Excel Learning Guides
Formulas, functions, tips, shortcuts, and advanced techniques — organised by skill level. Every guide links to interactive practice.
Start Practising Free →Excel Basics
Start HereEverything you need to work confidently in Excel from day one.
Cell references: relative, absolute, mixed
Understanding A1, $A$1, and $A1 is the foundation of every formula.
SUM and basic arithmetic
Add, subtract, multiply, divide. Then automate with SUM.
Keyboard shortcuts for speed
Cut, copy, paste, undo, redo, navigation — reduce mouse use to near zero.
Format cells and apply styles
Number formats, font, fill, borders. The Format Painter copies it all at once.
Freeze panes for large sheets
Keep headers visible while scrolling through thousands of rows.
Core Functions
Essential SkillsThese six function areas cover 80% of what most spreadsheet users need at work.
IF, IFS, IFERROR — conditional logic
Test a condition, return one value if true, another if false. Nest up to 64 IFs.
VLOOKUP — look up values in a table
Find a value in a column and return a related value from another column.
XLOOKUP — the modern replacement
More flexible than VLOOKUP: works in any direction, handles missing values cleanly.
COUNTIF, COUNTIFS — conditional counts
Count cells that meet one or multiple conditions. Essential for data summaries.
SUMIF, SUMIFS — conditional sums
Sum cells where a condition is true. The workhorse of financial reporting.
INDEX MATCH — advanced lookup
More powerful than VLOOKUP: look left, use multiple criteria, immune to column shifts.
Excel Tips & Shortcuts
Work FasterProfessionals who know these shortcuts complete the same work in half the time.
Best Excel shortcuts for Windows
Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+End, Ctrl+Shift+End — and 100 more.
Strikethrough shortcut: Ctrl+5
The most-asked shortcut question. Works on any selected cells instantly.
Insert and delete rows/columns
Ctrl+Shift++ to insert, Ctrl+− to delete. Right-click is too slow.
Conditional formatting for visual data
Colour scales, icon sets, data bars, and formula-based rules.
Remove duplicates in one click
Data tab → Remove Duplicates. Or use UNIQUE() for dynamic deduplication.
Advanced Excel
Power UserSkills that separate analysts from everyone else in the room.
Pivot tables: summarise thousands of rows
Drag and drop to cross-tabulate, group, filter, and calculate without formulas.
XLOOKUP vs VLOOKUP vs INDEX MATCH
When to use each. XLOOKUP is the default for new work; INDEX MATCH for legacy.
Dynamic arrays: FILTER, SORT, UNIQUE
Spill formulas that update automatically. Available in Excel 365 and Excel 2021.
Power Query: import and transform data
Connect to any data source, clean it, reshape it — without writing code.
Charts: choose and format the right type
Bar, line, pie, waterfall, combo, Pareto. When each works and when to avoid it.
Excel for Job Interviews
Career SkillsThe Excel skills employers test for and the questions they actually ask.
Excel interview questions and answers
VLOOKUP vs XLOOKUP, absolute references, pivot tables, SUMIF — the standard Q&A.
Indeed Excel Assessment: how to pass it
Topics: worksheets, MIN/MAX, COUNTIF, formatting, IF, CONCAT, absolute reference.
MO-200 Excel Associate certification prep
Microsoft's official Excel certification. Practice questions and exam strategy.
MO-201 Excel Expert certification prep
The advanced certification. Dynamic arrays, Power Query, advanced PivotTables.
Free Excel practice exercises
84 interactive lessons — type real formulas, get instant feedback.
Frequently asked questions
What are the most important Excel formulas to learn?
The formulas that appear in 90% of professional spreadsheets are: SUM, IF, VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP, COUNTIF, SUMIF, and INDEX MATCH. Learn those six and you can handle most analytical work. From there, add pivot tables, conditional formatting, and data validation for reporting tasks.
What Excel skills do employers look for?
For most office roles: VLOOKUP (or XLOOKUP), IF functions, pivot tables, and basic charting. For analyst roles: INDEX MATCH, SUMIFS, Power Query, and dynamic arrays. The Indeed and Microsoft Excel assessments specifically test IF, COUNTIF, absolute references, CONCAT, and MIN/MAX.
How do I get better at Excel fast?
Practice the specific functions you use at work, not a general 'Excel course'. If you use VLOOKUP daily, do 15 minutes of VLOOKUP exercises until you can write the syntax without looking it up. LogicExcel's interactive lessons give you instant feedback on real formula syntax — that's faster than watching videos.
What is advanced Excel?
Advanced Excel means: Power Query for data transformation, pivot tables with calculated fields, dynamic array formulas (FILTER, SORT, UNIQUE), complex INDEX MATCH lookups, VBA macros for automation, and Power Pivot for data modelling. You don't need all of these — know what your job requires and practice those specifically.
Is Excel still worth learning in 2026?
Yes. Excel remains the default tool for data work in most businesses, including those that also use Python, SQL, or BI tools. Even data engineers use Excel for ad-hoc analysis and communication. Excel skills show up as requirements in finance, operations, marketing, HR, and most other functions.
Ready to practice?
84 interactive lessons. Type real formulas. Get instant feedback.