What is Excel? Overview, Definition, and Uses

If you are anyhow connected to this world of Computers, you might be probably familiar with a very widely used software, which is Microsoft Excel. I should tell you that Excel on its own is an entire powerhouse, which can help you in your many basic to advanced tasks, related to your Data. If you know how to use Microsoft Excel, you already have an advantage over others, who don’t know how to use Microsoft Excel.

While many people might say that they know about Excel, just because they have seen it some times, or probably handled it on a basic level, there is so much more to learn explore, and perform in Microsoft Excel. The stats say that every 1 out of 8 people on this planet use Microsoft Excel, and this is a big number, which tells us how important is Microsoft Excel.

If you are new to the Microsoft Excel software, through this guide, you can understand Microsoft Excel, and possibly get a roadmap on how can you get started with your learning of Excel.

Why is Microsoft Excel so popular?

We have already stated earlier that Excel is a very popular software. It is so popular, that every 1 in 8 people on this planet use Microsoft Excel. The software Microsoft Excel is indeed used for a variety of reasons, and there might be a very obvious question, asking why Excel is so popular. Or what makes Excel so popular that it is used by billions of people, across industries?

Well, we will try to provide some simple points below, which should explain why Microsoft Excel is so popular, and used in many different industries –

MS Excel is easy to use

If you have seen Microsoft Excel, you would relate to the fact that Microsoft Excel is a very easy-to-use software, and a very beginner-friendly software, which allows the users to quickly get started with using the software, even with some basic information about the Software itself.

MS Excel is a very Versatile Software

Have you ever heard about the Swiss army knife? Well, Microsoft Excel can be considered as a Swiss Army knife in case of data-related tasks. Excel can be used in a wide variety of tasks, including simple calculations, data entry-related tasks, very complicated data analysis, or the creation of a Dashboard, which makes it a handy tool to be used in a variety of industries.

Power of Formulas and Functions

Excel has a great set of functions and formulas, which are a great time saver. There are formulas and functions available for basic arithmetic, or logical operations, to advance statistical-related operations, and that too for a variety of operations. We can say that Excel has functions for almost everything.

MS Excel has become kind of ubiquitous

Most workplaces and educational institutions have been using Excel, making it a kind of standard tool. Along with that, when the same software is being used in multiple scenarios, it increases the scope of opportunities for you, or any individual with a sound knowledge of Excel.

Data Visualization

Well, you might have heard that “A picture speaks louder than words”, and it is very true. When you are dealing with large datasets in MS Excel, it becomes harder to interpret the data and make sense of it, but with Data Visualization, you get to create charts, graphs, and tables, allowing us to present data in a readable format to the stakeholders, or to make informed decisions.

In short, we can say that there are a bunch of reasons why MS Excel is so popular. Later on, as you read this article, you will find more things about Excel, like where is Excel used, what are some different and important concepts in MS Excel, and more.

What is MS Excel?

We have been discussing much about MS Excel, but first of all, let’s get a bit of clarity on what is MS Excel.

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program by Microsoft, which is a part of Microsoft Office Applications, and is one of the greatest and most used spreadsheet programs available in the market.

It is widely used in a variety of industries, and for a wide range of use cases, which range from simple calculations, data storage, or data entry-related operations, to complex data analysis, data visualization, and automation-related tasks.

MS Excel is widely used in Project Management, Business Analysis, Retail, Office administration, Accountancy, data storage, performance reporting, and more.

Later on, you would find more on what is excel usually used for, which also includes a wide range of use cases for Microsoft Excel.

What do we use Excel for?

As you already know now, Microsoft Excel is used in a variety of industries, but what is it exactly used for? Like what are some of the use cases for Microsoft Excel? Let’s try to shed light on some of the use cases for Microsoft Excel. Just understand that usually Microsoft Excel is used for data organization, to perform financial analysis, or to perform data analysis overall. It is being used across multiple businesses, ranging from small to large businesses.

Here are some of the use cases of Microsoft Excel (Including some basic, to advance use cases) –

• Accounting
• Data Entry Operations.
• Data Management
• Data Visualization
• Programming and Automation
• Task Management
• Customer Relationship Management(CRM)

Along with the above-mentioned tasks, Microsoft Excel is used in many other tasks, which need some kind of organization. So, there can be a lot of other use cases of Microsoft Excel, than what we have mentioned above.

Microsoft Excel Features

Microsoft Excel is a really useful software, with it’s use cases in a variety of different industries. One of the reasons this software is so useful is its richness of features. There are many super useful features, which make Microsoft Excel a super useful and versatile application.

Let’s try to list out some of the features of Microsoft Excel, which should convince you why Excel is one of the most popular software out there, and why it is used so much in multiple industries.

Understand that Microsoft Excel is a powerhouse for data manipulation, data analysis, and data visualization as well. Here are some of the features.

• Pivot Tables
  The Pivot Table option in Microsoft Excel allows quick summarization, analysis, and visualization of large datasets.
• Data visualization through charts and graphs
  Data Visualization is made super simple through different chart types including bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts, scatter plots, histograms, and more.
• Data validation
  Through data validation, the users can control the type of data entered into the cells just by setting some rules, ensuring consistency in Data.
• Power Query
  Power Query is another very useful feature in Excel, which allows advanced data modeling, transformation, and even analysis. It is absolutely useful when we are dealing with large datasets and complex data.

There are many other features to compare and explore, like What-if Analysis, Conditional Formatting, VBA, and more. Excel is a feature-rich application, which contributes to its heavy usage, and usage across industries.

Conclusion

I hope that you can learn and get some information about Microsoft Excel, which is a very widely used program application, used in a variety of use cases. We have seen some very basic information about Microsoft Excel, and we hope that you can digest the information. You can explore more about Excel, because it is so useful, and may be beneficial for you if you learn it properly.

If you want to use Microsoft Excel, but you don’t have the software already with you, don’t worry because you can use the online version of Microsoft Excel, which is free to use, for everyone. There are some key differences between Excel being used Online, vs Excel being used on the desktop, but if you are in the learning phase, and want to use Microsoft Excel, you can use it for free.

Along with that, if you want to learn about Microsoft Excel in greater detail, you can consider buying our course on Microsoft Excel, which guides you through many different concepts of Microsoft Excel, so that you can easily start using Excel, and open a whole different world of opportunities for your career. Happy Learning!

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