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Excel at 40 Cover

Excel at 40

The 40 Best Features in Excel as of September 2025

Paid access
|Jan 2025
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Celebrate 40 years of Excel innovation by exploring its best features—from AutoSum and Pivot Tables to Copilot and Python—learning how each advancement reshaped data work, analysis, and automation for modern professionals.

Key Features

  • Comprehensive overview of Excel’s 40 innovations across decades of development
  • Blend of historical insights, expert commentary, and practical modern applications
  • Focus on how Excel’s evolution integrates AI, automation, and collaborative tools

Book Description

This book highlights 40 defining features that have made Excel indispensable since its creation. It opens with early innovations like AutoSum, Freeze Panes, and Pivot Tables before progressing to advanced tools such as Power Query, Dynamic Arrays, and the Copilot AI revolution. Each chapter presents history, context, and application, helping readers appreciate both legacy and cutting-edge updates. Through storytelling and expert insights, the book connects Excel’s past and present, offering a complete perspective on how the tool empowers business intelligence and everyday efficiency. Practical guidance throughout helps readers understand not only how to use each feature but why it matters in the evolution of data work. By exploring practical examples and future directions, readers gain deep appreciation and mastery of Excel’s evolving ecosystem. The combination of technical know-how, anecdotes, and forward-looking analysis makes this book a must-read for anyone invested in the future of productivity and data analysis.

What you will learn

  • Explore Excel's 40 key features shaping modern productivity
  • Utilize Power Query and Power Pivot for advanced data modeling
  • Apply Dynamic Arrays and formulas for efficient data handling
  • Integrate Copilot and Python to enhance automation in Excel
  • Customize views, charts, and visuals for better data storytelling
  • Improve accuracy and speed through smart Excel best practices

Who this book is for

This book is designed for Excel professionals, data analysts, and business users eager to deepen their understanding of Excel’s core and emerging capabilities. Basic familiarity with Excel formulas and data manipulation is expected. Those curious about AI-assisted features and the integration of Python and Copilot will find it especially relevant.

PDF ISBN: 978-1-80669-540-9
Publisher: Packt Publishing Limited
Publication date: 2025
Language: English
Pages: 207