How does a beginner start to learn Excel?

[rawindar]

hi to all .iam new to excel.I dont know anything in excel.I know its like an ocean.But it must to me to get a job.Can anybody suggest me where should i start

Thanks in Advance
Regards
Rawindarreddy

[Russell Dawson]

What a question!

You are right. It is an ocean. There is much to learn. I'm not an expert but I do appreciate what a daunting subject this is to beginners.

There is a lot of help offered elsewhere on the internet which I expect you have already investigated.

I'm self taught and I gained my knowledge through asking questions in a similar way to you. You have to get started somewhere and I assume you know what a spreadsheet is and the basic principles behind them.

Attached is a very basic workbook which demonstrates two of the first mathematical functions - add and subtract. Both make a SUM so that is the instruction that is given. It's entered with = so it knows a formula is about to be entered. So, =SUM followed by what the sum is to be. We want to add the contents of B5 to B9 and have the result in B10. So, in B10 we put =SUM(B5:B9).

There is a running balance to show how much is left out of the salary and that is entered in a slightly different way. You start with = and then select with your cursor, the cells you wish to use in this calculation. So, I selected F5 and input = then selected F4 + B5 - D5.

I started this way and learnt a new function or formula day by day. Using sites like this and understanding problems that are posted and then seeing the solution is invaluable.

Set yourself a project. Map out in your mind what you want to achieve and then apply it to a spreadsheet.

Good luck

Russell

[arlu1201]

Besides the internet, another vast scope of information is in Excel Help itself (open an excel workbook and press F1). Browse thru the topics one by one.

When you have a question, just post it here, someone will surely help you out.

You can also search using our advanced search option. Type in the topic you are learning on and all those questions related to the topic will be available on this forum. Then you can check how it has been answered.

[Russell Dawson]

Of course, Arlette is right. I should have mentioned it. In my experience a great many people are afraid to use the Help in Excel fearing that it will be too technical. It's not, although some solutions may be difficult to understand.

Knowing how to ask the right question is important and this will come with experience.

This is where we started!

Cheers

Russell

[BaltasarGracian]

I like this:

The free accompanying Workbooks both start or finished

To see all this in the real world, come to this forum, look at Solved Questions with a Workbook you can download

Don't get discouraged when you see some of the solutions -- What I like to do is go to YouTube to see it explained if I don't understand a Function

[vlady]

think of a math problem first to be solved( simple one's), then try it...