Hands-on practice for Excel

Excel practice that proves your formula works.

Solve real work tasks in your browser. Cellwise then re-runs your formula on data you haven’t seen, and shows you exactly what broke.

The first module is free. No sign-up needed to start.

Try two answers
E3=SUMIF(A2:A7,"North",B2:B7)
ABCDE
1RegionRevenue
2North1,200RegionNorth
3West900Total1,850
4North650
5East400
6West1,500
7South700
Right, on this sheetNow see what happens when the region changes.

How it works

  1. Do the task in a live spreadsheet

    Every task is a small job from a normal workday. You type real formulas in your browser, and there’s nothing to install.

  2. We re-run it on data you haven’t seen

    Your formula has to get the right answer on the sheet you can see and on three hidden versions of it.

  3. Find out exactly what to fix

    If something breaks, you see what your formula gave, what the answer should have been, and why.

Feedback that names the mistake

“Incorrect” doesn’t teach you much. Here are three of the messages you can get, including mistakes that give the right number today.

  • Right here, breaks elsewhere

    You typed the region name

    Your formula won’t follow G2 when your manager asks about another region. Point at cell G2 instead.

  • Wrong on this sheet

    Your rate reference moved when you filled down

    C2 is right, but lower rows point at F3, F4 and so on, which are empty. Lock the rate with dollar signs: $F$2.

  • Right by luck

    Your VLOOKUP is using approximate match

    Without FALSE at the end, VLOOKUP assumes the list is sorted and can return the wrong row without any warning.

57 lessons, from your first formula to dynamic arrays

See the full course
  • Spreadsheet foundations

    Formulas, totals and quick summaries of a list.

    • Your first formulas
    • Adding up with SUM
    • Average, highest and lowest
    • Counting what’s there
    Start here
  • Formulas that scale

    Fill a formula down a whole table, and make it decide things.

    • Filling formulas down
    • Making decisions with IF
    Start here
  • Percentages and growth

    Percent change, discounts, tax and running totals.

    • Percent change, discounts and tax
    • Locking just the row or column
    • Running totals
    Start here
  • Answering questions about your data

    Totals and counts for just the rows you care about.

    • Totals with conditions
    • Counts with conditions
    • Partial matches and exclusions
    • Totals between dates
    Start here
  • Looking things up

    Pull the right value from another table.

    • Find it with XLOOKUP
    • VLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH
    • Two-way lookups
    • XLOOKUP’s hidden powers
    Start here
  • Working with text

    Split, clean and join the text that real data arrives in.

    • Pulling text apart
    • Cleaning messy text
    • Splitting at a marker
    • Joining text together
    • Replacing and formatting text
    • TEXTBEFORE, TEXTAFTER and TEXTSPLIT
    • Numbers and dates stored as text
    Start here
  • Working with dates

    Schedules, deadlines, tenure and working days.

    • Taking dates apart
    • Calculating with dates
    • Tenure and working days
    • Weekends and working days
    • Times and timesheets
    Start here
  • Advanced logic

    Rules with several conditions, and sheets that handle errors.

    • Rules with several parts
    • Many outcomes with IFS and SWITCH
    • Handling errors and gaps
    • Finding duplicates
    Start here
  • Understanding your numbers

    Middles, rankings, rounding and group statistics.

    • When the average misleads
    • Top performers and rankings
    • Rounding properly
    • Statistics for one group
    • Multiply and add with SUMPRODUCT
    • Whole numbers and remainders
    • Rounding to a step
    Start here
  • Financial functions

    Loans, savings and whether an investment pays off.

    • Loan payments
    • Savings and compound growth
    • Is it worth investing?
    Start here
  • Modern Excel: formulas that spill

    One formula that returns a whole list.

    • UNIQUE and SORT
    • The FILTER function
    • Readable formulas with LET
    • SEQUENCE and SORTBY
    • FILTER with several conditions
    • Top N, chosen columns and stacked lists
    Start here
  • Putting it all together

    Real jobs that take several skills at once.

    • Fixing and using imported data
    • A report that updates itself
    • Budget against actual
    • From timesheet to pay
    Start here
  • Keyboard shortcuts

    Work faster, with Windows and Mac versions of every drill.

    • Moving around fast
    • Selecting without dragging
    • Everyday editing shortcuts
    • Formatting shortcuts
    Start here

More than a course

Everything you need to learn it, keep it, and show an employer you have it.

Checked against real Excel

Practice only helps if it carries over to work. So we ran the same test formulas through this spreadsheet and through Microsoft Excel, and compared every result.

Formulas that matched
218 of 220
Functions covered
114
Lesson answers, examples and guides that matched
821 of 821

Who it’s for

  • Your new job expects Excel

    Get comfortable with the formulas you’ll actually be asked to use, before someone’s waiting on your report.

  • You have an Excel test coming up

    Practice doing the work yourself, without following along with a video.

  • You get by, but you copy formulas

    Find out which of your habits only work by luck, and what to do instead.

Questions

Do I need Excel installed?

No. Everything runs in your browser. It’s a spreadsheet built for practice, not Microsoft Excel itself, but the formulas you learn are the ones you’d use in Excel.

Do formulas behave exactly like they do in Excel?

Almost always. We ran 220 test formulas through both, and 218 gave the same result as real Excel. We also ran every accepted lesson answer and every function example and guide formula through real Excel, 821 in all, and every one matched. One of the two differences, text used as an IF test, gets flagged in the lessons. The other, wildcards in SEARCH, isn’t taught yet.

What if I solve it a different way?

That’s fine. We check whether your answer works, not whether it matches one set formula. SUMIF, SUMIFS and SUMPRODUCT can all pass the same task.

How much does it cost?

The first module, the placement test, the daily challenge, flashcards, function pages and guides are free. Full access to every lesson, the SQL track, projects, mock interviews and the certificate is $49 a year, $14.99 a month, or $149 once. Any payment can be refunded within 14 days.

Do I need an account?

No. Open a lesson and start, and your progress saves in this browser. A free account keeps it safe, and lets you pick up on any device.

Can I use it on my phone?

Use a computer with a keyboard for now. Spreadsheet work is hard on a small screen, and we haven’t tested phones yet.

See how your formulas hold up.

Start the first lesson