You’ll never know which skills you need as an office employee until you need them. Trying to navigate unfamiliar terrain could cause you to waste valuable time and energy you could focus on customers.
81% of businesses use Microsoft Office, including Word and Excel.
Instead of waiting until you need it, prepare yourself ahead of time. By learning these basic excel skills, you can save time and energy using this powerful tool.
Get ready to go from beginner to expert. By learning these five Excel skills, you can now grow your abilities to prepare for the future.
Start sharpening your skillset with these basics of Excel.
1. Sorting Data
Spreadsheets are a great place to store data. However, you might need to shift how that information is organized based on your needs. For example, if you have a contact list for 800 people, you might want to manage the data in alphabetical order or by location.
Here’s what to do:
- Highlight the entire data set (not just one column) that you want to short
- Click on the “Data” tab
- Select “Sort”
- Choose how you want to sort your data
- Click “OK”
Your data set will now display in the order of your choice.
2. Removing Duplicates
A few duplicates are bound to sneak in if you’re working on a long spreadsheet.
Trying to review the dataset by reading through it could take forever. So instead, sharpening your Excel skills can help you save time and frustration.
Here’s how to remove duplicates:
- Highlight the entire data set
- Hit the “Data” tab
- Click “Remove Duplicates”
- Select which columns you want Excel to remove duplicates from
- Hit “OK”
Now you can remove redundancies and avoid skewing your data.
3. Basic Math Functions
About 5% of all employee time is spent using Microsoft Excel.
Don’t waste time reaching for your calculator. These basic Excel skills are designed to save time and make time easier. For example, try using Excel’s basic formulas, including:
- Addition
- Subtraction
- Multiplication
- Division
You can also drag the same mathematical formula across the row to apply it to other cells.
4. Freeze Panes
Are you tired of scrolling through an endless spreadsheet, then back to the top to read the column headers? Learning these basic Excel skills can help!
You can use freeze frames to keep your column headers at the top, even as you scroll through your sheet. Here’s how to do it:
- Click on the row underneath your column headers
- Select the “View” tab
- Click the “Freeze Panes” button
Now you can scroll through the spreadsheet!
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5. Make Changes Across Worksheets
If you’re working on numerous tasks, you won’t want to waste time repeating yourself with the same changes. Instead:
- Hold the “Command” key
- Select the tabs you want to change
- Make the change to one cell
Then, check to ensure the transition is applied to your worksheets!
Begin With the Basics: 5 Basic Excel Skills You Need for Success
With these five basic Excel skills, you can save time and energy Excel! Then, you can use that time to find other ways to benefit your business.
Explore the Technology section of the blog for more tips!