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Preparing Data for Analysis with Microsoft Excel

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Preparing Data for Analysis with Microsoft Excel

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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.7

5,593 reviews

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule
2 weeks at 10 hours a week
Learn at your own pace
96%
Most learners liked this course
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.7

5,593 reviews

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule
2 weeks at 10 hours a week
Learn at your own pace
96%
Most learners liked this course

What you'll learn

  • NEW [optional] introduction to Generative AI

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

21 assignments¹

AI Graded see disclaimer
Taught in English

Build your Data Analysis expertise

This course is part of the Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Professional Certificate
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Professional Certificate.
  • Learn new concepts from industry experts
  • Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
  • Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
  • Earn a shareable career certificate from Microsoft

There are 4 modules in this course

This course forms part of the Microsoft Power BI Analyst Professional Certificate. This Professional Certificate consists of a series of courses that offers a good starting point for a career in data analysis using Microsoft Power BI.

No prior skills are needed to be successful in this course. In this course, you’ll learn how to make use of Excel in business scenarios for data analysis. You’ll also learn how to utilize formulas and functions for data analysis.  Specifically, this course will help you gain knowledge and skills for preparing data for analysis using Microsoft Excel and take you one step closer to becoming a Microsoft Power BI Analyst.  After completing this course, you’ll be able to:  • Create data in Microsoft Excel and prepare it for data analysis.  • Make use of common formulas and functions in a worksheet.  • Prepare Excel data for analysis in Power BI using functions.

In the first module, you’ll focus on Excel fundamentals. In the opening lesson, you’ll receive advice on how to succeed in this course, meet your peers, and review some useful resources available to help you in your learning journey. Lesson two focuses on creating workbook content. It introduces the Excel software and essential Excel elements and techniques. These techniques include entering and formatting data and managing and adding data to worksheets. In the third lesson, you’ll learn how to work with blocks of data in Excel. You’ll begin by learning how to read large data blocks, then review the steps for sorting and filtering data in Excel. Both lessons two and three will put your new skills to the test with Excel-based exercises.

What's included

12 videos14 readings7 assignments

12 videos•Total 72 minutes
  • Introduction to the program•6 minutes
  • Course introduction: Preparing data for analysis with Microsoft Excel•3 minutes
  • Day in the life•4 minutes
  • Welcome to Generative AI for everyone•6 minutes
  • Understanding the Capabilities of Generative AI for Business Functions•9 minutes
  • Generative AI - Under the hood•8 minutes
  • The potential pitfalls and shortcomings of GenAI•6 minutes
  • Introduction to Microsoft Excel•7 minutes
  • Entering and formatting data•6 minutes
  • Reading large data blocks•7 minutes
  • Sorting and filtering data in Excel•7 minutes
  • Module summary: Excel fundamentals•4 minutes
14 readings•Total 132 minutes
  • How to be successful in this course•10 minutes
  • Skills measured in the Microsoft Exam PL300•10 minutes
  • How to open an image in a new tab•4 minutes
  • How to locate your downloaded files•3 minutes
  • Additional resources: Key concepts•5 minutes
  • Generative AI Terminology•10 minutes
  • Generative AI in Business•10 minutes
  • Regional variations in Excel•10 minutes
  • Working with rows and columns•10 minutes
  • Working with worksheets•10 minutes
  • Additional resources: Creating workbook content•5 minutes
  • Exercise: Filtering data•30 minutes
  • Exemplar: Filtering data•10 minutes
  • Additional resources: Working with blocks of data in Excel•5 minutes
7 assignments•Total 135 minutes
  • Exercise: Adding data to a worksheet•30 minutes
  • Module quiz: Excel fundamentals•30 minutes
  • General Knowledge Quiz•10 minutes
  • Knowledge check: Creating workbook content•10 minutes
  • Exercise: Sorting Data•30 minutes
  • Self-review: Filtering data•10 minutes
  • Knowledge check: Working with blocks of data in Excel•15 minutes

In the second module, you’ll explore formulas and functions and their importance to data analysis. You’ll begin the module with a lesson on using formulas in Excel to perform calculations. You’ll learn what the concept of a formula is, discover the syntax for different types of calculations, and complete a calculation-based exercise. In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to use common formulas and functions in a worksheet. Both of this week’s lessons also end with exercises that test your new skills.

What's included

6 videos9 readings5 assignments1 discussion prompt

6 videos•Total 38 minutes
  • What is a formula?•6 minutes
  • Controlling calculations•6 minutes
  • Controlling calculations in action•6 minutes
  • What is a function formula and how to write it•7 minutes
  • Using the INSERT function•6 minutes
  • Module summary: Formulas and functions•7 minutes
9 readings•Total 120 minutes
  • Order of precedence in calculations•10 minutes
  • Useful percentage calculations•10 minutes
  • Exercise: Calculating profit and margin•30 minutes
  • Exemplar: Calculating profit and margin•10 minutes
  • Additional resources: Formulas in Excel•5 minutes
  • The AutoSum shortcut•10 minutes
  • Exercise: Preparing a monthly sales report•30 minutes
  • Exemplar: Preparing a monthly sales report•10 minutes
  • Additional resources: Getting started with functions•5 minutes
5 assignments•Total 80 minutes
  • Module quiz: Formulas and functions•30 minutes
  • Self-Review: Calculating profit and margin•10 minutes
  • Knowledge check: Formulas in Excel•15 minutes
  • Self-Review: Preparing a monthly sales report•10 minutes
  • Knowledge check: Getting started with functions•15 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
  • What features were new to you and which were most useful?•10 minutes

In the third module, you’ll learn how to prepare data for analysis using functions. You’ll begin with a lesson on using functions to clean or standardize text to prepare text data for effective analysis. You’ll then explore the use of date and time functions in Excel so that you can complete actions like creating timeline information in a spreadsheet. In the final lesson of this week, you’ll review the use of logical functions like IF and IFS. And you’ll learn how to use these logical functions to generate content like data columns. Each lesson concludes with an exercise where you'll practice your new skills by completing assigned tasks in Excel.

What's included

6 videos13 readings7 assignments1 discussion prompt

6 videos•Total 40 minutes
  • How inconsistent data can affect data analysis•6 minutes
  • Why understanding date calculations is important•6 minutes
  • Dynamic date and time entries•6 minutes
  • Using the IF function•8 minutes
  • Using nested IF and IFS function•8 minutes
  • Module summary: Preparing Data for Analysis Using Functions•7 minutes
13 readings•Total 175 minutes
  • Functions which can be used to standardize text data•10 minutes
  • Exercise: Standardizing text-based data•30 minutes
  • Exemplar: Standardising text-based data•10 minutes
  • Additional resources: Using functions to clean or standardize text•5 minutes
  • Other useful date calculations•10 minutes
  • Exercise: Calculating the number of working days remaining in the year•30 minutes
  • Exemplar: Calculating the number of working days remaining in the year•10 minutes
  • Additional resources: Date and time functions•5 minutes
  • AND and OR functions•10 minutes
  • IF functions•10 minutes
  • Exercise: Adding a data column using the IFS function•30 minutes
  • Exemplar: Adding a data column using the IFS function•10 minutes
  • Additional resources: Logical functions•5 minutes
7 assignments•Total 105 minutes
  • Module quiz: Formulas and functions•30 minutes
  • Self-review: Standardizing text-based data•10 minutes
  • Knowledge check: Using functions to clean or standardize text•15 minutes
  • Self-review: Calculating the number of working days remaining in the year•10 minutes
  • Knowledge check: Date and time functions•15 minutes
  • Self-Review: Adding a data column using the IFS function•10 minutes
  • Knowledge check: Logical functions•15 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
  • What features were new to you and which were most useful•10 minutes

In the fourth week, you’ll undertake an assessment of the key skills that you covered in the course. You’ll begin with a course recap in which you’ll review the important lessons you learned. You’ll also be able to apply the knowledge you've gained in the previous weeks by completing a scenario-based project. You’ll then undertake the course quiz, which tests your knowledge of the concepts and techniques you've explored. You’ll complete the course by reflecting on what you’ve learned with your peers in a discussion. Finally, you’ll explore the next steps in this Professional Certificate.

What's included

2 videos4 readings2 assignments1 discussion prompt

2 videos•Total 10 minutes
  • Course recap: Preparing data for analysis with Microsoft Excel•7 minutes
  • Congratulations•4 minutes
4 readings•Total 60 minutes
  • About the final project and assessment: Preparing data for analysis with Microsoft Excel•10 minutes
  • Final course project: Creating an executive data summary•30 minutes
  • Exemplar: Creating an executive data summary•10 minutes
  • Next steps•10 minutes
2 assignments•Total 105 minutes
  • Self-review: Creating an executive data summary•15 minutes
  • Course quiz: Preparing data for analysis with MS Excel•90 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
  • Reflect on learning•10 minutes

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343 Courses•2,617,428 learners

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Showing 3 of 5593

SE
·

Reviewed on Aug 28, 2024

if you have experience with basic function with Excel you may find this for beginners, but this is good foundation for people who don't have a solid ground with Excel Function

DP
·

Reviewed on Feb 8, 2026

Muy práctico y fácil de digerir, no te quedes con lo que ya sabes, ten la mente abierta para que aprendas nuevas formas de hacer las cosas de una forma rápida y práctica, optimizando tiempo.

MA
·

Reviewed on Sep 10, 2025

It was great helping me become more efficient in Excel. I am a basic user but now I feel confident leveraging the advanced Excel tools. I am super excited to learn more about Power BI

Frequently asked questions

This program is for you:

● If you want to switch or start a career in the field of data analytics.

● If you are interested in the field of data analytics, just beginning to work with business intelligence and data analysis solutions and services, or new to Microsoft Power BI.

You don’t need any background knowledge to take this Professional Certificate. Whether you’re just starting out or a professional in a relevant field, this program can be the right fit for you.

It typically takes 5 months to complete the 8 courses. But some learners may go through the content faster.

Whether you’re looking to start a new career or change your current one, Professional Certificates help you become job ready. Apply your new skills on hands-on projects that showcase your expertise to potential employers and earn a career credential to kickstart your new career.

Once you have completed this Professional Certificate, you’ll have built a foundational knowledge of the key concepts and tools in Power BI and how they apply to a business environment including:

• The ability to implement best practices when conducting Data Analysis.

• The skills to use the visualization and report capabilities of Power BI to create compelling reports and dashboards.

• The ability to provide valuable data insights that help to inform business decisions.

Power BI Data Analysts design, develop, and deploy business analytics dashboards using Microsoft Power BI. Data analysts are essential in helping organizations gain valuable insights into the expanse of data that they have, and they work closely with others in the organization to help reveal valuable information.

Data analysts and business intelligence analysts both help drive data-driven decision-making in their organizations. Data analysts tend to work more closely with the data itself, while business intelligence analysts tend to be more involved in using the results of data analysis to address business needs and recommend solutions.The Power BI data analyst is a combination of both of these roles. They work closely with business stakeholders to identify business requirements and collaborate with enterprise data analysts and data engineers to identify and acquire data. They also transform the data, create data models, visualize data, and share assets by using Power BI. These are all highly sort after roles.

Prepare for a career as a data analyst using Power BI. The Power BI skills you learn in this program prepare you for an entry-level role as a data analyst. An entry-level role as a data analyst is a great starting point and can be the first step towards building a career as a business intelligence analyst, data scientist or data engineer.

This course is completely online. You can access your lessons, readings, and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.

We highly recommend taking the courses of each certificate program in the order they are presented. The content in the courses builds on information from earlier courses. The final course contains a practice exam that assesses your knowledge of the content covered in the previous courses. As such, it makes the most sense to take the courses in the order they are presented.

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Certificate, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

Financial aid available,

¹ Some assignments in this course are AI-graded. For these assignments, your data will be used in accordance with Coursera's Privacy Notice.