Excel is a spreadsheet program used to store and manipulate data. It consists of workbooks containing worksheets with rows and columns that intersect to form cells. The basic Excel features include functions, auto fill, charts, and pivot tables. Shortcut keys allow quick navigation between tabs, selecting ranges, editing cells, and common commands like save, print, open and close. The document provides an overview of Excel and its key components along with examples of functions and commonly used shortcut keys.