{"id":168546,"date":"2021-05-28T09:41:32","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T07:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=168546"},"modified":"2025-07-01T21:05:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T04:05:30","slug":"how-to-use-microsoft-excel-in-4-basic-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/how-to-use-microsoft-excel-in-4-basic-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Microsoft Excel In 4 Basic Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Excel forms part of the Microsoft suite and allows you to store, organize and analyze data on your Windows <\/a>or Mac<\/a>. Excel has built-in features such as formulas, charts, and more which makes working with data much easier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you haven\u2019t used Excel before, it might be intimidating at first. However, if you follow this guide, you can familiarize yourself with the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. Understand the Excel Ribbon and Bottom Controls<\/h2>\"How

    When you\u2019ve launched the program and started a blank project, you will be directed to the <\/span>Excel<\/span> spreadsheet<\/span>. At the top of the screen, you will see the ribbon, which houses all the controls and functions you can use, such as inserting graphs, changing the format, and more. At the bottom are controls to switch between different <\/span>spreadsheets<\/span> within the same workbook or project. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  2. Basic Grid<\/h2>\"How

    When looking at your <\/span>spreadsheet<\/span> you will see a grid, the blocks in the grid are referred to as <\/span>cells<\/span>. The <\/span>cells<\/span> each have an individual name that is identified by the X (top) and Y (left) coordinates. These coordinates will be A1 (for the first cell) and so on.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  3. Formatting Cells<\/h2>\"How

    Formatting options include changing the font and font size, making text appear in bold, or italic, or underlined, and more. These are found in the ribbon of <\/span>Excel<\/span>. One of the more useful formatting features is the ability to merge two or more <\/span>cells<\/span> to form only one cell. You can do this by selecting the <\/span>cells<\/span> you want to merge, and then under \u2018Alignment\u2019 in the ribbon, choose the merge dropdown list and choose the appropriate option.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  4. Performing Simple Calculations in Excel<\/h2>\"How

    Click on the <\/span>cell<\/span> you want to add a <\/span>formula<\/span> to and type in \u2018=\u2019 to start the <\/span>formula<\/span>. Now you can simply type your equation and click on the <\/span>cell<\/span> to use that cell’s value. Alternatively, a list of options will pop up that you can use, hover over the options to see what they are if you are unsure. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/li><\/ol><\/div>