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How to Use Excel

22 November 2025 by
How to Use Excel
DATA REVOLUTION CONSULTING GROUP

MS Excel — Basic to Advance (How to Use in Daily Life)

MS Excel is one of the most powerful tools for data entry, calculations, reporting, dashboards, and automation. From simple daily tasks to advanced business reporting, Excel helps you analyze data, make decisions, and save time.

How Excel Helps in Daily Life (Basic to Advanced Use)

1. Basic Daily Uses

  • Creating to-do lists

  • Maintaining attendance

  • Making expense tracking sheets

  • Simple calculations (addition, subtraction, totals)

  • Storing small data tables (contacts, items, stock)

2. Intermediate Uses

  • Creating sales reports

  • Using charts and graphs

  • Sorting, filtering, and organizing data

  • Using VLOOKUP, COUNTIF, SUMIF

  • Creating monthly performance reports

  • Preparing invoices, budgets, and trackers

3. Advanced Uses

  • Advanced dashboards with charts

  • Pivot tables & pivot charts

  • Data cleaning with Power Query

  • Data modeling with Power Pivot

  • Complex formulas for automation

  • Creating templates for recurring work

  • Automating tasks using Macros

Excel can be used daily for business planning, financial management, reporting, analysis, and data storage.

30+ Excel Formulas (Basic to Advance) With Easy Examples

Below is a complete list from beginner to advanced:

BASIC FORMULAS

1. SUM()

Adds numbers.

Example: =SUM(A1:A5) — adds A1 to A5.

2. AVERAGE()

Finds average.

Example: =AVERAGE(B1:B10)

3. COUNT()

Counts numeric values.

Example: =COUNT(A1:A20)

4. COUNTA()

Counts all non-empty cells.

Example: =COUNTA(A1:A20)

5. MAX()

Largest number.

Example: =MAX(C1:C50)

6. MIN()

Smallest number.

Example: =MIN(C1:C50)

7. TODAY()

Shows today’s date.

Example: =TODAY()

8. NOW()

Shows current date + time.

Example: =NOW()

INTERMEDIATE FORMULAS

9. IF()

Condition checking.

Example: =IF(A1>50,"Pass","Fail")

10. AND()

Multiple conditions (all true).

Example: =AND(A1>10, B1<100)

11. OR()

If any one condition is true.

Example: =OR(A1="Yes", A1="Y")

12. CONCATENATE() / CONCAT()

Combine text.

Example: =CONCAT(A1," ",B1)

13. TRIM()

Removes extra spaces.

Example: =TRIM(A1)

14. LEN()

Counts letters.

Example: =LEN(A1)

15. PROPER()

Makes text Proper Case.

Example: "excel reporting" → Excel Reporting

16. UPPER() / LOWER()

Convert text to uppercase/lowercase.

Example: =UPPER(A1)

17. SUMIF()

Sum with condition.

Example: =SUMIF(B:B,"Sales",C:C)

18. COUNTIF()

Count with condition.

Example: =COUNTIF(A:A,"Approved")

19. AVERAGEIF()

Average with condition.

Example: =AVERAGEIF(B:B,"North",C:C)

ADVANCED FORMULAS

20. VLOOKUP()

Find a value from another table.

Example:

=VLOOKUP(A2, Sheet2!A:B, 2, FALSE)

21. HLOOKUP()

Horizontal lookup.

Example:

=HLOOKUP(A1, A1:F2, 2, FALSE)

22. XLOOKUP()

Advanced lookup (better than VLOOKUP).

Example:

=XLOOKUP(A2, A:A, B:B)

23. INDEX()

Returns value from a position.

Example:

=INDEX(B1:B10, 5) → returns 5th value.

24. MATCH()

Finds position of a value.

Example:

=MATCH("Apple", A1:A50, 0)

25. INDEX + MATCH

Powerful combination.

Example:

=INDEX(C:C, MATCH(A2, A:A, 0))

26. IFERROR()

Handles errors.

Example:

=IFERROR(VLOOKUP(A2, D:E, 2, 0),"Not Found")

27. UNIQUE()

Returns unique values.

Example: =UNIQUE(A1:A50)

28. FILTER()

Filter data using a formula.

Example:

=FILTER(A2:C50, B2:B50="West")

29. TEXT()

Format numbers/dates.

Example:

=TEXT(A1, "dd-mm-yyyy")

30. LEFT() / RIGHT() / MID()

Extract text.

Example:

=LEFT(A1, 3) → first 3 letters.

31. EOMONTH()

End-of-month calculation.

Example: =EOMONTH(A1, 1)

32. NETWORKDAYS()

Working days between two dates.

Example: =NETWORKDAYS(A1, B1)Start writing here...

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