Microsoft Excel is a part of the Microsoft Office productivity suite.

The comprehensive
tools provided by Excel allow the user to create spreadsheets, calculate formulas and
create graphics to support the data. It is a widely used by individuals and businesses alike
to understand everything from personal finances to financials for annual reports to
engineering and statistical data. Prior to understanding the advanced features Excel has to
offer, it is pertinent that the basics are understood Microsoft Excel is spreadsheet
application software developed by Microsoft Corporation of USA It is a part of Microsoft
Office It is used to manipulate numerical data in rows and columns. The columns
are labeled with letters A, B, C, and so on. Similarly rows are labeled with numbers
1, 2, 3, and so on. Each document or file of Excel contains several spreadsheets. The
spreadsheet of Excel is known as worksheet where data is arranged in tabular form
(into rows & columns). A single worksheet in Excel has maximum 65536 rows and
256 columns Microsoft Excel 2000. You can also make calculations on the numerical
data stored into the worksheet as well as different types of charts or graphs can be
made for the numerical data. The data can also be formatted by applying fonts, font
sizes, underline, bold etc.

SPREAD SHEETS:
 Microsoft Excel contains spreadsheets. The default number of spreadsheets in each
workbook is three. However, more can be added as needed. They can be added by right-
clicking on the spreadsheet's name in the tab, then going to "Insert," "Worksheet." Each
spreadsheet contains thousands of cells that are sorted into columns and rows. Cells can
be resized to accommodate large numbers and even text. To resize the cell, grab the row
or column heading and move the line accordingly. Within each cell is the ability to insert
a formula. The formulas are already built into Excel. They range from very simple
formulas to engineering and scientific formulas. Normally, formulas that may require
several iterations to arrive at an answer only require one step in Excel. To access the list
of formulas available in Excel, click the "fix" button.

Charts & graphs:

 another practical feature of Excel is its ability to create charts and graphs. The types of
charts available are: bar, column, pie, line and area. The graphs available are: scatter,
stock, surface, doughnut, bubble and radar. The information presented throughout the
spreadsheet can be presented visually within the spreadsheet. Excel provides "wizards"
that guide the user step by step through creating a chart or graph. Features of the charts
and graphs can be customized to suit the information presented. The information used to
create the chart or graph is linked to the table that contains the raw data. When the raw
data is updated, the chart updates accordingly.

Formatting
 Excel allows for formatting. Numbers can be formatted as currency, percentages and
even phone and Social Security numbers. In the newer versions of Excel, a number can
be converted to a fraction. At the same time, entire cells can be formatted. The cell's
background can be highlighted a different color and the contents of the cell can have
specialized formatting. Even further, the cell's formatting can be dependent upon the
results of the cell's formula. There are buttons in Excel's toolbar that make formatting
cells quick and simple.