Microsoft Excel Training. The Ultimate List
The fastest way to get Microsoft Excel training is to combine free, structured lessons with daily hands-on practice on your own data. This guide ranks the top 20 training websites, then maps out a beginner-to-advanced roadmap, free vs. paid options, the exact topics to learn in order, and certification paths so you can build real skills without guessing where to start.
Are you looking to enhance your Microsoft Excel skills? Whether you’re a beginner seeking to learn the basics or an advanced user aiming to master complex functions, a wealth of online resources is available to cater to your needs. In this blog post, we’ve compiled a list of the top 20 Microsoft Excel Training websites, where you can find comprehensive courses and tutorials to take your Excel knowledge to the next level. From official Microsoft resources to specialized training platforms, these websites offer valuable insights and practical tips to help you become an Excel pro.
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Microsoft Excel Help Center
- Description: Official resource for learning Excel directly from Microsoft.
- What you can learn:
- Basics of Excel
- Formulas and functions
- Data analysis and visualization
- Link: Excel Training
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Coursera
- Description: Offers online courses from top universities and organizations.
- What you can learn:
- Excel for beginners to advanced users
- Data analysis with Excel
- Excel for Business Professionals
- Link: Excel Courses
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Udemy
- Description: Online learning platform with courses on a wide range of topics.
- What you can learn:
- Excel from basic to advanced levels
- Excel VBA and macros
- Business analysis using Excel
- Link: Excel Courses
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LinkedIn Learning
- Description: Professional development platform offering video courses.
- What you can learn:
- Excel essentials
- Advanced formulas and functions
- Data analysis and reporting
- Link: Excel Training and Tutorials
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edX
- Description: Non-profit online learning platform offering university-level courses.
- What you can learn:
- Introduction to Excel
- Data analysis with Excel
- Excel for business applications
- Link: Excel Courses
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Khan Academy
- Description: Non-profit educational organization offering free online courses.
- What you can learn:
- Basics of spreadsheets (Excel)
- Using formulas and functions
- Data organization and analysis
- Link: Excel Tutorials
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Excel Easy
- Description: Offers a free online tutorial to learn Excel quickly and easily.
- What you can learn:
- Excel basics
- Functions and formulas
- Charts and graphs
- Link: Excel Tutorials
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GCFGlobal
- Description: Free online learning platform offering tutorials on various subjects.
- What you can learn:
- Excel basics and interface
- Working with cells and sheets
- Formulas, functions, and charts
- Link: Excel Tutorials
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Exceljet
- Description: Provides clear, concise Excel tutorials and quick tips.
- What you can learn:
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Formulas and functions
- Tips and tricks for efficiency
- Link: Excel Training
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Chandoo
- Description: Aimed at making you awesome in Excel and Power BI.
- What you can learn:
- Dashboard reporting with Excel
- Advanced charting techniques
- Power Pivot and Power Query
- Link: Excel School
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Trump Excel
- Description: Offers practical Excel tips and tutorials.
- What you can learn:
- Excel basics and advanced features
- Data analysis and visualization
- PivotTables and dashboards
- Link: Excel Training
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MyOnlineTrainingHub
- Description: Provides online courses for Excel, Word, and Outlook.
- What you can learn:
- Excel formulas and functions
- Data analysis with Excel
- Creating dynamic reports
- Link: Excel Courses
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Excel Campus
- Description: Offers tutorials and courses to help you learn Excel.
- What you can learn:
- Excel formulas and VBA
- Data analysis techniques
- Dashboard creation and reporting
- Link: Excel Tutorials
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MrExcel
- Description: Provides Excel tips, tricks, and tutorials.
- What you can learn:
- Excel formulas and functions
- PivotTables and charting
- VBA and macros
- Link: Excel Tutorials
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Excel Exposure
- Description: Offers a comprehensive online Excel course for free.
- What you can learn:
- Mastering Excel fundamentals
- Advanced formulas and functions
- Data manipulation and analysis
- Link: Excel Lessons
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Excel Off The Grid
- Description: Provides tips, tricks, and tutorials to supercharge your Excel skills.
- What you can learn:
- Advanced Excel techniques
- Dynamic arrays and formulas
- Custom functions and macros
- Link: Excel Tutorials
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Excel University
- Description: Specializes in training accountants and finance professionals in Excel.
- What you can learn:
- Excel for accounting and finance
- Automating financial reports
- Data analysis and modeling
- Link: Excel Training
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DataCamp
- Description: Online learning platform focused on data science and analytics.
- What you can learn:
- Excel for data analysis
- Working with data in Excel
- Integrating Excel with R and Python
- Link: Excel Courses
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Pluralsight
- Description: Technology workforce development platform offering online courses.
- What you can learn:
- Excel for beginners to advanced users
- Data visualization with Excel
- Business analytics using Excel
- Link: Excel Courses
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Macquarie University
- Description: Offers a Coursera specialization focused on Excel skills for business.
- What you can learn:
- Excel fundamentals for business
- Advanced formulas and functions
- Business data analysis with Excel
- Link: Excel Skills for Business Specialization
The internet is a treasure trove of Excel training resources, and the websites listed above represent the best. Whether you’re interested in data analysis, financial modeling, or simply streamlining your workflow, these platforms offer a variety of courses to suit your learning style and objectives.
By exploring these websites and dedicating time to practice, you can unlock the full potential of Excel and enhance your productivity in both personal and professional settings.
A learning roadmap: beginner to advanced
The websites above are excellent, but a list of resources isn’t a plan. The biggest reason people stall is jumping into advanced topics before the fundamentals stick. Work through these stages in order — most learners reach a confident intermediate level in a few weeks of regular practice.
Stage 1 — Excel foundations (week 1). Learn the interface, entering and formatting data, and basic arithmetic with =, SUM, and AVERAGE. Get comfortable with rows, columns, cell references, and saving your work. The single biggest productivity jump at this stage comes from learning navigation and selection shortcuts — start with the best Excel keyboard shortcuts so you stop reaching for the mouse.
Stage 2 — Core formulas and functions (weeks 2-3). This is where Excel starts paying off. Understand relative vs. absolute references ($A$1), then learn the functions you’ll use every day. Our essential Excel functions for office workers covers the practical short list, and the complete Excel formulas guide explains how formulas actually work so you can build your own.
Stage 3 — Lookups and data cleanup (week 4). Learn to pull data from one table into another with the VLOOKUP function (and its modern replacement, XLOOKUP). Real-world data is messy, so pair this with a repeatable process for fixing it — follow our clean messy data in Excel checklist before you analyze anything.
Stage 4 — Analysis and visualization (weeks 5-6). Summarize large datasets in seconds with pivot tables, then communicate your findings with charts and graphs. Together these turn raw rows into decisions.
Stage 5 — Automation (advanced). Once the above is second nature, remove repetitive work with macros and VBA. Even recording simple macros saves hours over a year.
Free vs. paid Excel training: which should you choose?
You do not need to pay to become highly skilled in Excel. The free vs. paid decision is about structure and accountability, not whether free material is good enough.
Free training (Microsoft’s own Help Center, GCFGlobal, Excel Easy, Khan Academy, the guides on this site) is ideal if you’re self-motivated, want to learn specific tasks on demand, or are on a budget. The trade-off is that you assemble your own curriculum and there’s no formal credential.
Paid training (Coursera, Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, DataCamp) typically adds a structured path, instructor support, graded projects, and a certificate of completion. Costs range from a low one-time course fee to a monthly subscription; university specializations cost more but carry more weight on a résumé. Choose paid if you want a guided sequence, accountability, or a credential to show an employer.
A practical hybrid that works well: follow a free roadmap like the one above for day-to-day skills, then buy one well-reviewed course or a short subscription when you want a credential or a focused deep dive.
Practice tips that actually build skill
Watching tutorials creates the illusion of learning. Doing builds it. To make training stick:
- Practice on your own data. Rebuild a real spreadsheet from work or home — a budget, an expense log, a project tracker — instead of only following along with sample files.
- Learn one shortcut per day until they’re automatic. Muscle memory compounds.
- Recreate, don’t copy. After a tutorial, close it and rebuild the result from memory.
- Set a small project. A personal-finance workbook is a great first one; our Excel personal finance guide walks through budgeting and tracking with formulas you’ll reuse everywhere.
- Use the built-in help. Pressing F1 or hovering over a function reveals its arguments — train yourself to read function syntax rather than memorize it.
Excel certifications
If you want a formal credential, the main path is the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS): Excel Associate certification, with an Excel Expert level for advanced users. These are recognized by employers and tied to specific Excel versions. Many of the platforms above (Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, Udemy) also issue their own certificates of completion, and university specializations award their own credentials. A certificate helps most for job applications and career changes; for day-to-day work, demonstrable skill usually matters more than the certificate itself. Costs vary by provider, so check current pricing before enrolling.
Excel vs. Google Sheets: does the training transfer?
If your workplace uses Google Sheets, the good news is that the core concepts — cell references, formulas, lookups, pivot tables, charts — transfer almost directly, with minor differences in function names and menus. See our Excel vs. Google Sheets comparison for where they diverge so you can pick the right tool and reuse most of your training either way.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to get Microsoft Excel training?
Combine a structured curriculum with daily hands-on practice. Pick one free resource (Microsoft’s Help Center, GCFGlobal, or the roadmap in this guide) or one paid course, then immediately apply each lesson to a real spreadsheet of your own. Skills come from building, not just watching.
How can I learn Excel for free?
Plenty of high-quality free options exist: Microsoft’s official Excel Help Center, GCFGlobal, Excel Easy, Khan Academy, and the step-by-step guides on this site covering formulas, pivot tables, and more. Follow the beginner-to-advanced roadmap above and you can reach a strong level without paying anything.
How long does it take to learn Excel?
Most people learn the basics — data entry, formatting, and simple formulas — in a few days. With regular practice, you can reach a confident intermediate level (lookups, pivot tables, charts) in about four to six weeks. Advanced topics like VBA and data modeling take longer and depend on how often you use them.
Where should a complete beginner start with Excel?
Start with the interface and basic data entry, then learn the most useful keyboard shortcuts and a handful of essential functions like SUM and AVERAGE. Avoid jumping to advanced features early — a solid foundation makes everything after it far easier.
Is paid Excel training worth it?
Paid training is worth it if you want a structured path, instructor support, or a certificate for your résumé. If you’re self-motivated and on a budget, free resources cover the same skills. Many learners use a hybrid: free material for everyday skills plus one paid course or short subscription when they want a credential.
Do I need an Excel certification to get a job?
A certification like Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS): Excel Associate can strengthen a job application, especially for analyst or admin roles, but most employers value demonstrable skill more than the certificate itself. Build a portfolio of real spreadsheets you can show alongside any credential.
