Excel is a spreadsheet program from Microsoft and a component of its Office product group for business applications. Microsoft Excel enables users to format, organize and calculate data in a spreadsheet.

By organizing data using software like Excel, data analysts and other users can make information easier to view as data is added or changed. Excel contains a large number of boxes called cells that are ordered in rows and columns. Data is placed in these cells.  

Excel is a part of the Microsoft Office and Office 365 suites and is compatible with other applications in the Office suite. The spreadsheet software is available for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS platforms.

Common Excel use cases

Excel is most commonly used in business settings. For example, it is used in business analysis, human resource management, operations management and performance reporting. Excel uses a large collection of cells formatted to organize and manipulate data and solve mathematical functions. Users can arrange data in the spreadsheet using graphing tools, pivot tables and formulas. The spreadsheet application also has a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications.

Organizations use Microsoft Excel for the following:

collection and verification of business data;

business analysis;

data entry and storage;

data analysis;

performance reporting;

strategic analysis;

accounting and budgeting;

administrative and managerial management;

account management;

project management; and

office administration.