In this blog post we will see Microsoft Excel 2013 Features. Most interesting feature of MS Excel is much enhanced User Interface, prior to MS Excel 2010. Microsoft introduces Office button in MS Excel 2007. Office button has been replaced by File button in MS Excel 2010. The same File button exists in MS Excel 2013 as well. We will see the new features of MS Excel which increases the productivity and usability.
- Home Screen
Once the MS Excel 2013 launched, it will display Home screen which is elegant and rich in look. Much care has been taken care by Microsoft in terms of design, user interface and navigation. Also Microsoft considered the evolution of tablet. Hence the ease of navigation of Office 2013 is hassle free.
- User Interface
Though earlier version of MS Excel provides ribbon with Office button, there was no way to create custom tabs. In MS Excel 2010/13, users could create custom tab using Customize the Ribbon option.
Customized Ribbon in MS Excel 2013
File menu lists out the BackStage view of your excel document which shows Info, Recent, New, Print, Options et al.
Also it reveals all properties of your excel document which are editable at single instance.
- Management Tools
Excel provides easy and effective way to manage your docuemt with following options.
Recover
MS Excel allow users to recover excel document if the users forgot to save by navigating to File > Recent in MS Excel 2010, click on Recover Unsaved Documents which opens all unsaved excel documents. File > Open > Recent Workbooks. Default path of unrecovered files is
in Windows7/Vista OS
C:\Users\<USER NAME>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFilesÂ
in Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings\<USER_NAME>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles
Recover Versions
To recover versions go to File > Info, click on Manage Versions then select Recover Unsaved Workbooks which opens browse dialog box with recent copies of unsaved files. See below snapshot.
Protect Workbook
To mark as final and make your workbook as final, to protect your document/sheet/workbook structure with password, to restrict access to users and to add invisible digital signature, go to File > Info, click on Protect Workbook.
To inspect your document, checking the accessbility across users and to validate the compatility with earlier verions, excel provides intuitive way in this latest version.
Checking Compatibility across versions
Compatibility Checker in Excel 2010
- Protected Mode
MS Excel 2013 opens excel sheet from external resource in Protected format. Excel prompts users to enable editing message to secure from vulnerabilities.
- Data Analysis Utility
In Excel 2010/13, data analysis is much more easy and effective using Sparklines, Slicers, Pivot Tables.
Sparklines
Sparklines are tiny charts in a cell that are easy to visualize your data. It is very useful in tracking your business performance, student’s progress et al.
Slicers
Slicers enable users to filter data quickly in a Pivot Table. It slices data into segments instantly based on filters.
Pivot Charts and Pivot Tables
Much improvement in Pivot’s User Interface and its functionality. Slicers can be used in Pivot table. Users can include Show Value features for Ranking, % Running Total etc. Multi-Threading enable users to retrieves data quickly. Now, Pivot Table allows users to fill down labels.
In next post, we will see more new rocking features in Microsoft Excel 2013. If you are enjoying our articles, please do subscribe our free newsletter.