Excel education

Do you have datasets to work with?

If you do, I'd just suggest figuring out how functions work. VLOOKUP, SUM functions (SIMIF and SUMIFS), COUNT (COUNTIF and COUNTIFS), MAX, MIN and IF statements. Then learn how to nest functions inside of other functions. I made a career out of those statements alone for 10 years. Not high level career, but it carried me for years until I got into IT.

Most of my peers used pivot tables, but I never jacked with those things. I was able to get the data I needed without relying on pivot tables. Pivot tables essentially do the functions you need without knowing the formulas, but there is more value in learning the functions IMO.

As far as learning resources, I don't particularly have any for Excel specifically. Everything I did was learned on the fly working with data. I have used a few IT tutorials on UDEMY and got value out of it. Their tutorial videos I've used are done by english speaking individuals and the series that I went through did a good job of starting in the shallow end and building from there.

I spent 10 years dealing with Excel, with a lot of trial and a lot of errors. Learning how to deal with some of the functionality in excel is quite a bit frustrating but also makes life insanely easier once you learn.

What is your current level and what are your focus points?

Just formulas and formatting?

Pivot Tables and Data Analysis?

Macros and VBA Coding for routines?

If you just need help with formulas or formatting, a simple class or online tutorial can likely get you there. You’ll have to gain experience through use, and know how to be curious and search for formulas or nest them to get the result you want.

In my opinion, the best way to learn is to have a distinct project in mind. Start there and figure out what you want to do with it. Then watch videos or Google the things you don’t know how to do. For VBA, you’ll need to have a basic understanding of logic. It’s also beneficial to get copies of files to mimic or steal bits of info from.

Check out this page with suggestions

LINK https://www.websiterating.com/productivity/best-youtube-channels-to-learn-excel/

It’s got 3 of my favorites

3. MyOnlineTrainingHub
LINK https://www.youtube.com/c/MyOnlineTrainingHub/featured


7. Leila Gharani
LINK https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJtUOos_MwJa_Ewii-R3cJA

8. Chandoo

LINK https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8uU_wruBMHeeRma49dtZKA

My wife makes fun of me for how much I love Excel. I am a financial planner and advisor that literally works in Excel every day, sometimes multiple hours a day.

I think someone mentioned VLOOKUP. My only recommendation is to use XLOOKUP instead. I haven't had to use VLOOKUP since they came out with XLOOKUP.

But as others have said, I learned every single thing I know through YouTube and Google. Literally, I just Google what I want to accomplish, like "extract text before comma excel" and - boom - the solution is right there.

The best functionality to come out in the last couple of years are dynamic array functions: UNIQUE, FILTER, and SORT, to name a few.

Again, as others have suggested, figure out a project or use the downloadable data on the YouTube tutorials and just spend time figuring out how to do stuff. I have saved me and my colleagues literally dozens, if not hundreds of hours, because I built spreadsheets to do what we want automatically with very little effort.

Now go be a freak in the sheets!