Today’s blog post is brought to you by Anneliese Wirth, who writes about Excel for Office.com.
There are lots of great reasons to step up to Excel 2010 from an earlier version. Some of the new features—sparklines, slicers, PowerPivot—were enough for me to take the plunge personally. If you’ve recently upgraded to Excel 2010, or are just about to do so, I want you to know that we have resources available that can help you through the transition.
If you’re upgrading from Excel 2007, it won’t take you long to figure out Excel 2010. For the highlights, I’d recommend scanning the What’s New in Excel 2010 article or watching the videos in the Make the Switch to Excel 2010 training course.
If you’re upgrading from Excel 2003, you’ll have a steeper learning curve because of the ribbon—the supersized toolbar that replaces the old menus and toolbars. I went through the menu-to-ribbon transition myself after I upgraded to Excel 2007 (when the ribbon was first introduced), so I well understand the challenges here.
5 resources for getting started
Use the following resources to figure out where to find things on the ribbon and get started with Excel 2010.
1. Excel 2010 Menu-to-Ribbon Guide An interactive guide to finding commands on the Excel 2010 ribbon. Click any item on a simulated version of an Excel 2003 menu or toolbar, and the guide reveals the item’s new location on the ribbon. This guide is particularly useful during the first few days after you upgrade.
If you want to share this guide with others in your organization or use it when you’re working offline, feel free to grab the downloadable version here.
2. Excel 2010 Menu-to-Ribbon Mapping Workbook If the interactive guide feels like overkill, we have a simple workbook that maps each command in Excel 2003 to its corresponding location on the ribbon.
3. Excel 2010 Migration Guide This eight-page, printable guide is aimed specifically at Excel 2003 users who are moving to Excel 2010. We’ve reviewed feedback and questions from people who have already upgraded and turned that into a lightweight guide. Their pain, your gain!
4. Make the Switch to Excel 2010 An online training course consisting of 8 instructional videos, a self-assessment module, and a Quick Reference Card.
If you need to train other people to use Excel 2010, you can also download the Make the Switch to Excel 2010 course. This course is available in PowerPoint 2010 (.potx) format. Once you download it, you can add or remove slides, add your own branding elements, or otherwise make it your own.
5. Rev Up to Excel 2010: Upgraders Guide to Excel 2010 A fantastic, FREE 250-page book by Bill Jelen, Excel MVP and author of 32 books about Excel. (Yes, Bill is prolific, and I can’t think of a better person to learn from.) If you want a comprehensive walkthrough from a true Excel expert, this is the resource for you. If 250 pages is too much, just take a look at “Where to find commands in Excel 2010†on page 2 of this book, and you’ll be well on your way.
For more information about Bill’s other books, visit The MrExcel Store.
If you have your own tips to share, or comments about any of these resources, I’d love to hear from you.
