Learn Excel by writing the formulas yourself.

2. Why practice beats watching a video

Videos are good for seeing something done once, like where a button is. The trouble starts when you use them to build a skill, because watching someone write a formula feels like learning. You follow every step, it all makes sense, and the next morning the empty cell gives you nothing back.

Researchers have measured that gap. In a 2019 physics study, Louis Deslauriers and colleagues found that students in hands-on classes learned more than students in a polished lecture, yet felt they had learned less.

Recalling something also sticks better than reading it again. In a 2006 study by Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke, students either reread a text or practised recalling it. Five minutes later the rereaders were ahead. A week later the order had flipped, and the rereaders had expected to do best. This is the testing effect, and other studies have found it many times since.

People also remember an answer they worked out better than one they were shown (Slamecka and Graf, 1978, the generation effect). Typing =SUMIF( and picking each argument yourself is that kind of work. And practice spread over several days is remembered better than the same time in one sitting: Cepeda and colleagues reviewed hundreds of studies of this spacing effect in 2006.

So use a video to see something once. Then close it and write the formula yourself. That is how this site works: every challenge starts from an empty cell, any formula that gets the right answer passes, and when yours is wrong you are told why, in terms of your own sheet.

3. How to practise so it sticks

• Type every formula yourself. Even slowly. Typing is how the argument order sticks, and pasting from a forum skips that step.
• Use small tables. Ten or twelve rows are enough. You can check the answer by eye, so you know whether the formula is right before you trust it on ten thousand rows.
• Change the data and watch. Edit one number. If your total doesn't move, somewhere you typed a number where a cell reference belongs. The checker here does this to every answer, which is why typed-in results don't pass.
• Redo yesterday's challenge first. From an empty cell, without looking. It takes a couple of minutes and gives you recall and spacing at once.
• Learn the three errors. #N/A means a lookup found nothing. #VALUE! usually means text where a number should be. #REF! means a cell the formula pointed at is gone. Knowing which is which tells you where to look.
• Short and often. A few short sessions in a week do more than one long Sunday. Each challenge here is sized for a short session.

4. What Excel tests and interviews check

Many admin, analyst, finance and operations jobs check Excel before an offer. There is no single standard test; each employer writes or buys its own. They tend to come in three shapes: a take-home workbook you send back, a timed test in the browser with a mix of multiple choice and small sheet tasks, or a live task where you share your screen and explain what you are doing. Some run in a simulated Excel that accepts only one way of doing each task, and some are set in an older version without XLOOKUP. That is why VLOOKUP and INDEX MATCH still come up.

The skills they check overlap a lot:

• Totals and counts with conditionsSUMIFS, COUNTIFS, AVERAGEIFS
• LookupsVLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, INDEX + MATCH, and what to show when nothing is found
• References that survive fill-down$A$1, $A1, A$1
• LogicIF, nested IF or IFS for bands, AND, OR
• Percentagesshare of a total, change from last month
• Text cleanupsplitting names, TRIM, numbers stored as text
• Summariessorting, filtering, pivot tables, a simple chart

Whoever marks the test can usually click a cell and see how you got the number. A correct total typed in by hand usually counts as wrong, and so does a lookup range that slides off the table when filled down. The hard-coded numbers and mixed reference challenges practise both. The formats, the skills and free timed practice tests are on Excel tests for job interviews, with a page each for data analyst, finance, accounting and admin jobs.

5. Common Excel interview questions

Interviewers may ask about Excel out loud, before a sheet task or instead of one: the difference between a relative and an absolute reference, COUNT and COUNTA, which lookup you use and why a VLOOKUP returns #N/A, SUMIF or SUMIFS, and when IFERROR hides a real mistake. Keep the answers short and concrete: what it does, one example, the mistake to avoid. Short answers to these and more, by level and by role, each linked to a challenge, are on Excel interview questions and answers.

6. FAQ

Can I learn Excel online for free here?

Yes. All 63 challenges are free, and you don't need an account for them: progress is saved in your browser, or on your account if you sign in. Pro costs $29 once and opens the full course, every lesson in order with a second round on new data, and the full reports of the interview practice tests.

Do I need Excel installed?

No. The practice sheet runs in your browser, with a formula bar, fill-down and the usual keyboard shortcuts. A laptop or desktop is the most comfortable way to use it.

Does it work on a Mac?

Yes. Shortcuts are shown with ⌘ on a Mac and Ctrl on Windows, the way Excel itself works on each.

Will this help with Google Sheets?

Mostly, yes. SUM, IF, COUNTIF, SUMIFS, VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, INDEX and MATCH are written the same way in Google Sheets. Menus and a few shortcuts differ.

Which version of Excel does it match?

Excel 365, the current version. XLOOKUP needs Excel 2021 or 365; the INDEX and MATCH challenge covers older versions.

How long does it take to learn Excel?

It depends on what the job needs. The 63 challenges here take about 190 minutes in all. Doing each one again a few days later, from an empty cell, helps it stay.

Is Excel still worth learning now that AI can write formulas?

An AI tool can draft a formula. You still have to tell whether it is right: whether the range covers every row, whether a $ is missing, whether the lookup is on the right column. That checking is what the challenges here practise.