Excel, by what you need it for

This is the most useful formula skill: pull a matching value (like a price or name) from another sheet using a shared key. XLOOKUP is the modern way; VLOOKUP still works everywhere.

1. Click the cell where you want the answer.
2. Type =XLOOKUP( then the value to find, the column to search, and the column to return.
3. Press Enter — Excel finds the match.
4. Copy the formula down the column.

A pivot table turns a long list into a summary — totals by month, by region, by whatever you drag in — without a single formula.

1. Click any cell inside your data.
2. Choose Insert, then PivotTable, then OK.
3. Drag a field into Rows (like Region) and a number into Values (like Sales).
4. Drag another field into Columns to cross-tabulate.

Imported data is almost always messy. A few built-in tools fix the common problems fast, before they break your formulas.

1. Use TRIM to strip extra spaces, or Flash Fill to reformat a column by example.
2. Select the range, choose Data, then Remove Duplicates.
3. Use UPPER, LOWER or PROPER to fix inconsistent capitalisation.
4. Turn the cleaned range into a Table so new rows stay tidy.

Excel can suggest the right chart for your numbers, so you rarely have to guess. The key is picking a chart type that matches the story — trend, comparison or share.

1. Select the data including the headers.
2. Choose Insert, then Recommended Charts.
3. Pick a column chart for comparisons, a line for trends, a pie for shares.
4. Add a clear title and remove clutter.

A forecast is just last year's numbers plus assumptions you can change. Build it so every assumption is a cell you can tweak and watch the total move.

1. List the months across the top and the line items down the side.
2. Enter your known or estimated numbers.
3. Use a growth cell (like 5%) and multiply, so changing it updates everything.
4. Add SUM rows and a chart to see the shape.

If you do the same clicks every week, record them once and replay with a button. You do not need to write code to start.

1. Turn on the Developer tab in Options.
2. Click Record Macro and give it a name.
3. Do the task once — Excel records every step.
4. Stop recording, then run it any time from the Macros button.

They all fetch a matching value. XLOOKUP is the newest and easiest and should be your default; VLOOKUP is fine for simple, older files; INDEX/MATCH is the flexible fallback.

Sheets wins for live sharing and simple collaboration; Excel wins for big data, deep formulas, pivot power and macros. Many teams keep working files in Sheets and heavy analysis in Excel.

A pivot table is fastest for exploring and re-slicing data. Formulas (SUMIFS, etc.) are better when you need a fixed report that updates automatically and looks exactly the way you want.

Raw exports break lookups and duplicate checks because 'JOHN ' and 'John' look different to Excel.

Use PROPER to fix the capitalisation and TRIM to remove the spaces, or let Flash Fill do both by example. Then run Remove Duplicates so each record appears once. Now the data is safe to match and report on.

A dashboard is a summary plus a picture, on one screen. Do the maths with a pivot table, then show it with a chart.

Build a pivot table of sales by month and region, add a Pivot Chart, and place a couple of big number cells for the headline totals. Keep it to one page so it reads at a glance.

Yes. If the shape is the same each month and only the numbers change, you are doing work a template plus automation should do.

Build the report once with formulas and a pivot that point at a data range, then each month just paste the new data and refresh. For the fiddly steps, record a macro so one button rebuilds it.

Excel is best at turning rows of numbers into answers: calculating with formulas, cleaning and organising data, summarising it with pivots and charts, and tracking things over time.

If your question is 'what do these numbers tell me?' or 'how do I keep track of this?', Excel is usually the right tool.

A pivot table is a machine that summarises a long list. You drag the field you want to group by into one box and the number you want totalled into another, and it builds the summary instantly.

Change your mind, drag a different field, and it re-summarises — no formulas, no rebuilding.

Every job here falls into one of eight plain categories. Start from what you are trying to get out of your data.

• Formulas — write formulas and functions
• Clean — clean and prepare messy data
• Pivot — summarise with pivot tables
• Chart — build charts and visuals
• Forecast — model budgets and forecasts
• Track — keep a tracker or register
• Automate — automate with macros
• Report — build a report or dashboard

It can draft them well, and it is a genuine time-saver — describe your columns and what you want, and it returns a working formula. But it cannot see your actual data, so it may assume the wrong column or miss an edge case.

Use AI to write the first draft, then test it on a few rows you can check by hand. The verifying is still your job.

Most people never need to write code. If a task repeats exactly the same way, recording a macro (no code) covers the majority of cases.

Learn real VBA only when you hit something recording can't do, or you are automating for a whole team. For a personal weekly report, the record button is enough.