How to create an Excel sheet on PC
Possiedi a computer and you wish to understand how to create an excel sheet? Then this is the section for you: in fact, below I will explain in detail how to start working on a workbook created using the famous Microsoft program.
As you well know, Excel is an integral part of Microsoft Office, a full office suite available for Windows e MacOS which, among its components, also includes other famous programs such as Word (for writing mainly text documents) e Power point (for creating slides and slides). Microsoft Office, however, is not free: you can use it either by subscribing to the Office 365 service (with prices starting at 69,99 € / year) or by purchasing a "physical" copy of the program, at the price of 149€ lump sum. In any case, you can take advantage of a free trial period of one month to fully test all the features of the various applications.
If you have not yet installed the entire Office suite (including the Excel program) on your computer, I suggest you take a look at my guide on how to install Office for free, in which I have been able to explain in detail how to get a trial version of the various software.
Note: in this tutorial I will explicitly refer to Office / Excel 2016 for computers, however the procedures are also applicable to other versions of the program (e.g. Office / Excel 2019 or previous editions).
Windows
For Windows, you can create an Excel worksheet in an extremely simple way. First, call up the program (eg. Excel 2016) from Start menu operating system (accessible by clicking on the icon in the shape of pennant located in the lower left corner of the screen) and choose whether or not to log into your Microsoft account by following the instructions provided on the screen. If you can't find the program, try searching the Start menu for the folder Office / Microsoft Office and start Excel from there
Please note: If you have purchased an Office365 license, you must necessarily access the program with the Microsoft credentials associated with the subscription.
At this point, you can choose to create a new worksheet starting from a predefined template, that is a "schema" containing preset data and functions to simplify the insertion of information, or to develop a new document starting from an empty sheet. Anyway, to enter creation mode, click on the entry blank workbook or onpreview of the model of your interest and that's it: starting from this moment, you can fill the document in question with the information you want.
MacOS
You just finished installing Office for Mac? OK, I'll explain immediately how to create an Excel worksheet using the newly obtained suite.
First, therefore, go to the folder Applications macOS (you can access it by clicking on the menu vai Finder) and start Microsoft Excel by double-clicking its icon. Once the program is fully loaded, you can log in with your Microsoft account after clicking on the button Log in, or skip this step by pressing on the item Ignore login and then on the button Get started with Excel.
Once at the initial screen of the program, it indicates whether to start from one blank workbook or whether to use one of the predefined templates available online: once you have made your decision, click on the preview of the mode that best suits your case and press the button Crea to immediately access the worksheet editing screen.
Edit an Excel sheet
Don't have the faintest idea how to operate on an Excel sheet? Then let me give you some useful pointers on how to proceed.
Personally, I recommend that you use the column (A, B, C and so on) to specify the type of information that you will enter in the cell and the lines (1, 2, 3 and so on) to create the “records”, ie enter the value of information related to each entity you intend to add. For example, if you want to create a contact book, you should use the columns to indicate the type of information needed for each contact (e.g. name, surname, address and telephone number), while in the rows you can indicate the specific data relating to each “Entity” - in this case, to each person - present in the address book you are going to create.
To make your life a little easier, I recommend that you use the riga 1 like header row, indicating the type of data that each cell will contain: always returning to the example of the address book, you can enter the value Your name in the cell A1 (specifying, therefore, that all column A is dedicated to the names of the contacts), the value Last name in the cell B1, the value Address in the cell C1 and so on.
From the riga 2, then, you can type the information relating to each item in the directory (one for each row): for example, in the cell A2 you can enter the value , in B2 value it configurehow, in C2 value it Milan and so on. Don't worry if it may seem like a complicated undertaking at first: a little practice is enough to get truly remarkable results!
Keep in mind that an Excel worksheet can be used for much more "advanced" purposes than a simple data container: for example, it is possible to build tables for searching and manipulating information, use formulas to perform arithmetic operations ( such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, averaging, exponentiation and so on), create graphs, pivot structures, compile invoices and much, much more! For a more complete overview of the use of this powerful program, I suggest you refer to my guide on how to use Excel, in which I have been able to deal with the topic in detail.
How to create an online Excel sheet
As you certainly know, Microsoft Excel is a paid software that needs to be installed to work. However, this does not mean that it is not possible create an Excel sheet without spending a cent and without having to install anything on your computer: there is in fact a version of the famous Microsoft program, called Microsoft Excel Online, which can be performed simply through the browser, completely free of charge and without having to install anything on the computer.
The only requirement to be able to use Microsoft Excel Online is to have a Microsoft account available to log in (the files created, initially, are automatically stored on OneDrive): if you do not have them, you can create one to dedicate to the purpose following the instructions I gave you in my specific guide on the subject.
Having made this necessary premise, it's time to take action: first, therefore, connect to this website and, if necessary, log in using your Microsoft account.
Once at the service introduction screen, select a pre-existing model to choose from those available, or click on the item New blank workbook to create a new Excel document. If you need to open an existing file, click on the item Upload a workbook and select the document of your interest from OneDrive (the Microsoft cloud storage service, on which the files to be edited in Excel Online must be previously uploaded).
The Microsoft Excel Online interface is very similar to the one already seen on a computer, only with a few less features: therefore, you can develop your worksheet exactly as you would on Excel for Windows or macOS, by following the instructions that I provided you earlier.
The created file is automatically saved and updated in your OneDrive account. If you want to download a copy to your computer, click on the item Fillet located at the top left, select the item Save with name e fai clic sull'opzione Download a copy, to get the file in xLSX, or on the option Download as ODS to download the same document in .ods.
How to create an Excel sheet on smartphones and tablets
You often work through your smartphone or tablet, so would it be extremely useful for you to understand how to create an Excel sheet on this type of device? Then this is the section that suits you best: the software is also available as an app for Android e iOS and downloadable for free on devices with a diagonal display equal to or less than 10.1 " (otherwise you have to take out an Office 365 subscription, starting from 7 euros / month).
Android
If you intend to use Excel for Android, start the Play Store, tap the search bar located at the top, type the words "Microsoft excel" and tap the most relevant result (usually the first on the list). If you are reading this guide from your smartphone or tablet, you can go to the appropriate section of the Play Store by tapping this link.
Once you have reached the appropriate screen, tap the button Install and wait for the app to be correctly downloaded on the device, then recall it from the drawer of the device and touch the item Maybe later to avoid subscribing to an annual subscription to Office365 and continue with the free version of the app.
At this point, if requested, log in with your Microsoft account indicating the relevant access credentials in the appropriate form; completed this step, you can create a new worksheet by tapping on the button in the shape of sheet with (+) placed at the top. At the next screen, specify whether to create the document in OneDrive, in Documents folder device or in another position by using the drop-down menu Create in and choose whether to use a predefined template or create a blank worksheet tapping on the previews shown and that's it!
If you want to deepen the subject and learn how to use Excel for Android perfectly, I suggest you refer to my specific tutorial on the subject, which I made especially for you.
iOS
You don't have an Android terminal but you rely on Apple devices, such as iPhone o iPad? Again, you can get Microsoft Excel for iOS for free, as long as the device has a diagonal display of less than 10.1 ″.
To use it, start theApp Store From the iOS home screen, type the words "Microsoft Excel" in the search area located at the top, tap on the button Search on the keyboard and select the entry for the Microsoft app. Alternatively, tap this link to connect directly to the App Store.
Once in the section dedicated to Excel, tap on the button Get and authenticate via touch ID o Face ID to immediately download the app to your device; completed the installation procedure, start it by recalling it from the iOS Home screen.
At this point, tap the button Start and enter, if necessary, the login credentials to your Microsoft account, then press the button No to avoid sending usage statistics to Microsoft and presses the button Enable notifications to authorize Excel to send notifications on iOS, or on the button Not now to deny permission.
To start working with the app immediately, tap the button Create and edit and choose whether to create a new one blank workbook or use one of the existing models and that's it!
Edit an Excel sheet
Although the interface of Excel for smartphones and tablets is quite "reduced", you can operate on a worksheet in a way quite similar to what you would do with a computer.
For starters, you can type some content into a cell by doing double tap on it and pressing the button in the shape of green tick when you have finished. If you need to enter a function, tocca il pulsating ƒx located to the left of the input area. To access the quick content editing options (cut, copy, paste, select all and so on), you simply need to do a prolonged tap in correspondence with the cell on which you intend to intervene.
As usual, you can select an entire column (or an entire row) by tapping on its letter (or on its number): to perform operations on it, such as sorting, joining / dividing cells or adding a color, you can use the practical tools attached to the function bar located at the bottom of the Excel screen. If necessary, you can navigate through the various menus available (Home, Insert, Design, Formulas, Data and so on) by tapping the button ▼ on Android or the button (...) on iOS, both located in the lower right corner of the screen.
If you want, you can create a new sheet in the workbook or browse existing ones, you can use the button instead sheets (shaped rectangle with tabs) located in the lower left corner of Excel.
Alternative solutions
Wait, are you telling me you want to create an Excel worksheet, but don't want to rely on the program included in Microsoft's suite? Don't despair, there are alternative solutions that can brilliantly create and manage worksheets of any kind, including those in Excel format. Below I list the best ones.
- LibreOffice - is a complete and cross-platform office suite, available for Windows, macOS and Linux. The program dedicated to worksheets is called Calc and is able to handle different types of documents, including the native format .ods and the formats .xls and .xlsx (specific to Office). For more information on this, I invite you to consult my guide on how to download LibreOffice.
- Google Drive (Google documents) - in addition to offering cloud services, Google also provides a series of Web applications (as well as apps for Android and iOS) dedicated to the management of office documents. In this case, the specific part for the spreadsheets is Google documents, and can be used via the browser, or as an app for Android and iOS.
- iWork - it is an "alternative" office suite to Office, designed by Apple specifically for Macs. It offers a series of programs dedicated to managing office documents, including Numbers, the application suitable for spreadsheets and compatible with documents in Excel format. I explained how to get iWork in my specific tutorial.
The ones I've mentioned are just some of the best known alternatives for create an Excel sheet without using the Office program; you must know, however, that there are many other programs dedicated to the purpose, many of which are free: I told you about them in detail in my guide to free office programs.
How to create an Excel sheet
