In this course Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA shares many Excel tips and tricks that he uses to fly through Excel every day. He's fond of stating "Either you work Excel, or it works you!" This course is designed to help you use Excel more effectively. In this course David teaches primarily from Excel 2010, but covers differences in Excel 2003, 2007, and 2013 where applicable.

Topics Covered:

  • Discover how to quickly access folders and workbooks, whether on your computer or a network    
  • Convert Excel 97-2003 files to modern workbook formats with ease.
  • Quickly clean-up accounting data by way of Excel's Text to Columns feature.
  • When Text to Columns won't do, use the LEFT, MID, and RIGHT functions to extract text from a cell.
  • Transform text by way of Excel's UPPER, LOWER, PROPER, and TRIM functions.
  • Learn the most efficient way to link Word documents and Excel spreadsheets
  • Edit PDF documents in Word 2013--useful for unlocking data you wish to edit in Excel.
  • Learn the right and wrong ways to make Excel appear on two or more monitors.
  • Avoid starting spreadsheets from scratch: use prebuilt templates, or create your own!  

Course Series

This course is included in the following series:

2 CoursesTips and Tricks for Excel Efficiency

  • Excel Efficiency: Tips and Tricks I
  • Excel Efficiency: Tips and Tricks II
Learning Objectives
  • Identify approaches to avoid disabled features in Excel 2007 and later by converting XLS workbooks to the newest format
  • Combine text into one column or separate it into several by way of simple Excel techniques
  • Utilize Word 2013's ability to edit PDF documents to get report data into Excel
Last updated/reviewed: March 21, 2024
209 Reviews (610 ratings)

Reviews

5
Anonymous Author
David was very good at explaining everything. I had never heard of a majority of things that he mentioned and he was able to explain them clearly and provide good examples. Before this video, I would say that I only knew the very basic Excel functions, but I feel a lot more confident to use some of the more complicated functions after watching. I also thought it was very interesting that a March Madness bracket is built into Excel.
3
Anonymous Author
I liked that I learned few simple tricks I didn't know before. I didn't like the "still picture" set-up used in the video, it was almost like “audio only” training. There's plenty of softwares that allow you to do webinar videos by recording every step you do in your screen. Learning with this latter method (fully utilizes audio and video features) is a lot easier than just using pictures in a video.
5
Member's Profile
The linking of Excel to Word was nifty and useful, Unfortunately it seems like my versions of Excel and Word were somewhat different and I was not able to get the desired results. Excel did its trick and I seem to update from the excel automatically. My problem was getting Word to produce a printout the same as Excel, all on one sheet.
4
Member's Profile
Good course with some helpful information. Especially helpful were the instructions for editing PDF documents without the expensive version of PDF and the extensive built-in Excel templates. It does get tedious trying to remember the changes between the different Excel versions, but it can be useful information.
4
Anonymous Author
The course is very informative. The speaker did a great job in showing and explaining all the tips and techniques so that Excel will be as easy as an ABC. The only downside is the audio, there are times in the presentation that you will hear an annoying sound and the listener will be distracted from it.
4
Member's Profile
Stated learning objectives were met Stated prerequisite requirements were appropriate and sufficient Program materials were relevant and contributed to the achievement of the learning objectives Time allotted to the learning activity was appropriate Instructor(s) was effective
3
Member's Profile
The video is outdated should follow the format of some of the more recent excel courses that have been uploaded to illumeo. Slides for a video is not very effective and hard to follow. The live feed of where the instructor's cursor was from other videos is much more effective.
4
Anonymous Author
This course was very easy to follow with outstanding visuals. It would be helpful to have a summary document of features by year. I tended to retain what related to the version I have vs. memorizing features of all versions. So, a reference guide would be optimal!
4
Anonymous Author
Not a bad course - bit difficult to follow along on a practice spreadsheet at times but the pause button is a useful tool. Also, not all might have Excel / Word 2013 or better so some features or function explained either remain theoretical or can't be practiced.
5
Anonymous Author
I've taken several excel courses from David Ringstrom and they are always informative. In this one, I was hoping to be able to use the slides as a reference, but they are just too busy to follow compared with earlier courses. Still good material, though.
2
Anonymous Author
3/5 questions at the end were about which versions of excel/word could do a certain application. The take away should not be what versions do what as most people now are using Excel 2013 or better. Focus on the actual application processes.
Anonymous Author
I really liked learning the excel tips in this course. I felt though that the slides weren't that easy to follow and the sound quality was a bit poor in different sections. Also the instructor was going a little too fast at times.
5
Member's Profile
Хочется больше видео непосредственной работы с Excel, а не разговоров об этом приложении. В целом считаю данный курс полезным
5
Anonymous Author
David does an excellent job of showing you useful tips in Excel. The slides are a little hard to follow as they have too much information on each one. The sound quality is up and down throughout the presentation.
4
Anonymous Author
The course is great if you are using the versions noted of Excel 2010 and Excel 2013. If you have Office 365, only the formulas are really applicable. Overall useful to the person who has not used excel very much.
5
Member's Profile
Good practical tips included. I liked the feature where he showed the actual tricks as a demo in excel. I noticed that the Left/Right/Mid functions did not get demonstrated - that would be good to add next time.
4
Member's Profile
I liked the information on how to find templates and I liked the demonstration of what the speaker was doing. I was surprised that you could find templates that already existed. This is a course for beginners
4
Member's Profile
The instructor was great and the information very useful and well presented. The only negative was that most of the video was still shots. I learned a few new Excel tricks that will be very handy.
4
Anonymous Author
Learned areas of chart that I did not realize could be easily transformed for simplicity. Good to have a verbal, showing number sequence and then a follow through with Excel in motion. Good job!
4
Member's Profile
Great course in various tips and tricks of excel. Even though I have been a long-time user of excel, I was not aware of how you could edit pdf documents in Word and then bring them into excel.
3
Anonymous Author
Disappointed. Worst course I have taken from David to date. Slides were convoluted - hard to follow. Section 6 - Linking Excel-Word kept stopping and starting. Took almost 2 hours to complete.
5
Member's Profile
I liked some of the formulas I was unfamiliar with. One downside is all of the different versions of the software requires the lesson to be broken up a lot (not at the fault of the course)
4
Anonymous Author
Thanks for the nice course The final test does not really give a picture on how well you learned during the course I think that the solutions should be provided after the test is passed
5
Member's Profile
I was impressed by the number of tips I didn't already know. Thank you for increasing my Excel skill base. The sound quality could have been better I noticed a lot of background static.
4
Member's Profile
Recovering files was useful as was the pinning and unpinning of files. The examples sued for Text to columns were helpful. Overall learnt a few things that will help my efficiency
4
Anonymous Author
Great course. Even though I use Excel constantly, I found the course worthwhile as I got reminders of things I had forgotten and/or learned some tips to make me more efficient.
4
Member's Profile
Even though a lot of this was very basic, I picked up a lot of good tricks that will save me tons. I won't have to re-type in the future if I forgot to take off the cap locks!!!
5
Member's Profile
Great tips on excel, looking forward to Tips and Tricks 2, for someone who knows excel pretty well, it's always fun to learn things to make your experience faster and better!
4
Anonymous Author
As expected, the course provided some nice tips to simplify working in Excel. My only complaint is that there was more emphasis than necessary on the older versions of Excel.
5
Member's Profile
At some point during the presentation he moved away from the microphone and it was a little harder to hear him. Otherwise the presentation was great! I learned new things.
4
Anonymous Author
This course has some good tips for everyday use. The instructor has a very clear methodology on showing the tips and techniques. Will find other courses by this author.
5
Member's Profile
Quick course on many tips and tricks that helped eliminate extra work. There were multiple tips so if you already knew one you could skip through that one. Good course!
5
Anonymous Author
Great course. Love the 'interactive' presentation method. I always come away from David's courses with a tip, trick or tool that I can use to improve excel efficiency.
5
Member's Profile
Compared to other excel based courses, this course makes it a bit difficult to follow along as training is displayed with pdf slides as opposed to excel spreadsheets
4
Anonymous Author
All the tips/tricks were very helpful. My only critic and its a small thing is the volume through out the presentation wasn't consistent. Like I said small. thanks
4
Member's Profile
Very good course. Information was clear and concise. The activity sheets were effective. Instructor was engaging. I really enjoy the Excel courses on this website.
4
Anonymous Author
I thought overall it was a great course. I actually liked the format of first showing a still slide and then next capturing a video of how to navigate that slide.
5
Anonymous Author
Liked the formatting of the course - the slides are helpful to have for a reference and then the instructor goes through what was covered on the slides live.
4
Member's Profile
Very knowledgeable. I learned a lot. Only feedback to improve, there is a lot in the screen shots. Hard to see it all, and focus. Maybe break it up more?
4
Anonymous Author
There was a lot of feed back on the microphone as well as fuzzy shots of the examples provided. The instructor was knowledgeable about the information
5
Anonymous Author
I really like the concatenate, transforming functions and learning how to link word and pdf documents. This will make using excel muck more efficient.
4
Anonymous Author
Effective course, but it really should be updated to include Excel 2013 and 2016 versions - it is almost 2019 and the course mostly uses Excel 2010.
4
Anonymous Author
Mentioned a lot of insignificant things that will assist me with my work: push pin recent files, use of two monitors and removing extraneous marks.
5
Member's Profile
I could not follow along on my computer from about mid-way as I have 2010. But I was able to retain the information as he explains things very well.
3
Anonymous Author
It would be nice if the course materials were stand-alone. As they are now, it's hard to make much use of them without accessing the course itself.
5
Member's Profile
Quite interesting. I had taken a Mr. Excel course, but yours was easier to follow - he had quite a bit on more complex files than i will ever use!
3
Member's Profile
Good course, learned some tips and tricks. Would be nice if you could choose your version of Excel to eliminate info that does not pertain to you.
2
Member's Profile
If I had known that the slides were not easy to understand and the instructor was not very good, I would not have wasted my time on this course.
4
Member's Profile
Introduced some new tips that were not necessarily formula based but useful all the same especially when dealing with complex text manipulation.
5
Member's Profile
Great course, slides and great presentation that were clear and easy to follow! I especially enjoyed the transformation and linking segments.
5
Member's Profile
Learning the differences between excel versions is helpful because not every work environment will have the same version that I am used to.
4
Anonymous Author
Good review of tips but I don't think it's very useful to know which version of excel. Most professionals use current or one version back
3
Anonymous Author
Quality of sound was not good. Volume was up and down and could not hear the last section. Also, had intermittent background distortion.
5
Member's Profile
I like all the Excel tips and tricks introduced in the materials. I am using Excel 2016. Hopefully the updated course will be here soon.
5
Member's Profile
I had done many of these functions shown in this course through many manual steps. I will keep these examples on hand for future use.
3
Anonymous Author
Some things were straightforward, other times, it was hard to hear him. Overall though, the formulas he taught us were very helpful!
5
Member's Profile
Liked that the instructor talked quickly. In addition, he said what he was going to show, and then went through the actual steps.
4
Anonymous Author
There were quite a few useful tips that I didn't know about. Definitely helpful intro training for people new to or rusty at Excel.
5
Member's Profile
Great pace and great visuals. There was a wide enough range in the tips provided to show useful tools, but it wasn't overwhelming.
4
Member's Profile
It was very informative, i actually really enjoyed the PDF to word to excel trick. Felt it was a bit long for what was covered.
5
Anonymous Author
Fantastic course outlining some great tips and tricks. I like courses like these as they help me work not only harder, but smarter
4
Anonymous Author
The course revealed very useful tips in executing excel commands more effectively. Found the date conversion lesson very helpful.
5
Anonymous Author
As always, tips I can use most every day working with Excel. I will keep these close by so that I can refer to them in a pinch.
4
Member's Profile
even the training is old, but still working text to columns learned linking excel -word and editing PDF span two monitors
4
Member's Profile
Course was overall very informative. Great way to explain how to use the text to column and concatenate functions in excel.
3
Member's Profile
It would be better if the items were shown in motion (vs. the slide with numbers). Also the sound quality was a bit poor.
5
Anonymous Author
David Ringstrom is an awesome teacher for excel! He does help you with practical problems if you send him your worksheet.
4
Anonymous Author
Some nice tips but the Audio Quality is not the best and learning Excel with PowerPoint Presentation is not the best way.
3
Anonymous Author
I learned some good tricks in this course. There was a humming noise through parts of it that was distracting though.
5
Member's Profile
This course gives you useful efficiency tools to help with Excel. I wish I knew a few of them before I started my job!
4
Anonymous Author
Great to see the functionality among MS products over the versions. Especially the explanation for objects in Excel.
3
Anonymous Author
Good Info but want to see more on screen not just still slides. Very poor sound quality on many of the slides.
4
Member's Profile
Great course for those who are new to excel and the walkthrough are very helpful to see each process step by step
3
Member's Profile
I liked the formulas but I didn't think it was very helpful to compare different versions of Excel, Word and PDF.
3
Member's Profile
It was a bit confusing seeing a lot of steps on one slide. Better when it was animated during the presentation.
4
Member's Profile
No Basic excel functions learned in this course. Don't believe "efficiency" is the right topic for course name.
5
Member's Profile
Dated content, should be removed. Thank you.. Thank you.. Thank you.. Thank you.. Thank you. 50 characters.
5
Member's Profile
This is a short course that packs useful excel tricks and tips that I can apply on a daily basis at work.
5
Anonymous Author
The instructor is excellent in explaining and showing all of his Excel tips and tricks. I learned a lot.
5
Anonymous Author
This course covered some seemingly basic concepts that are huge time savers if you are unaware of them.
5
Anonymous Author
The upper, lower,etc and the trick of expanding Excel onto 2 screens without opening a second version.
4
Member's Profile
The professor game a lot of different examples and definitely showed me some shortcuts I didn't know.
5
Member's Profile
Nice excel refresher. Some valuable tips and tricks to improve your efficiency when using MS excel.
4
Member's Profile
A little dull at points, but overall thorough look at elements of excel that will be useful for work.
3
Anonymous Author
Audio had quite a bit of feedback in places; slides were busy and in some cases difficult to follow.
5
Member's Profile
better than expected. I learned quite a few things and I am already a pretty advanced user of Excel.
4
Anonymous Author
I thought this course was very helpful & showed some me some tricks that I hadn't thought of before.
5
Anonymous Author
Great supporting material and I enjoy the summary first slide that shows the steps. Awesome course!
4
Anonymous Author
This course was a great spot to begin learning some tricks and tips for using Excel as a beginner.
5
Anonymous Author
Really like David Ringstrom's style of teaching: explain first, then demonstrate. Works for me.
5
Member's Profile
The course is designed well, and provides the user helpful information to improve their workflow.
5
Member's Profile
I love this XL guy. He's got great slides and always takes the time to explain them properly.
5
Member's Profile
Mr Ringstrom has once again highlighted the features that can assist the everyday Excel user.
4
Anonymous Author
Informative. More effective if used video or used actual worksheets and not just screenshots.
3
Member's Profile
I knew a lot of the content already, however there were some neat little tips incorporated.
4
Member's Profile
It was good to learn about the different years of excel and which years have what functions
5
Anonymous Author
These great little tricks were easy to learn and will make working in Excel more efficient!
4
Member's Profile
Loved how this was all about the nuances in excel, made it more efficient and applicable
3
Anonymous Author
Basic review of select Excel topics with some material perhaps not commonly encountered.
5
Anonymous Author
Instructor went a a good pace & I liked that he recommended a book for further learning.
3
Member's Profile
I prefer to see every step being done and not looking at it from a numbers screenshot.
5
Member's Profile
I found this course is pretty useful. Some functions I've never used before. Thanks.
5
Member's Profile
I learned some new things! Well taught course that covers some basic tips and tricks.
3
Member's Profile
Covered a lot of material very fast. Maybe slow down and show more actual examples.
4
Anonymous Author
Some really great time saving tips, but some of the screenshots were a little busy.
4
Anonymous Author
Helpful although I had trouble following the slides for the editing PDF documents.
4
Member's Profile
Helpful overview of the material. Enjoy the concatenate function and use it often.
4
Anonymous Author
It was very informative, but I found it hard to follow at times. But good overall.
5
Member's Profile
Good examples, for quick look at how the concepts work with small amounts of data.
5
Anonymous Author
Great tips and tricks. Flow of course was perfect. Ready to see more in class II.
5
Anonymous Author
Good information on features I was not aware of in the various versions of Excel.
5
Member's Profile
Great help..do you have a good trick to compare text in two columns for matches?
4
Anonymous Author
Material is dated, but useful. Sound was poor in places -- scratchy and fading.
4
Member's Profile
The materials are clear and detail. Use cases are simple and easy to follow.
4
Anonymous Author
Great review and reminders of things that I don't always use on a daily basis.
3
Member's Profile
The overlap of information on the slides makes it hard for reference purposes.
4
Member's Profile
Word 2013 convert from/to pdf function and how to use the concantate function.
5
Member's Profile
very good course. the examples from the real world were helpful and insightful
4
Anonymous Author
Very informative information that can be used on an daily basis in workbooks.
5
Anonymous Author
Found the course very informative and will assist me when working in Excel.
5
Member's Profile
Very helpful and presented in a way that would help me remember these tips
5
Member's Profile
Very detailed slides to follow. Instructor obviously well versed in excel.
4
Anonymous Author
Wish I knew which question I got wrong and what the correct answer was.
4
Anonymous Author
This was a good course. I learned a lot even though I use Excel everyday.
5
Member's Profile
Good Introduction into functionality that people may not use every day.
4
Anonymous Author
I enjoyed the training and learned a lot of tricks and tips with excel.
5
Member's Profile
This was a good class, showed many short cuts helpful when using excel.
5
Anonymous Author
Long time excel user and found many tips that I will now use regularly
3
Member's Profile
Some helpful hints but difficult to see and follow pictures presented.
5
Member's Profile
Very good for beginners and not so beginners. I strongly recommend it.
5
Member's Profile
Just a really great and special program, thanks for brining it to me.
5
Anonymous Author
Provided good clearity on the Concatenate and text to column functions
5
Anonymous Author
This course is entry level or a good refresher. Easy to follow along.
4
Member's Profile
Good review of some things I already knew and some new useful tips.
5
Member's Profile
Loved how the pages showed all the steps, with lots of graphics.
5
Anonymous Author
Interesting course, with unique lessons compared to other courses
5
Anonymous Author
Great tips to use more efficiently Excel on a day-to-day basis.
4
Member's Profile
Great course. I learned many tricks I can use in the future.
4
Anonymous Author
Great tips and tricks, especially the 2 screens tip. Thank you.
4
Anonymous Author
A little outdated at this point, but still very well explained.
4
Member's Profile
I liked the extra tip of deleting objects within a workbook.
5
Member's Profile
Easy to understand and examples are useful to apply real work.
5
Anonymous Author
Great refresher even though this presentation is quite dated.
5
Member's Profile
Learned quite a few new tips & ideas. Good refresher course.
3
Member's Profile
Okay course not great 123456789012334 . 45667 ttyytwrrttttwb
5
Member's Profile
Thanks for the great info, I enjoyed learning from the video
3
Anonymous Author
content was okay but examples and videos are a bit stale -
4
Anonymous Author
Very informative, basic look at what excel can help you do
5
Member's Profile
Really useful information! Looking forward to using it!
4
Member's Profile
good tips to link excel and other files like word and pdf
5
Anonymous Author
This course certainly provided some helpful excel tips.
4
Member's Profile
some of it went a little fast but overall a great help!!
3
Member's Profile
works for what i need to renew my cpa and cia licenses.
4
Anonymous Author
I learned some quick easy tips that i could use daily
2
Member's Profile
Not terribly relevant now that Excel 2016 is available.
5
Member's Profile
a course to refresh basic excel functions. very useful.
4
Member's Profile
Some useful information, especially working with text.
4
Anonymous Author
Some pretty solid tips and tricks I will incorporate.
4
Member's Profile
Good if you're relatively new to Excel tips & tricks
5
Anonymous Author
Great course for those just getting started in Excel
5
Anonymous Author
A good refresher course and learned a few new tips.
4
Anonymous Author
good tips and tricks even though I use excel a lot.
4
Anonymous Author
Enjoyed learning a few tricks I hadn't used before.
3
Anonymous Author
I took this course and it was good. Then I passed.
5
Member's Profile
The instructor is very knowledgeable about Excel.
3
Anonymous Author
Needs more detail instead of a still screen shot.
4
Member's Profile
I would like to see what questions I got wrong.
5
Member's Profile
Audio wasn't the greatest with lots of "humming"
5
Anonymous Author
Everything presented was new to me and useful.
5
Anonymous Author
Good tips, some of which I had never heard of.
5
Anonymous Author
Provided very useful information and guidance.
5
Anonymous Author
Will definitely help with efficiency at work!
5
Member's Profile
Always learn something new form these courses
5
Member's Profile
Learned a few nice tips I didn't know about
5
Member's Profile
These are tips I can use on a daily basis.
5
Member's Profile
Clear discussion by presenter of material.
5
Member's Profile
Great details which will make job easier
3
Member's Profile
Most all of course was straight forward.
5
Anonymous Author
learned a lot, very easy to understand.
5
Anonymous Author
very good ideas for excel efficiency.
5
Anonymous Author
Solid class - easy to understand.
3
Member's Profile
Very informative but a little fast.
5
Anonymous Author
good review of Excel functionality.
5
Anonymous Author
Very good course. Would recommend.
4
Anonymous Author
Great tips for text to columns!
4
Member's Profile
Good tips that I did not know.
4
Anonymous Author
Practical tips and shortcuts
4
Member's Profile
Learned tips I didn't know.
5
Member's Profile
Love this one! So helpful.
4
Member's Profile
It was very knowledgeable.
4
Anonymous Author
Short Sharp and Practical
4
Member's Profile
Good tips and tricks!
5
Anonymous Author
Interesting new tips.
5
Member's Profile
liked the short cuts
4
Anonymous Author
Easy to comprehend.
5
Anonymous Author
Good presentation
5
Anonymous Author
Great tips! tanks
4
Member's Profile
Easy to follow.
5
Member's Profile
Good excel tips
5
Member's Profile
Good questions.
5
Member's Profile
Easy to follow
5
Anonymous Author
Great course
4
Anonymous Author
Very helpful
5
Anonymous Author
Good course!
5
Anonymous Author
Great tips!
5
Anonymous Author
Very good.
5
Member's Profile
Great!
5
Anonymous Author
Thanks!
4
Member's Profile
none
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Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Intermediate

Prerequisite: Basic proficiency with Excel

 

Advanced Preparation: None

 

Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Course Questions and Answers1 Question
There are no questions.         Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Member's Profile
Craig Scanlon
(Owner at BST) | Mar 2, 2017

Not specifically about this course, but is there a command to compare text from two columns to determine if they match? I can't seem to find in my searches

Instructor for this course
  Course Overview CPE
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
  7:06PREVIEW: Introduction and Converting XLS Files
Tips and Tricks
  Concatenating Text4:15
  Recent Items Menu4:41
  Text to Columns Wizard9:00
  Transformation Functions5:19
  Linking Excel-Word and Editing PDF Files9:38
  Span Two Monitors - Excel Templates6:35
Conclusion
  Book Recommendation - Closing Comments2:06
Continuous Play
  Excel Efficiency: Tips and Tricks I48:37
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
  Slides: Excel Efficiency: Tips and Tricks IPDF
  Excel Efficiency: Tips and Tricks I Glossary/IndexPDF
  Excel Efficiency Tips and Tricks I-Excel 2003xls
  Excel Efficiency Tips and Tricks I-Excel 2007-2013xlsx
REVIEW & TEST
  REVIEW QUESTIONSquiz
 FINAL EXAMexam