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Microsoft Excel is a popular spreadsheet program used to store, manipulate and analyze various forms of data. If you are using Excel on your Windows or Mac computer, you may be wondering how you can further optimize your skills using the program.

Here are a few tips to make your data analysis easier, and more professional.

Use Conditional Formatting
Conditional formatting is a useful function that can highlight variances in your data so that they become immediately visible. To use conditional formatting you highlight the cells that you want to apply the formatting to, and then choose conditional formatting from the options in the ribbon. A window will open where you can set your criteria for the formatting.
Paste Special
Copy and pasting are used often in Excel spreadsheets, but there are many different ways you can paste data. You can choose to just paste the text, the text and formulas, or even include the formatting. To choose the special formatting that you require, right-click on the cell where you will be pasting the data. Now, click on ‘Special Paste’ and there will be many options to choose from.
Adding Multiple Rows
Sometimes you will get to a point where you need to add more rows to your spreadsheet. This is easy enough to do. Highlight an empty row at the bottom of the sheet where you want to add more, right-click and choose ‘Add Row’. If you want to add multiple rows, highlight a few rows and repeat the process.
Absolute References
This is an indispensable tool when using Excel. Sometimes when you copy a formula it adjusts the formula to the next row or column, but you may not always want that. You may want a value in your formula to always refer to a certain cell or value. To do this you have to place a $ before the row reference and again before the column reference, for example, $A$10. This will lock the reference in the formula.