Microsoft IT Showcase
Getting started with Excel 2016
With new chart types and improvements to PivotTables and business intelligence (BI), Microsoft Excel 2016 makes it
easier to work with large amounts of data and give it even more meaning. Unlock insights, and tell the story in your
data by organizing it in spreadsheets (workbooks). View your data in context, and use the analytic capabilities of
Microsoft Excel to make more informed decisions.
And it is easier than ever to save and work with your workbooks in the cloud, and collaborate with others who need
to see and edit your data. With Microsoft Office 365, you can use Excel on your Windows, iOS, Mac, or Android
device, letting you stay productive whether you are at work, at home, or on the go.
NOTE: This guide covers the desktop client version of Excel 2016 for Windows. Some of the features below
are not yet available in Excel 2016 for Mac. To learn what’s new in Office 2016 for Mac, please visit
support.office.com.
What’s new
Excel 2016 has new features, built so you can do great work with smart tools that help you stay on task. To learn more
about new features that are offered across the suite of Office applications including Tell Me, Smart Lookup, Ink
Equations, Save As improvements, new charts, simplified sharing and more, check out the What’s new in Microsoft
Office 2016 IT Showcase productivity guide at aka.ms/WhatsNewOffice2016.
Improved file version history
You don’t need to be concerned as you and your team make edits and changes within the same document. Improved
version history allows you to view or revert to earlier drafts, and it makes it easy for you to find previous versions of
files stored on Microsoft SharePoint or OneDrive for Business.
Open a previous version
1.
Select the Activity
button in the upper right hand corner of Excel 2016.
2.
The Activity pane will open, allowing you to select previous versions of the document that you want to restore.
Data analysis enhancements

The capabilities of Power Query for Excel (a separate downloadable add-in for Microsoft Excel 2013 and
Microsoft Excel 2010) are now fully integrated into Excel 2016 and can be found under the Get & Transform
section on the Data tab. This set of features provides an intuitive and consistent experience for discovering,
combining, and refining data across a wide range of sources, including tables in public websites, corporate data
in databases and cubes, cloud-based sources such as Azure, unstructured data such as Hadoop, and services such
as Salesforce.

The Forecast Sheet button on the Data tab lets you use historical time-based data to create a forecast that
predicts things like future sales, inventory requirements, or consumer trends. This new capability uses an industry
standard Exponential Smoothing (ETS) algorithm to give you quick and reliable forecasting data. For more
in-depth analysis, use intuitive options to adjust common forecast parameters, such as seasonality and
confidence intervals.

New statistical worksheet functions are available that replace FORECAST, which is maintained for backward
compatibility with earlier versions of Excel.
o
FORECAST.LINEAR: Calculates, or predicts, a future value along a linear trend by using existing
values.
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o
FORECAST.ETS: Returns the forecasted value for a specific future target date by using the
exponential smoothing method.
o
FORECAST.ETS.CONFINT: Returns a confidence interval for the forecast value at the specified
target date.
o
FORECAST.ETS.SEASONALITY: Returns the length of the repetitive pattern that Excel detects for
the specified time series.
o
FORECAST.ETS.STAT: Returns the requested statistic for the forecast.

Automatic relationship detection detects and creates all relationships among the tables used for your Data Model
PivotTable, so you do not have to do any of that work. When you add two or more tables to your Data Model,
you are notified to run Automatic Relationship Detection. Automatic relationship detection also can be run
through the Relationship dialog box.

Relationships across time-related fields are now automatically detected and grouped together when you add
rows of time fields to your PivotTables. Once grouped together, simply drag the group to your PivotTable in one
action and immediately begin your analysis across the different levels of time with drill-down capabilities.

Use new buttons on your Pivot Charts to drill in and out across groupings of time and other hierarchical
structures within your data.

Search in the PivotTable field list — great for long lists of available fields.

3D Maps (previously named Power Map) is now native to the Excel experience! Get access to the popular 3D
geospatial visualization tool that allows you to discover patterns in your data as it relates to location, time, and
geopolitical context. Access this tool from the Insert tab, next to other visualization options.

Publish to Power BI is an option to publish your workbooks to the Power BI service directly from Excel.
New charts
Excel recommends the charts that are best suited to your data and gives you a preview of your data visualization. A
set of six new modern charts and graphs provide you with more ways to explore and tell compelling stories with your
business data. These are particularly useful for visualizing sets of related financial income and expenditure by
department or area, in addition to making it easier for you to discover meaning from the data and communicate your
insights to others.
Waterfall
A waterfall chart quickly illustrates the line items in your data. A waterfall chart is effective at showing the running
total as values are added or subtracted.
Treemap
A treemap chart is the ideal visualization for your sources of revenue because it provides a hierarchical view of your
data and an easy way to compare categories.
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Histogram
A histogram, commonly used in statistics, automatically displays the frequencies within a distribution.
Box & Whisker
A box & whisker chart shows a distribution, highlighting the range, quartiles, mean, and outliers.
Sunburst
A sunburst chart shows the full hierarchy of groups, so it is easy to spot the largest contributing segments.
Publish with Power BI
If you have a subscription to Power BI, you can share your data analysis with your workgroup or clients at the touch of
a button.
To publish your files to Power BI
1.
Save your file to your computer.
2.
Select File > Publish > Publish to Power BI.
3.
After you publish, select Go to Power BI to view your file in your web browser.
Once your data is published to Power BI, you can use data models to quickly construct interactive reports and
dashboards. With Excel Online support built into Power BI service, you can also display your fully formatted Excel
worksheets as well.
Faster Online Analytical Processing PivotTables
If you work with connections to Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) servers, your PivotTables are now faster. Query
and cache improvements in this powerful feature will likely give you fresh data, faster.
Additionally, by disabling Subtotals and Grand Totals, you can make your PivotTables much faster when refreshing,
expanding, collapsing, and drilling into your data. The bigger the PivotTable, the bigger the potential improvement.
Specifically, we have made improvements in three major areas while querying OLAP servers:

Improved query efficiency. Excel will now query for Subtotals and Grand Totals only if they’re required to
render the PivotTable results, meaning you wait less for the OLAP server to finish processing the query, and you
wait less for the results to transfer over your network connection.

Reduced number of queries. Queries will now only refresh when they’ve actually changed and need to be
refreshed.

Smarter caches. When the PivotTable schema is retrieved, it is now shared across all of the PivotTables on that
connection, further reducing the number of queries.
Data Loss Protection
Data Loss Protection (DLP) is a high-value enterprise feature that is well loved in Outlook. We are introducing DLP in
Excel to enable real-time scanning of content based on a set of predefined policies for the most common sensitive
data types (for example, credit card number, social security number, and U.S. bank account number).
This capability will also enable the synchronization of DLP policies from Office 365 in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint,
and provide organizations with unified policies across content stored in Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint and OneDrive
for Business.
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Getting started
To create a new workbook, you can either start from a blank workbook, open an existing workbook to revise it and
save it as a new file, or use a template with a built-in style and structure.
Open a blank workbook
1.
Select the File tab, then select New.
2.
Under Featured, select Blank workbook.
TIP: To quickly create a blank workbook, select any tab (other than File), and press Ctrl+N.
Open an existing workbook to revise it and save it as a new file
If you do not want to start with a blank workbook or use templates, you can create a new workbook by opening an
existing workbook and then using the Save As command.
1.
Open the workbook that you want to revise.
2.
Select the File tab, select Save As, and browse to the folder or network location where you want to save the new
workbook.
3.
Type a name for the new workbook, and select Save.
Base a new workbook on a template
If you want to start a new workbook using preset formatting, use one of the many templates that Excel experts have
created. You will likely find one that fits your needs.
1.
Select the File tab, then select New.
2.
Do one of the following:



To use one of the more popular sample templates that are available with Excel, browse the categories within
Suggested searches to find the template you want.
To find a template that is not listed among Suggested searches, type in your preferred category within the
Search for online templates box. You might want to use some of the suggested search terms listed below
the box to search only for your preferred template options.
You can use one of your personal templates that you saved previously. Select Personal, then choose the
template you want.
To get even more workbook templates, you can download them from Office.com. Go to
https://templates.office.com/en-us/templates-for-Excel and choose a featured template or browse for a category,
then select the template you want to download.
Save your new workbook
1.
Select the Save button on the Quick Access Toolbar, or press Ctrl+S.
NOTE: If you adapted the new document from an existing document and do not want to write over the
original workbook, make sure you save by using the Save As tab on the File menu.


If you have already saved your workbook, no further steps are required.
If you are saving your workbook for the first time, complete the following steps:
a.
Under Save As, choose the location where to save your workbook by browsing to a folder.
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b.
In the File name box, enter a name for your workbook.
c.
Select Save to finish.
Working with your data
Enter your data
1.
Select an empty cell, such as cell A1 on a new sheet.
TIP: Cells are referenced by their row and column on the sheet, so cell A1 is in the first row of column A.
2.
Type text or a number in the cell.
3.
Press Enter or Tab to move to the next cell.
Use Sum to add your data
When you have entered numbers to your sheet, you may want to add them. An easy way to add them is to use the
AutoSum function.
1.
Select the cell to the right or below the numbers you want to add.
2.
Select Formulas > AutoSum, or press Alt+=.
AutoSum adds up the numbers and shows the sum in the initial cell you selected.
Create a simple formula
Adding numbers is useful, but Excel can do other math too. Try some simple formulas to add, subtract, multiply, or
divide your numbers.
1.
Pick a cell, and type an equal sign (=), which indicates to Excel that this cell will contain a formula.
2.
Type a combination of numbers and mathematical operators, like the plus sign (+) for addition, the minus sign
(–) for subtraction, the asterisk (*) for multiplication, or the forward slash (/) for division.
For example, enter =2+4, =4–2, =2*4, or =4/2.
3.
Press Enter to run the calculation.
Use functions in your formulas
Unleash the power of Excel worksheet functions to get the answers you need. In addition to entering formulas that
perform basic math—such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—you can use a vast library of built-in
worksheet functions in Excel to do much more.
You can use these functions to provide additional information:

Get the current date.

Find the number of characters in a cell.

Manipulate text—such as converting “hello” to “Hello”, or to “HELLO.”

Calculate a loan payment.

Test the contents of two cells to assess which is larger or whether they are identical.
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To use a function in a formula, do the following:
1.
In a cell, type an equal sign (=), and then type a letter, such as “a”, to see a list of available functions.
2.
Use the Down Arrow key to scroll down the list.
TIP: As you scroll through the list, you will see a ScreenTip (a brief description) for each function. For
example, the ScreenTip for the ABS function is “Returns the absolute value of a number, a number without
its sign.”
3.
In the list, select the function you want to use. Excel enters the function name in the cell, followed by an opening
parenthesis—for example, =SUM(
4.
Enter one or more arguments after the opening parenthesis. An argument is a piece of information that the
function uses. Excel shows you what type of information you should enter as an argument. This information may
be a number, text, or a reference to another cell.
For example, the ABS function requires one number as its argument. The UPPER function (which converts any
lowercase text to uppercase text) requires one string of text as its argument. The PI function requires no
arguments, because it simply returns the value of pi (3.14159...).
5.
Complete the formula, then press Enter to see the result.
Here are some examples of functions used in a formula.
Formula that uses a function
Result
Description
=TODAY()
9/19/2016
Gets the current date, which in this
example is September 19, 2016.
=SUM(3,2,5)
10
Adds the three numbers within the
parentheses, with a result of 10.
=MAX(42.7,12.55,84,-30.3)
84
Compares the four arguments within
the parentheses to find the maximum
number, 84.
=UPPER(“hello world”)
HELLO WORLD
Converts the lowercase text string
“hello world” to the uppercase string
“HELLO WORLD.”
Making your data shine
Charts and color formatting make your data more interesting and help tell the story visually. Excel has a variety of
tools that make it easy to create a chart or apply conditional formatting.
Create a chart
Have you ever picked a type of chart and then found that it does not work well for your data? With Excel 2016, this is
no longer a concern! Try the Recommended Charts command on the Insert tab to create a chart that is just right for
your data.
1.
Select the data to use to create a chart.
2.
Select Insert > Recommended Charts.
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3.
On the Recommended Charts tab, scroll through the list of charts that Excel recommends for your data, and
select any chart to see how your data will look.
4.
If you do not see a chart you want, select All Charts to see all available chart types.
5.
When you find the chart you like, select it and select OK.
6.
Use the Chart Elements, Chart Styles, and Chart Filters buttons next to the upper right corner of the chart to
add chart elements like axis titles or data labels, customize the look of your chart, or change the data that is
shown in the chart.
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Use Quick Analysis on your data
Conditional formatting and sparklines can highlight your most important data or show data trends. Use the Quick
Analysis tool for a live preview to try it.
1.
Select the data you want to examine more closely.
2.
Select the Quick Analysis button
3.
Explore the options on the Formatting and Sparklines tabs to see how they affect your data.
that appears in the lower right corner of your selection.
For example, apply a conditional format by picking a color scale in the Formatting gallery to differentiate high,
medium, and low temperatures.
A sparkline is a tiny chart that shows trends for a range of data. The following example shows sparklines in the
four cells just to the right of the Dec column.
4.
When you decide on a format you would like to use, select that option.
Working with Excel in a browser
With Microsoft Office 365, you can use Excel on a Windows, iOS, Mac, or Android device, and work on your Excel files
anytime, anywhere.
Create a new Excel workbook in the browser
1.
Sign in to Office 365 with your account at portal.office.com/.
2.
At the upper left of the site, select the app launcher
3.
Select New blank workbook.
, then select Excel.
You can do your work in the browser, or you can get the full power of the Excel experience by editing your workbook
in Excel for the desktop. Do one of the following:

With your workbook open in Microsoft Excel Online, select Open In Excel.

In your OneDrive for Business folder, right-click your workbook, then select Open In Excel.
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Save a new workbook in Excel Online
When you create, open, or edit a document in OneDrive for Business, it is automatically saved to the current location.

To save a new workbook in Excel Online, select Book, then type the new name.
TIP: After you save your new file, you can move it to another Microsoft OneDrive for Business folder.
Collaborating and sharing
It is likely that you will not be the only person viewing your work. After you have created your online workbook, you
can share it with coworkers, or with people outside your organization. These individuals can view your data and
charts, sort and filter your data, and drill into the details of PivotTables on the web or on their mobile devices. For
more information about sharing your files, visit http://office.microsoft.com/redir/HA101820121.
Use the Share command to easily share files and make them available to others for review, comments, and
collaboration. You will find the Share button in the upper right area of Excel, above the ribbon.
If you and other people open your workbook in Excel Online, you can all work on it at the same time—even in nearby
cells on the same sheet! Co-authoring lets you work smarter and faster by allowing you to keep your document in
one place while providing easy access and editing capabilities for your team. This means you no longer have to send
documents as email attachments and spend time having to consolidate changes from multiple copies.
Using Excel on a phone or tablet
In addition to working with Excel on your computer, you can use Excel (part of Microsoft Office Mobile) on a
Windows, Mac, iOS, or an Android device. To get started with installing and setting up Excel on a mobile device, visit
https://support.office.com/en-us/excel.
For more information
Microsoft IT
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Microsoft Office Support
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