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Excel Basics: Workbooks, Worksheets, and Manipulating Cell Data

New session times will be displayed below upon confirmation.

Most Technology Training classes will be delivered online until further notice.

Before each session, Tech Training will provide a Zoom link for live online classes, along with any required class materials.


This class covers several key skills and concepts new Excel users should be without. Discover the crucial basics of Excel: how to create and format spreadsheets, how to use simple formulas and functions, and much more.
 

Topics covered include:

  • How to create, save, and manage Excel workbooks.
  • The most essential Excel shortcuts for you to use.
  • How to create, rename, modify, and manage Excel worksheets.
  • Two techniques to move or copy worksheets within and between workbooks.
  • How and why to hide and unhide worksheets.
  • The best practices to enter data in Excel.
  • Intricacies of the fill-series tool to copy and fill data efficiently.
  • The magic of the FlashFill command -- one of the simplest ways to transform data.
  • Understand the power behind Excel formulas.
  • Create simple formulas with standard arithmetic operators.
  • Relative, absolute, and mixed cell references and why they are important for you to understand.
  • Get started with Excel functions - understand their "anatomy" and why they are so powerful.
  • Create formulas to summarize numbers with SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, MIN functions.
  • The subtle differences between COUNT, COUNTA, and COUNTBLANK functions.
  • How to format your spreadsheets quickly and easily.
  • Secrets of number formatting in Excel.
  • How to use Search and Replace in Excel.
  • Extremely useful tips and tricks to help you get more efficient and productive.
  • And much more.

 

Prerequisites

Participants should already have some exposure to Microsoft Office programs and should be comfortable using a computer. Ideally, participants will already be using Excel as part of their job.

Igor Ovchinnikov

Igor Ovchinnikov has been teaching software productivity classes for over 20 years. Stanford staff have enjoyed his training since around 2007. His training philosophy stems from a strong belief that learning is a perpetual cycle of new discoveries and improvement.

Custom training workshops are available for this program

Technology training sessions structured around individual or group learning objectives. Learn more about custom training


University IT Technology Training sessions are available to a wide range of participants, including Stanford University staff, faculty, students, and employees of Stanford Hospitals & Clinics, such as Stanford Health Care, Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley, Stanford Medicine Partners, and Stanford Medicine Children's Health.

Additionally, some of these programs are open to interested individuals not affiliated with Stanford, allowing for broader community engagement and learning opportunities.