What is Analyzing in Excel?

Analyzing in Excel refers to the process of examining and interpreting data to extract
meaningful insights, identify patterns, trends, and relationships, or make data-driven decisions.
This process can include various tasks such as:

• Sorting and Filtering Data: Organizing and narrowing down data to focus on specific
information.

• Calculating Statistics: Using functions to compute averages, totals, counts, and other
statistical measures.

• Visualizing Data: Creating charts and graphs to represent data visually.

• Summarizing Data: Using tools like Pivot Tables to condense large datasets into a more
digestible format.

• Performing What-If Analysis: Exploring different scenarios and their outcomes by

Overall, analyzing data in Excel helps users to better understand their data and make informed
decisions based on the insights gained.

What is Sort and Filter in Excel?

Sort and Filter are two fundamental tools in Excel used for organizing and managing data:

Sort in Excel:

• Definition: Sorting rearranges the order of your data based on the values in one or more
columns.

Steps to Sort:

1. Select the column you want to sort.

2. Go to the Data tab.

3. Click Sort A to Z (ascending) or Sort Z to A (descending).

Filter in Excel:

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 • Definition: Filtering allows you to display only the rows that meet certain criteria while
hiding the others.

Steps to Filter:

1. Select the range of data you want to filter.

2. Go to the Data tab.

3. Click Filter.

4. Dropdown arrows will appear in the column headers. Click on an arrow and select the
criteria you want to filter by.

Assignment: Using Sort and Filter in Excel

Part 1: Sorting Data

1. Create a Dataset:

o Enter the following data into an Excel worksheet starting from cell A1:

Name Department Salary Joining Date

John HR 60000 01/15/2020

Lisa IT 75000 03/22/2019

Mark Finance 68000 07/10/2018

Sara Marketing 72000 09/12/2020

Kevin IT 71000 11/25/2017

Anna HR 63000 05/30/2019

2. Sort the Data:

o Task 1: Sort the data by Salary in descending order (highest to lowest).

o Task 2: Sort the data by Department in alphabetical order, and then by Salary
within each department in ascending order.

Part 2: Filtering Data

1. Apply a Filter:

o Select the entire dataset and apply a filter by going to the Data tab and clicking
Filter.

2. Filter the Data:

o Task 1: Filter the data to show only employees from the IT department.

o Task 2: Filter the data to show only employees with a Salary greater than
$70,000.

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 o Task 3: Combine the filters to show only IT employees with a Salary greater than
$70,000.

Questions to Answer:

1. After Sorting:

o What is the name of the employee with the highest salary?

o In the HR department, who has the lowest salary?

2. After Filtering:

o How many employees are in the IT department?

o How many employees have a salary greater than $70,000?

This assignment will help you practice sorting and filtering data in Excel to manage and analyze
it effectively.

Conditional Formatting:

Conditional Formatting in Excel is a powerful feature that automatically applies formatting (like
colors, icons, or data bars) to cells based on specific criteria. This helps you highlight important
data, identify trends, or flag outliers in your dataset.

How to Use Conditional Formatting

1. Select the Data:

o Highlight the range of cells where you want to apply conditional formatting.

2. Go to the Home Tab:

o Click on the Home tab in the Excel ribbon.

3. Click on Conditional Formatting:

o In the "Styles" group, click on Conditional Formatting.

4. Choose a Rule:

o You can choose from several pre-set rules, such as:

▪ Highlight Cell Rules: Highlight cells greater than, less than, equal to a
certain value, or containing specific text.

▪ Top/Bottom Rules: Highlight the top 10 items, top 10%, bottom 10

▪ Data Bars: Add a colored bar inside the cell to represent the value.

▪ Color Scales: Apply a gradient of colors to represent the range of values.

▪ Icon Sets: Add icons (like arrows, flags, or circles) based on the value.

5. Set Your Criteria:

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 o After choosing a rule, set the criteria (e.g., highlight cells greater than 100).

6. Apply the Formatting:

o Once you've set your criteria, click OK to apply the formatting. Excel will
automatically format the cells that meet your criteria.

Assignment: Conditional Formatting Practice

Task:

You have a sales report with sales figures for different products. Your goal is to use conditional
formatting to highlight key insights.

Dataset:

Enter the following data into an Excel worksheet starting from cell A1:

Product Sales

Apples 1500

Oranges 2000

Bananas 1800

Grapes 1200

Mangoes 2200

Steps:

1. Highlight High Sales:

o Use Conditional Formatting to highlight cells in the "Sales" column that have
sales greater than 1800.

2. Apply Data Bars:

o Add Data Bars to the "Sales" column to visually represent the sales figures.

3. Color Scales:

o Apply a Color Scale to the "Sales" column to show the range of sales, with
higher sales in green and lower sales in red.

4. Icon Sets:

o Use Icon Sets to add arrows next to the sales figures, with an up arrow for sales
above 1800, a sideways arrow for sales between 1500 and 1800, and a down
arrow for sales below 1500.

Questions to Answer:

1. Which products had sales highlighted due to being greater than 1800?

2. How did the data bars help in visualizing the sales data?

3. What color was applied to the product with the lowest sales using the color scale?

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4. Which icon was applied to "Grapes" in the icon set?

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