Spreadsheets are a nerds data-driven dream.

For most regular people, though, theyre a complicated mess.

Fortunately, they dont need to be.

Heres how to bend data to your will with Microsoft Excel 2016.

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Get Up and Running With Excel Quickly

Excel is deceptively simple to get started with.

The ribbon interface works exactly like the other Microsoft apps.

Each tab along the top opens a new selection of menu options.

If you cant find a feature youre looking for, explore the other tabs to find it.

you’ve got the option to alsobrowse Excel templates online here.

Heres how to do some of the most essential tasks.

To apply a style, opt for cells you want to apply the style to.

In my case, I chose all the cells under a single column.

Under the Home tab, youll find a button called Conditional Formatting.

Click this and youll see a selection of styles you’re able to apply.

In the screenshot above, I used a style called the Green - White - Red Color Scale.

The highest numbers are colored in green, while the lowest numbers are colored in red.

To do that, do these things:

hit the Home tab.

Under the Editing section, tap the Clear button.

In the drop-down menu that appears, select Clear Formats.

you might apply as many or as few styles as you want to a range of cells.

so that be useful, I needed to apply the style to each column individually.

it’s possible for you to lock your labels in place by usingthe Freeze Panes feature.

Under the View tab, in the Window section, youll see button called Freeze Panes.

Freeze Top Row:This option will freeze just the first top row in a spreadsheet.

Freeze First Column:This option will freeze the left-most cell in a spreadsheet.

Once youve chosen any of these options, the first Freeze Panes option will change to Unfreeze Panes.

Youll need to unfreeze any panes before you choose new ones to lock into.

Formulas are the most basic way to do math in Excel.

All formulas begin with an = sign.

you’ve got the option to then create basic problems using cell labels.

Excel also has a ton of pre-made functions to do more complex math for you.

For this, you could usethe AVERAGE function.

For example, say I want to find out the average user Rotten Tomatoes rating for each X-Men film.

Instead, I want to round that number down to a single decimal place.

In this case, the number I want to round is the result of the AVERAGE function.

First, Excel calculates the average of the cells in H26 through H33 (seen in bold above).

Then, it uses that average as thenumberargument in the ROUND function.

The 1 at the end of the line indicates that the number should be rounded to one decimal point.

As you could see, formulas and functions can range from very simple to incredibly complex.

you could check outthis guide from the How-To Geekfor a deeper dive into what you could do with functions.

it’s possible for you to also browse the functions built into Excel andlearn how to use them here.

When youre dealing with large data sets, this can be invaluable.

you’re free to create a pivot table in one of two ways.

Alternatively, you’ve got the option to click PivotTable to manually create your own.

Both will fire up the pivot table interface on a new sheet.

In a pivot table it’s possible for you to choose specific subsets of your data to analyze.

For example, say I want to see the average Metacritic review scores.

On the right side of the screen, Ill grab the Film, Metacritic, and Metacritic Users fields.

Ill need to tweak it.

To do that, Ill smack the dropdown arrow next to Sum of Metacritic in the Values box.

Then, Ill click Value Field controls.

This will give me new options for which data to display.

In the Summarize Values By tab, Ill choose Average, since thats a more meaningful calculation.

Next, Ill do the same thing for the Sum of Metacritic Users field in the Values box.

Fortunately, I dont need to deal with nested functions this time.

To fix this, Ill open up the Value Field tweaks menu again.

This time, Ill tap the button at the bottom of the window that says Number Format.

In the list of categories on the left-hand side of the new window that appears, Ill select Number.

Here, I can choose how many decimal places I want to include.

For the Metacritic column, Ill choose zero, so its consistent with the original scoring metric.

My new table is much cleaner:

My new pivot table is much easier to read.

For example, I can quickly add columns for Box Office data or Rotten Tomatoes ratings.

When youre dealing with huge data sets, pivot tables become essential.

To compensate for this, usethe Page Break Preview feature.

To open this view, snag the View tab.

In the Workbook View section, click Page Break Preview.

Your spreadsheet will zoom out and show you which sections will print on each page.

it’s possible for you to drag each line to resize the sections as you see fit.

nudge the Page Layout tab on the ribbon interface.

choose the Breaks button.

In the dropdown that pops up, click Insert Page Break.

To get back to the normal view, return to the View tab in the ribbon.

Under Workbook Views, click Normal.

To create a chart, first go for the cells you want to include.

In this example, well use the movie data for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the screenshot above.

In the Charts section, youll see a button called Recommended Charts.

In my case, I chose clustered columns from my suggestions.

Once youve created your chart, you’re able to customize it how you need.

In my case, there are a few things I dont like about this one.

I want to change the chart title so its more descriptive.

I want to add a label to the left axis to indicate that the numbers are measured in millions.

Also, it would be nice if the color scheme was a little bit less boring.

The first problem is easy.

you could poke the title of a chart to change it.

To change the axis labels, youll need to add one first.

Click somewhere in the empty space on the chart to snag the chart itself.

Three buttons will appear next to the top right corner of the chart.

nudge the first button with a green plus icon.

Here, you’ve got the option to add elements like an axis title.

you might then poke the label to edit it the same way you edited the title.

Here, you could choose from a selection of preset styles.

Now, doesnt this chart look so much nicer?

By default, any new charts you create will appear on the sheet you have open.

If youd rather keep your charts separate, you’re free to move them to their own sheet.

To do so, right-nudge the chart and select Move Chart.

In the box that appears, select New sheet and give it a name.

Click OK and the chart will be moved to its own sheet.

The Best New Features of Excel 2016

The basics of spreadsheets are as fundamental as math itself.

Even so, Microsoft has managed to add new useful features in Excel 2016. nudge the green box at the top of the screen that says Tell me what you want to do.

Enter keywords or describe what you want to do and Excel will suggest features for you.

Much like Google Docs, everyone can see each others changes as they happen.

In Excel 2016, you candraw math equationsto add them into your spreadsheet.

This is particularly handy if you have a stylus or touchscreen on your system.

Theres a lot more buried old and new features buried underneath the surface.

it’s possible for you to check out more about the newest versionson Microsofts website.

Ctrl+Alt+;: Enter current time.

Excel also supports many of the same text navigation shortcuts that wevecovered previously here.

you’re able to also navigate the ribbon by pressing Alt.

Our guide here will teach you about input forms, statistical calculations, pivot tables, and macros.

Download free Excel templates to manage time, money or productivity:Theres no need to reinvent the wheel.

Find one you like before you give a shot to build your own from scratch.

Excel Formulas: Why do you need formulas and functions?

Spreadsheets arent nearly as boring as the movies have led you to believe.