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Learn Excel Online: Which Online Courses Are Available for Beginners and Advanced Learners?

Excel online classes are available from many different providers. We'll show you the most important training courses and YouTube tutorials for the Microsoft software!

Learn Excel Online: Which Online Courses Are Available for Beginners and Advanced Learners?
Picture: screenshot/excel

Excel is legendary as spreadsheet software for everyone. 

The program is part of the Microsoft Office suite (along with Word, PowerPoint, and other applications). Office is used by more than 1 billion users worldwide.

Since its possible field of applications is extremely diverse, Excel skills are always valuable.



So which professional online courses are available to help me get those Excel skills?


Two Ways to Learn Excel Online

Below, we explore the two most important ways to master Excel with a self-learning course on the internet.

  1. YouTube tutorials: free, but without certificate; quality may vary
  2. Online courses: often with optional paid certificate; professional course structure

We explain the two options and their differences below. We omit simple text instructions since they are less suitable for a comprehensive learning project.

(Click here for the list of all Excel online courses in our directory.)



What should you watch out for when learning Excel?

5 short tips to begin learning:

  1. The Excel version: There are Excel versions 2007 / 2010 / 2013 and 2016, each with unique differences. Ideally you will learn from a course designed for your version (even if the fundamental concepts are the same for all variants). You can find your installed version under "File - Account" or "File - Help".
  2. Practice yourself: Do not passively watch the video lessons or tutorials. Your Excel program should always be open, so that you can follow all exercises. Learn by doing!
  3. Shortcuts: Instead of awkward mouse clicks, Excel offers very efficient keyboard shortcuts that make work go three times faster. Learn these shortcuts right away because they will save you a lot of time in the long run!
  4. Certificates: If you want to document your Excel skills in job applications, look at the online courses that offer certificates. They usually aren't free, but you will receive proof of your certification.
  5. Quickly clarify questions: Many questions and technical problems have already been answered many times in discussion forums. Just look at the huge Microsoft support forum! 


1.) YouTube Tutorials

As a beginner, you can get a first impression of Excel with video lessons on YouTube. Since this is free, you can have a look without any obligation. However, if you want to invest more time in a professional learning course (with certificate), you may find better learning opportunities elsewhere.

Selected YouTube examples:


2.) Online Video Courses

The course sequence has a professional structure, and optional certificates can often be purchased. Course providers range from universities and companies (e.g. PwC or Microsoft) to individual IT trainers.

For beginners:

In these courses, you will learn Excel as a beginner. You donĀ“t need any prior knowledge. All that is required is a basic handling of your PC or laptop (open and save files).

  • Excel 2010 / 2013 / 2016 from Beginner to Advanced: Extensive video course at Udemy for all popular Excel versions, with over 40,000 students so far. (go to course)
  • Microsoft Excel 2013: Approximately 100 short lectures over 10 hours, containing the most important basic knowledge, such as data entry, calculations, formatting, and formulas. Also includes quizzes and additional material. (go to course)
  • Microsoft Excel 2016 Master Class: Over 8 hours of online course, teaching Excel 2016. (go to course)
Learn Excel Online: Which Online Courses Are Available for Beginners and Advanced Learners?
Picture: pexels/pixabay

Advanced Excel skills:

If you already have basic knowledge in Excel and would like to expand your skills, there are numerous advanced online courses, for example:

  • Advanced Formulas and Functions: Online course explaining various formulas and functions for users with some Excel skills. (go to course)
  • Charts and Graphs: Video course that explains more than 20 chart types and other visualization options in Excel. (go to course)
  • Pivot Tables: This course from Microsoft explains how pivot tables can be used to evaluate and present data. (go to course)
  • VBA Programming: Macros can be programmed in Excel using the scripting language "Visual Basic for Applications". This course introduces the basics in 200 short video lessons. (go to course)
  • Data Analysis and Visualization: Advanced course from Microsoft showing how to work with large amounts of data. (go to course)
  • Data Analysis with PwC: The auditing giant PwC shows how to understand, analyze, and present business results in this comprehensive series of multiple courses. (go to course)
  • Statistics with Excel: This MOOC explains the fundamentals of statistics and probability and uses Excel as a tool to apply the theoretical concepts. (go to course)
  • Financial Models and Business Valuation:

- There is a detailed series of 5 MOOCs on financial modeling from Wharton Business School. (go to course)

- Udemy has a shorter and rather technical video course on modeling, including Discounted Cash Flow valuation / DCF. (go to course)

  • Access (for even larger amounts of data): Many complex databases are created with Access instead of Excel. (go to course)
  • Data Analysis Training: Udacity provides a "Nanodegree" online training for data analysts, including Excel, SQL, and Tableau. (go to course)
  • Complete Office Skills (more than Excel): Extensive course on Excel, Word, and Outlook. Teaches spreadsheets, word processing, and email management. Separate courses on presentations with PowerPoint are available in our directory. (go to course)


Shortcuts: even beginners should learn them right from the start! 


Who Can Take Excel Online Courses?

Students: Excel is indispensable for many business, natural science, and social science university subjects. From simple calculations to complex spreadsheets, data can be processed with little effort. For job applications and in later professional life, Excel skills are a valuable asset.

Office Workers: Almost every modern business works with Microsoft Office programs today. Depending on the business activities, not only spreadsheets, but also word processing and presentation skills are required. Anyone can learn all of these skills online.

Managers: In business matters, Excel is often used for calculations and analysis. This includes accounting, financial planning, valuation and business intelligence. Also, the visualization of data is becoming more and more important. Therefore, every manager should have at least some basic knowledge of the spreadsheet software.

Programmers: Even if most software developers don't work with VBA, each programmer should be able to master the basics of this widely-used calculation program. Excel often plays a role due to interfaces with other software applications.

Scientists: Data analysis in almost all sciences (for example, statistical correlations) can be represented with the Microsoft software. Understanding the program, therefore, enables fast and efficient work in a scientific context.


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