this category lays the foundation of using Excel in an efficient manner.
Discover various techniques to manipulate and transform your data in Excel. From sorting and filtering data, to combining and splitting data in cells, this category will help you master the art of data manipulation.
Learn how to consolidate your data by linking and merging cells, worksheets, or workbooks. This category covers everything from simple cell merging to linking data across multiple Excel files.
Techniques for summarizing and analyzing data.
This category demystifies cell references and ranges, a crucial aspect of Excel. Learn about relative, absolute, and mixed references, and how to name and use ranges effectively in your formulas.
This category explores how Excel can be used in conjunction with other software, whether it's integrating Excel data with Word documents, importing data from other software, or using Excel as a data source for other platforms.
Discover how to make your spreadsheets more readable and attractive by mastering Excel's numerous formatting and visual adjustment tools. This includes cell formatting, conditional formatting, text alignment, and more.
Discover how Excel can interact with other software and platforms, including how to import and export data, convert Excel files to different formats, and seamlessly integrate Excel with other Microsoft Office applications.
In this category, learn how to set up your worksheets for printing, including adjusting margins, setting print areas, fitting worksheets on a page, and other options to ensure your printed Excel documents look their best.
This category explains how to create and use macros, which can automate repetitive tasks, and delves into Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), a powerful programming language that can take your Excel skills to the next level.
This category provides information on common Excel errors, what they mean, and how to troubleshoot them. Learn how to prevent errors in your formulas and maintain the accuracy of your calculations.
Explore how to customize your Excel environment to suit your preferences and working style. This includes changing default settings, customizing the ribbon and quick access toolbar, and adjusting Excel's appearance.
Learn about the differences and compatibility issues across various versions of Excel. This category will help you navigate and transition between different versions of Excel effectively.
Learn how to use data validation to control what data can be entered in a cell and explore conditional formatting to automatically format cells based on the values they contain. It's all about making your spreadsheet work better and look better.
Discover how to extend Excel's capabilities through various add-ins. This category covers a range of Excel add-ins, from data analysis to additional mathematical functions, that can streamline your work and enhance your productivity.
Quick tips and shortcuts for efficient Excel use.
Courses and resources for all levels of Excel proficiency.
Find Excel consultants, trainers, template providers, and tools — or list your own business in front of our readers.