5 Advanced

Spreadsheet
Skills
There are many skills when it comes to executing a good spreadsheet. Keep reading to learn a
few advanced spreadsheet skills that will have the whole office lining up to learn at your hand.

Data Entry, Sorting, and Filtering

The idea behind a spreadsheet is compiling clean data that can be sorted by an array of different
functions.

If you are working with spreadsheets day-to-day, you will definitely want to utilize the sorting
features to manipulate how you visualize your data.

Applying Data Validation

There are a few advanced spreadsheet skills involving data entry but one of the best is definitely
data validation.

When it comes to data entry, there may be instances where you would like to limit what can be
put into a cell. Data validation allows you to define the parameters that you may want to put on a
cell.
Protecting Sheets and Locking Cells

This advanced spreadsheet skill is a lifesaver when you're preparing a spreadsheet that is going
to be used by a group.

The last thing you would want is for data to be altered or lost when others are working on a
document. It will be very helpful for you to lock the cells that should not be edited.

Custom Filtering

Even the most green of spreadsheet users have dabbled in filtering their data. Within the filters
that you have probably already played around with there are many other more advanced filtering
options.

Using the more advanced options, you can really tailor your data based on what you are looking
to analyze.

Another way that you can use filters is for duplications in your data. You can filter out duplicates
through the Data tab. Filtering out the duplicates will create an additional column with just the
information that you are looking for.
Sort by Column

Sometimes you may have a specific category of data that you may want to work with and
manipulate. The sort by column function is similar to that of your iTunes library and is another
super helpful way to view your data.

Pivot Tables
Pivot tables are one of the most popular advanced spreadsheet skills for those that are working
with large amounts of data.

If you have too much data, it is almost useless if you don't have a way of analyzing it.

Pivot tables will allow you to take some of your data and information and summarize it so you
only see what you want to see. This is another reason why it is important to have clean data, so it
can be sorted and summarized.

While pivot tables can seem overwhelming to the untrained eye, they can be used to summarize
pretty much anything and their potential purposes are very vast.
Macros and Scripts
Using macros is a very advanced spreadsheet skill that can help you to automate complex
processes.

Tasks can get redundant when you are working in spreadsheets for hours on end and using
macros can cut your time working on specific things drastically. You can record things that
you're going over and over again into a macro.

Sometimes using macros can require some programming knowledge which takes a bit of
learning. However, there are other macros that are more basic, useful, and time-saving that are
relatively easy to learn.

Combine Multiple Functions to Create Formulas

Creating formulas is definitely one of the more advanced spreadsheet skills and is often the
reason that many people shy away from wanting to learn the nitty-gritty of spreadsheet work.

Formulas are multiple functions put together in one cell. Using formulas can allow you to
quickly make calculations and get sums of multiple columns, rows, or cells in a spreadsheet.
Perform Calculations
Whether it be basic math or more advanced calculations, spreadsheets can be great for doing
either.

The SUM function can add the contents of two columns together.

Simple math can be done by using typical math shorthand operators (+, -, *, /). You can add up
as many columns as you would like. For example, enter the following =(A1+A2+A3+A4).

Additionally, you can make statistical calculations. Functions like average and mean can come in
handy in your day-to-day life and luckily these can easily be done in a spreadsheet.

One more helpful mathematical function that you can use spreadsheets for is calculating dates
and times within cells.