What is Excel Online?
Excel Online is part of the Office Online suite of apps that can be accessed from any device on the web. Excel is a spreadsheet tool. It is the online version of the desktop Microsoft Excel program. Excel Online has many of the more popular features you will find in the desktop version, but not all of them. However, Excel Online workbooks can be opened into the full version of Excel when needed.
Possible uses for Excel Spreadsheets
- Analyzing and sharing student grades
- Teaching schedules or unit plans
- Checklists for homework or assignments
- Classroom or technology Inventories
- Grant applications/budgets
- Student information
- Realtime collaborative research
Getting Started
1. Click the file below to download a sample Excel file.
| Excel Training File |
2. Upload the Excel file to your OneDrive account.
3. Open the file, click Edit Workbook, and choose to Edit in Excel Online.
4. Use this file to experiment with some of the features below.
3. Open the file, click Edit Workbook, and choose to Edit in Excel Online.
4. Use this file to experiment with some of the features below.
Ribbon Highlights
Home: Includes many of the notable features from Excel like wrap text, merge & center, format as a table, autosum, etc.
Insert: Turn your data into a variety of different chart types, add hyperlinks, functions, and tables.
Data: If your data is not in a formatted table you can use Sort Ascending and Sort Descending.
Review: View and manage comments, just like in Word Online and PowerPoint Online.
View: Move along. Nothing to see here. Or at least nothing you haven't seen before :)
Start in Excel, Finish in Excel Online
So, what if you started your workbook in the desktop version of Excel, but want to have the same file available online for convenience. What's more, you want the desktop version to stay in sync with the online version. Can it be done? Yes! Here's how:
Of course, the same works in reverse. If the workbook was created in Excel Online you can open the desktop version of Excel and go to File > Open. Select your Sharepoint School account and browse for the file you created online. You can do this with all the Office 365 apps.
- In Excel, go to File > Save as... and choose to save it to your Sharepoint School Account
- Choose the folder you want to save the workbook to and click Save. The file is now in your OneDrive account.
Of course, the same works in reverse. If the workbook was created in Excel Online you can open the desktop version of Excel and go to File > Open. Select your Sharepoint School account and browse for the file you created online. You can do this with all the Office 365 apps.
Hint: Features set up in the desktop version of Excel will be “honored” by the web app – meaning things like conditional formatting and freezing panes will function properly when opened in the web app, even though they cannot be initiated there.
