Microsoft Excel Cheat Sheet

Microsoft Excel is the world's most widely used spreadsheet software, designed for organizing, analyzing, and visualizing data through rows, columns, and formulas. As part of Microsoft 365, Excel serves as the foundational tool for financial modeling, data analysis, reporting, and business intelligence across industries. Excel's power lies in its formula engine—a sophisticated calculation system that transforms static data into dynamic insights. Modern Excel (2026) has evolved to include dynamic arrays that spill automatically, Power Query for data transformation, Power Pivot for data modeling, LAMBDA for reusable custom functions, regex functions for pattern matching, Python integration via =PY() for in-cell data science, and Copilot with Agent Mode for AI-assisted workbook creation—making it a complete data platform from simple calculations to advanced analytics.

What This Cheat Sheet Covers

This topic spans 27 focused tables and 282 indexed concepts. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.

Table 1: Essential Formulas and FunctionsTable 2: Lookup and Reference FunctionsTable 3: Text Manipulation FunctionsTable 4: Regex FunctionsTable 5: Date and Time FunctionsTable 6: Logical and Decision FunctionsTable 7: Statistical and Math FunctionsTable 8: Aggregation and Summary FunctionsTable 9: Financial FunctionsTable 10: Dynamic Array FunctionsTable 11: Conditional Formatting TechniquesTable 12: Data Validation TypesTable 13: Number Formatting CodesTable 14: Pivot Table FeaturesTable 15: Chart Types and VisualizationTable 16: Power Query OperationsTable 17: Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows)Table 18: Advanced Features and ToolsTable 19: Cell References and Formula TechniquesTable 20: Custom Functions and Advanced FormulasTable 21: Workbook and Worksheet ManagementTable 22: Data Import and ExportTable 23: Collaboration and SharingTable 24: Python in Excel and AI FeaturesTable 25: Performance OptimizationTable 26: Print Settings and Page SetupTable 27: VBA, Macros, and Office Scripts

Table 1: Essential Formulas and Functions

These are the everyday functions that do most of the heavy lifting in real spreadsheets: adding and averaging, counting, conditional logic, and basic text cleanup. The traps worth remembering are the quiet ones, such as AVERAGE counting zeros but skipping blanks, SUMIFS putting its sum range first while SUMIF puts it last, and TRIM leaving the non-breaking spaces that pasted web data brings along.

Function	Example	Description
SUM	`=SUM(A1:A10)`	• Adds all numbers in a range • ignores blank and text cells, but returns an error if any cell holds an error.
AVERAGE	`=AVERAGE(B2:B50)`	• Returns the arithmetic mean of values in a range • ignores text and blank cells, but includes zeros.
COUNT	`=COUNT(C1:C100)`	• Counts cells containing numeric values only (dates and times count) • excludes text, errors, and blanks.
COUNTA	`=COUNTA(D1:D100)`	• Counts non-empty cells regardless of data type • includes text, numbers, and errors; still skips truly empty cells.
IF	`=IF(G2>100,"High","Low")`	• Returns one value if a condition is TRUE, another if FALSE • omit the FALSE result and it returns the word FALSE.
MAX	`=MAX(E1:E20)`	Returns the largest value in a range, ignoring text and logical values found in cells.
MIN	`=MIN(F1:F20)`	Returns the smallest value in a range, ignoring text and logical values found in cells.
SUMIF	`=SUMIF(A:A,">50",B:B)`	Sums values in one range that meet a single criterion in another range; the sum range is the last, optional argument.

Table 1: Essential Formulas and Functions

Function	Example	Description
SUM	`=SUM(A1:A10)`	• Adds all numbers in a range • ignores blank and text cells, but returns an error if any cell holds an error.
AVERAGE	`=AVERAGE(B2:B50)`	• Returns the arithmetic mean of values in a range • ignores text and blank cells, but includes zeros.
COUNT	`=COUNT(C1:C100)`	• Counts cells containing numeric values only (dates and times count) • excludes text, errors, and blanks.
COUNTA	`=COUNTA(D1:D100)`	• Counts non-empty cells regardless of data type • includes text, numbers, and errors; still skips truly empty cells.
IF	`=IF(G2>100,"High","Low")`	• Returns one value if a condition is TRUE, another if FALSE • omit the FALSE result and it returns the word FALSE.
MAX	`=MAX(E1:E20)`	Returns the largest value in a range, ignoring text and logical values found in cells.
MIN	`=MIN(F1:F20)`	Returns the smallest value in a range, ignoring text and logical values found in cells.
SUMIF	`=SUMIF(A:A,">50",B:B)`	Sums values in one range that meet a single criterion in another range; the sum range is the last, optional argument.