Although Microsoft Excel is a powerful spreadsheet out of the box, macros make it even more useful. You can create and record macros within the app.

Image: AndreyPopov, Getty Images/iStockphoto The data you want to use in an Excel drop down list usually won’t be in the same sheet as the drop down. The good news is that identifying a list on ...

Check out this other Excel macros how-to, where there’s a section with detailed instructions on how to create, name, and use macros. Macro2: Organize and sort data ...

Select your database in Excel and click Insert at the top. Select Table. Confirm your table range, select the My table has headers box (and ensure that it does), then click OK.

By creating Excel heatmaps, you can transform complex data into a visual format that is easy to understand. Heatmaps use color gradients to represent data values, making it simple for you to spot ...

If you have a number of Microsoft Excel worksheets that contain related data, you'll likely need to create a report that consolidates and summarizes the data. If those worksheets are laid out ...

The database capabilities of Excel are very powerful. In fact, not only can Excel be used to create a simple searchable database, it also can be used to create a proper relational database.

Not anymore: Excel 2013’s table tools include features that make it easy to link charts and cells, perform searches, and create dynamically updated reports, just like—yes—a relational database.

Click anywhere in the database to be filtered. Select the "Data" tab from the ribbon, then click the "Filter" icon. Notice that Excel has turned the column headers into drop-down-lists with arrows.