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Ultimate Microsoft Excel Course: Beginner to Excel Expert (Udemy.com)

Master Excel with this Complete Excel Course. Learn Everything Right Now (Workbooks and Real-World Exercises included).

Created by: Alan Murray

Last updated September 2022

Our take

Based on the ratings of 796 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in September 2022. No course pays to be reviewed.

Alan Murray is a Microsoft MVP who has trained businesses for over 20 years, and the course reads like a tour of what an office Excel expert needs. It runs 15.4 hours over 152 lectures in 18 sections. It starts with large worksheets and printing, then moves through formulas, lookups, charts, PivotTables, Power Query, the data model and an introduction to VBA. The requirements say it is not for complete newbies, and that is fair.

Reviewers like the clarity and the bite-sized lessons. Words that come up are easy to follow, well organised and detailed, and one student calls the Power Query lesson difficult but logically built. Others say they picked up tricks like split panes and drop-down-driven charts that they put to use in their jobs. The complaints are small but real. One reviewer says new ideas, arrays in particular, show up without enough explanation. Another says the audio drops out at times, and one student could not open the practice files.

The course was last updated in September 2022, so newer Excel features may be missing, though a Dynamic Array Functions section is included. There are no quizzes, so practice comes from the exercise files. Of the 796 ratings, 727 are four or five stars, and the average is 4.6 across 9,851 students. It is a solid pick if you want one broad Excel course at a modest cost. For a single narrow topic, a shorter course will do.

Best forOffice workers who already know basic Excel and want formulas, PivotTables and Power Query in one place.
Skip it ifYou have never opened Excel, or you want full depth on just one area such as VBA.

Pros

  • Clear, step by step explanations that reviewers call easy to follow
  • Covers PivotTables, Power Query, the data model and an intro to VBA
  • Practice files to follow along, split across 152 bite-sized lectures
  • Tips students used at work, like split panes and chart drop-downs

Cons

  • Last updated in September 2022, so newer Excel features may be missing
  • Some new ideas, such as arrays, are used before they are explained
  • A few reports of audio dropping out and a practice file that would not open
Alan is explaining clearly and in all necessary details. The lessons are well prepared and logically organised.
Diana Hill, a student

Suits people with basic Excel knowledge. The requirements say it starts at beginner level but is not for complete newbies.

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What you will learn

  • Become a Confident and Well-Rounded Excel user
  • Learn new techniques that you will be able to apply right way
  • Learn to write Excel formulas from scratch, up to to rock star level
  • Utilise the awesomeness of Power Query to import, shape and transform data for analysis
  • Master some of the most important functions in Excel such as IF, VLOOKUP, INDEX, SUMIF and many more
  • Learn the latest Cutting-Edge Excel Tips and Features that most users will not have even heard of
  • Automate Daily Tasks with the power of Macros and VBA
  • Lifetime access to the lessons, practice files, exercises, and 1-on-1 instructor support

Course content

18 sections · 152 lectures · 15 hours of video 20 articles

  1. 1Introduction 1 free preview2 lectures · 3 min
  2. 2Working with Large Worksheets 2 free previews5 lectures · 24 min
  3. 35 Essential Tricks for Printing Spreadsheets5 lectures · 20 min
  4. 4Getting Started with Excel Formulas12 lectures · 1.2 hours
  5. 5Logical Functions: The Decision Making Formulas of Excel8 lectures · 37 min
  6. 6Conditional Formatting - Make your Data Come to Life9 lectures · 50 min
  7. 7Dynamic Array Functions - Formulas Have Changed6 lectures · 1.1 hours
  8. 8Lookup Functions - The Powerful VLOOKUP Function and beyond11 lectures · 1.1 hours
  9. 9Validating and Protecting Excel Data9 lectures · 38 min
  10. 10Advanced Formulas for Analysing Data7 lectures · 42 min

Who it is for

The instructor says it suits

  • You currently use Excel and want to improve your skills
  • You have a job role that requires a strong level of Excel expertise and you want to get up to speed quickly
  • You work with Excel regularly but are looking for more advanced and well-rounded skills
  • Anyone looking to expand their skill set in Excel to help develop their career

What you need before you start

  • You have basic Excel knowledge. The lessons start from a beginner level, but not for complete newbies.
  • Any version of Excel can be used. The lessons will state if a specific version of Excel is needed for that technique.

How it compares

Against the other 355 rated Udemy courses in Excel on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.6 out of 5higher than 63% of them
  • Reviews796#194 of 356 by number of reviews
  • Length15.4 hourslonger than 84% of them
  • Last updatedSeptember 2022earlier than 59% of them

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Quality Score

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Overall Score : 92 / 100

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Course Description

★★★★★ Course access includes the exact files I use to download and follow along, 1 on 1 Instructor support, lifetime access and a 30 day money back guarantee ★★★★★

It is time to master Excel. If you are a beginner and want to develop your Excel skills or have the desire to be an Excel guru, you have come to the right place.

This course starts with the basics of formulas and managing spreadsheets and quickly moves to advanced Excel techniques required for creating powerful, dynamic and visually appealing spreadsheets.

This course is perfect if you;

  • Use Excel every day but want to improve your all-round skills and become the office expert

  • Have a basic knowledge but want to take the plunge and develop your Excel muscles

  • Learn all the essential skills in Excel to help get a new job or promotion

The course has been designed as a one-stop shop for all of the essential skills of Excel. It is very comprehensive and you can come back again and again to revisit the material.

The course will be consistently updated with the latest features and techniques of Excel. With big plans for Excel and amazing features on the horizon - you can be sure to find lessons added to this course so that you stay ahead of the game.

I teach in a hands-on way with unique examples demonstrating all of the essential features of Excel. You will not only understand HOW these Excel tools and formulas work but see examples of WHY they are so awesome.

By the end of the course, you will be a confident user of Excel with the skills to progress your career further, or become the office Excel guru.

During the course you will learn;

  • To use the power of PivotTables to summarise large amounts of data and produce dynamic reports in minutes.

  • Be confident in using over 50 of the most important Excel functions including INDEX, VLOOKUP, MID, IF, MATCH and COUNTIF.

  • Create charts in a flash that visualize data effectively.

  • Conditional Formatting to highlight data comparisons, progress and issues.

  • Utilise the awesomeness of Power Query to import, shape and transform data.

  • Clean up messy data with formulas, Flash Fill and other Excel features.

  • Understand the data model in Excel and PowerPivot.

  • To use macros to automate time-consuming tasks.

  • And much much more.

Why learn from me?

I have been training businesses all around the world on how to get the most out of Excel for over 20 years.

Learning and teaching Excel is my passion. I am a full-time Excel trainer and a Microsoft MVP, so every day I am in the thick of the action teaching others to master Excel.

I set up the Computergaga blog and YouTube channel > 13 years ago where I am lucky enough to have taught millions of people across the globe to increase their skills and overcome everyday real-world Excel problems.

The course includes the exact files that I use in the lessons to download and follow along, lifetime access and 1 on 1 instructor support every step of the way.

Don't delay. Take action. Grab a coffee and let's get started.

Your journey towards mastering Excel starts today. 

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Instructor Details

Alan Murray

Alan Murray is a Microsoft MVP and an Excel & Power BI trainer. He has been training for over 20 years for businesses around the world.

He is the founder of the Computergaga blog and YouTube channel. It has over 650 videos and more than 45 million views. He regularly shares new Excel tips and tutorials.

He is the author of the "Advanced Excel Formulas" and "Advanced Excel Success" books, showing how to get to the next level in your Excel journey.

Alan uses a fun and relaxed style of training that gets to the point and uses real-world practical examples uncovered from his experience of training and developing software for businesses.

Files are provided to follow along and exercises used to recap on topics covered. Alan is always eager to help and will be there for you when needed. He will do his best to answer any question or query related to his courses within 48 hours. 

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More courses by Alan Murray

$12.99

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Reviews

4.6

796 ratings on Udemy

Select a bar to show only those reviews.Select the bar again to show every rating.

By Jack Browning on 9/25/2023

The instructor sometimes, doesn't realise he is introducing new concepts or terminology and does not explain them clearly. Arrays started being used without a clear explanantion of what they are and why to use them. It would also be useful if formulas were explained more clearly, i.e. what each section of each formula is, why is there, and what it does(this is sometimes explained but not always).

By Diana Hill on 8/1/2023

Alan is explaining clearly and in all necessary details. The lessons are well prepared and logically organised. He is also funny but not the "showing up" way, it makes the lessons enjoyable for the user too. I started his other course, VBA but there was a gap in my Excel knowledge, so I decided to buy this one too. From this course I particularly liked lessons 46 with the detailed explanation of true-false, lesson 84 with the Column highlighting trick and lesson 120 with Power Query, a difficult and step-by-step logically well-constructed lesson. I can highly recommed his courses. Please don't give up, watch them again if you need, make notes and you will understand. Good luck everyone with your course(s)!

By Mason Harris on 2/9/2023

I didn't think I'd pick up anything new in the earlier sections, but split panes is new to me and will contribute to my professional work immediately. I'm very much looking forward to the content ahead! Halfway update: One of the more recent lessons on affiliating a drop-down list with a chart has become an essential tool in delivering performance-based results in my profession. I'm especially grateful for this lesson as it presents a more dynamic way of showcasing my data. Halfway through, I'm already able to apply numerous aspects of this course to my profession. I'm excited for the opportunities this second half provides!

By Taylor Luscutoff on 6/3/2021

The videos are clear and mostly easy to follow, however I'd recommend updating the file names for the excel worksheets to include a number for the file so that the title matches the lesson's number and titles. Also, in the event that a particular file will be used for multiple lessons please make note this in the Excel file title and include the corresponding lesson numbers. Also, while the practice sheets are helpful, it might be good to have multiple exercises for each excel formula/function to have more opportunities to make sure you understand the concepts. Otherwise this is a good crash-course on Excel.

By Stefano Raspi on 4/15/2021

I already had a basic / Intermediate insight of MS Excel and thanks to this course I enhanced my knowledge. I particularly enjoyed the Power Query / Power Pivot section as well as many others. Mr Murray speaks in plain English and slowly so that overseas students like me can better grasp the concepts. I recommend this course to everybody

By Peter Miller on 7/26/2020

Perfect match for me. I learned so "MUCH"! The functions taught were very helpful and the amount of time spent on pivot tables and power query hit the bullseye for me. I'm going to practice what I've learned a few days and then start another course to deepen my understanding. This course also opened my eyes to how powerful Excel really can be to complete all of my current projects.

By Christopher Nicholls on 4/17/2020

Perfect for those with a little knowledge of excel, wishing to expand their understanding to the next level. At the half way stage and I'm amazed at how much more different functions and formulae, that I thought I knew, can do. After finishing the course and trying some of what I learned on my own data and projects I am amazed at how much I can streamline formulae and make calculations so much faster. I now understand how macros and vba can do so much more, It will be a future goal to learn more about that. The whole course was well presented and easy to follow and even though we have never met (and probably will never meet) it feels like I have got to know Alan personally.

By Hank Grimes on 5/3/2019

This course was an excellent match for my skill set, and I continue to be inspired by you to get better at Excel. I am especially impressed/thankful for your clear, patient, step-wise approach to VBA, which I have avoided ever since I began working with Excel. You've shown me that programming in VBA is not the monster that I thought it to be. I now know that it's not beyond my capabilities. Thank you and keep doing what you're doing, Alan - you're head and shoulders above the rest!

By Filipe Fernandes on 2/6/2019

Really have to take my hat off to you, such quality content for free is something that needs credit and praise. Thorough course that goes almost down the rabbit hole of Excel. The classes are easy to follow along and the exercises are a nice way to put in practice what we have just seen. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

By Michal Sadowski on 1/14/2019

Goes right into useful tips and tricks (freezing and splitting panes). It goes on to touch on a variety of Excel topics, from simple functions to more complex formulas, charts, PowerQuery, Macros, VBA and more. One drawback I see is there are too few exercises - something I've noticed the most once we've moved on to newer territories and I had trouble retaining material due to insufficient practice. I do intend to take other Excel courses by this instructor.

Exactly what I need. I am a little bit better than basic, but not quite next level. This has helped me fill in the blanks. I hope to learn lots more.

Excellenteleçon

Showing 12 of 102 reviews