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How to get started in Excel

1. Learn the basics.

While Excel has a reputation for being challenging to learn, its basic features are straightforward and user-friendly. Start with these: Get used to entering data, navigating cells and files, using formatting features, and applying basic formulas. You can also familiarize yourself with Excel's sorting and filtering features.

At this stage, people often learn by doing: Experiment with foundational features and functions, drawing on free, easily available online materials for guidance. Microsoft provides a useful beginner's guide to Excel, which can help get you started.

2. Take tutorials.

After grasping foundational skills, move into intermediate-level features like formulas, graphing and charting tools, lookup functions, and macros for automating common operations. Excel also has conditional formatting features, which allow you to highlight, display, and format specific data sets or selections.

Online tutorials can help you get to know these features, their applications, and how they work. Microsoft's Excel help and learning portal includes text-based and video tutorials that introduce these and other intermediate spreadsheet functions. You can also readily source user-generated instructional resources using your favorite search engine.

3. Practice your skills.

Mastering Excel takes time. There's a lot to learn, and many skills stack atop one another. In practice, this essentially means that higher-level proficiencies depend on your mastery of foundational skills.

The more you use your developing skills, the better you'll become and the faster you'll be ready to move to the next level. Practice regularly: You can find practice files, data sets, and Excel challenges online. These tools can help you track your progress as you master increasingly difficult tasks.

4. Level up.

When ready, move into advanced Excel skills. Examples include pivot tables, complex functions and formulas, "if" statements, data trimming, and precise data visualization tools. Professionals use these features to carry out complicated mathematical and analytical operations, prepare presentations, and automate data entry, organization, and classification tasks.

You can access free online resources, including text and video tutorials, practice data sets, and Excel challenges to guide you. However, some learners find that Excel courses and programs provide helpful structure as they move through the software's intermediate and advanced levels. In these classes, you'll also have access to expert instructors who can answer your questions.

5. Get certified.

Excel certification validates your skills to employers, and it also makes for an excellent résumé highlight. Certification signals your commitment to professional development, which is a trait many employers value.

A recognized Excel certification can give you a leg up when applying to roles involving advanced data analysis, database management, financial forecasting, and financial modeling. Excel knowledge also helps bookkeeping and accounting professionals prepare more detailed and accurate financial statements with greater ease and efficiency.

How long does it take to master Excel?

You can learn Excel fundamentals in only a few weeks. Becoming proficient in its intermediate and advanced features takes longer: Most users need several months of sustained efforts to become Excel experts.

Your mastery timeline will ultimately depend on your existing knowledge and software literacy, and your aptitude for spreadsheet editing and manipulating quantitative data. Structured programs, from standalone courses to degree programs, can help.

Timelines for these options vary as follows:

• Courses: Complete a self-paced Excel course in about eight weeks.
• Certificates: Allow around five months to complete a course sequence leading to a completion certificate.
• Executive Education: Executive education programs for working professionals typically take about 6-10 weeks to complete.
• Degree programs: Some degree programs in fields like accounting, business analytics, and data science cover Excel in their coursework. Depending on the degree level and whether you have eligible transfer credits, these programs can take four years to complete.

Jobs that use Excel

With Excel proficiency, you could apply for positions in operations, marketing, finance, or data analytics. Below are some possible roles that require Excel expertise, with salary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Administrative assistant

In this entry-level role, you'll use Excel to manage expenses, organize schedules, or compile reports.

• Required education: High school diploma or equivalent
• Median annual salary (2024): $47,460

Data analyst

A data analyst uses Excel to clean, compile, and visualize data to help inform business decisions.

• Required education: Bachelor's degree
• BLS median annual salary (2024): $112,590

Marketing research analyst

Marketing analysts use Excel to help their teams analyze campaigns, segment customer data, and develop marketing strategies.

• Required education: Bachelor's degree
• BLS median annual salary (2023): $76,950

Your next steps on edX

Mastering Excel takes time, and your journey begins when you take action. Get started today. You can:

1. Earn a professional certificate in Excel.
2. Complete an Executive Education program on edX.
3. Enroll in a bachelor's degree or master's degree program that explores Excel and its many business applications.

Last updated June 26, 2025