What Is Ms Excel Application

Excel is a spreadsheet application developed and published by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software.

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Microsoft Excel focuses on making it easy for users to add in numbers to a spreadsheet. It is then a simple matter for the user to specify formulas in the spreadsheet that interact with these numbers in various ways. For example, a user might specify for Excel to add up all the numbers in a column of the program. Best Application: Primarily textual information: Word table: Text and numeric/date information: Word table or Excel: Numeric information based on dynamic calculations: Excel: Conditional formatting of date fields compared to current date: Excel: Sorting by text, date, or numeric values: Excel. Microsoft Excel is the industry leading spreadsheet program, a powerful data visualization and analysis tool. Take your analytics to the next level with Excel.

Unlike a word processor, such as Microsoft Word, Excel organizes data in columns and rows. Rows and columns intersect at a space called a cell. Each cell can contain a single of data, such as text, a numerical value, or a formula.

Excel was originally code-namedOdyssey during development. It was first released on September 30, 1985.

  • Microsoft Excel help and support.

Excel overview

Excel is a tool for organizing and performing calculations on data. It can analyze data, calculate statistics, generate pivot tables, and represent data as a chart or graph.

For example, you could create an Excel spreadsheet that calculates a monthly budget, tracks associated expenses, and interactively sorts the data by criteria.

Below is an example of Microsoft Excel with each of its major sections highlighted. See the formula bar, cell, column, row, or sheet tab links for further information about each of these sections.

Where do you find or start Excel?

If you have Excel or the entire Microsoft Office package installed on Microsoft Windows, you can find Excel in your Start menu.

Keep in mind that new computers do not include Excel. It must be purchased and installed before running it on your computer. If you do not want (or cannot afford) to purchase Excel, you can use a limited version for free at the Microsoft Office website.

If Excel is installed on your computer, but you can't find it in your Start menu, use the following steps to launch Excel manually.

  1. Open My Computer.
  2. Click on or select the C: drive. If Microsoft Office is installed on a drive other than the C: drive, select that drive instead.
  3. Navigate to the Program Files (x86) folder, then the Microsoft Office folder.
  4. In the Microsoft Office folder, if there is a root folder, open that folder. Then open the OfficeXX folder, where XX is the version of Office (e.g., Office16 for Microsoft Office 2016) installed on your computer. If there is no root folder, look for and open a folder having 'Office' in the name.
  5. Look for a file named EXCEL.EXE and click or double-click that file to start the Excel program.

How can Excel be formatted?

Each of the rows, columns, and cells can be modified in many ways, including the background color, number or date format, size, text font, layout, etc. In our above example, you can see that the first row (row 1) has a blue background, bold text, and each cell has its text centered.

Download an example of a spreadsheet file

We've created a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that can be downloaded and opened in any spreadsheet program including Microsoft Excel. This spreadsheet illustrate some of the capabilities of a spreadsheet, formulas, and functions and allows you to experiment more with a spreadsheet.

Why do people use Excel?

There are many reasons people may use Excel (a spreadsheet program). For example, someone might use Excel to keep track of their expenses. For a full list of reason and examples of how people use a spreadsheet, see our spreadsheet definition.

Why would someone use Excel over a different spreadsheet program?

Today, there are many different free spreadsheet options that someone could use instead of Excel. However, even with the available free options, Excel remains the most-used spreadsheet because of all its available options, features, and because many businesses still use the program.

Tip

Even with all Excel's options, a free spreadsheet program like Google Sheets is often all most users need.

Note

If you want to get Excel because it's a job requirement, it's still okay to learn all the basics in a free spreadsheet program. However, there are still many differences between Excel and a free spreadsheet program.

Excel file extensions

The following file extensions are supported by Microsoft Excel. The default format for saving a Microsoft Excel workbook is .xlsx.

ExtensionNameDescription
.csvCSV (Comma-separated values)A minimal format compatible with many spreadsheet applications. Rows of data are represented as lines in the text file, with columnar breaks delimited by a single character, usually a comma.
.dbfDBF 3, DBF 4The native database file format of DBASE III and IV.
.difData interchange formatA feature-limited, widely-supported file format. Supports saving a single-page spreadsheet only.
.htm, .htmlHTMLContains data formatted in HTML. When exported by Excel, supporting files such as images and sounds are stored in a folder.
.mht, .mhtmlSingle-page HTMLHTML-formatted single page data.
.odsOpenDocument SpreadsheetAn open-source file format supported by word processors including OpenOffice and LibreOffice.
.pdfPDF (Portable Data Format)An industry-standard document format created by Adobe.
.prnSpace-delimited formatted textA format similar to CSV that supports text formatting, created by Lotus. Supports only a single sheet.
.slkSYLK Symbolic Link Format.Supports only a single sheet.
.txtTab-delimited textA text file format similar to CSV, using tab as the delimiter character. Also, stores Unicode-encoded single-page spreadsheets.
.xlaExcel Add-inSupporting file for Visual Basic VBA projects, compatible with Excel 95-2003.
.xlamExcel Add-in with MacrosXML-based format compatible with Excel 2007 and 2013-2019, supporting VBA projects and Excel 4.0 macros.
.xlsExcel Workbook (deprecated)The native Excel file format for Excel versions 97-2003.
.xlsbExcel Binary WorkbookA fast load-and-save format compatible with Excel 2007-2019. Supports VBA projects and Excel 4.0 macros.
.xlsmExcel Workbook with MacrosXML-based format compatible with Excel 2007-2019, supporting VBA and Excel 4.0 macros.
.xlsxExcel WorkbookThe native Excel file format for Excel versions 2007-2019. Supports 'ISO Strict' formatting. Does not support macros.
.xltExcel Template (deprecated)Excel template file format, Excel 97-2003.
.xltxExcel TemplateExcel template file format, Excel 2007-2019.
.xlwExcel Workbook OnlySaves only worksheets, chart sheets, and macro sheets, but does not save spreadsheets. Compatible with Excel 2013-2019.
.xmlXML DataSpreadsheet data exported as XML.
.xpsOpenXML Paper SpecificationAn open-source document format similar to PDF.

What are the different versions of Microsoft Excel?

Microsoft Excel has had several versions throughout its history. The different releases, along with their release dates, are listed below.

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Windows versions

  • Excel 2019, released in 2018
  • Office 365 and Excel 2016, released in 2016
  • Excel 2013, released in 2013
  • Excel 2010, released in 2010
  • Excel 2007, released in 2007
  • Excel 2003, released in 2003
  • Excel 2002, released in 2002
  • Excel 2000, released in 2000
  • Excel 97, released in 1997
  • Excel 95, released in 1995
  • Excel 5.0, released in 1993
  • Excel 4.0, released in 1992
  • Excel 3.0, released in 1990
  • Excel 2.0, released in 1987

Mac versions

  • Excel 2019, released in 2018
  • Excel 2016, released in 2016
  • Excel 2011, released in 2011
  • Excel 2008, released in 2008
  • Excel 2004, released in 2004
  • Excel 2001, released in 2001
  • Excel 2000, released in 2000
  • Excel 98, released in 1998
  • Excel 5.0, released in 1993
  • Excel 4.0, released in 1992
  • Excel 3.0, released in 1990
  • Excel 2.2, released in 1989
  • Excel 1.5, released in 1988
  • Excel 1, released in 1985

What came before Excel?

Microsoft Excel was not the first spreadsheet program, Lotus 1-2-3 and VisiCalc were popular spreadsheet programs released before Excel.

Related Excel pages

  • Microsoft Excel help and support.

Conditional formatting, Formula, Function, Google Docs, Lookup, Multiplan, Office, Office 365, Office Online, Spreadsheet, Spreadsheet terms

Summary :

Are you bothered by the Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action error? What causes this error and how to solve it? Here, MiniTool will analyze the possible causes and offer you some solutions.

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According to user report, Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action error will happen to systems including Windows 7/8.1/10. It is a quite common error. However, it confuses plenty of users.

Tip: What is an OLE action OLE? (Object Linking & Embedding) action is a mechanism that is built to boost communications between Office applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint and other applications for the purpose of finishing an operation.

What triggers the Excel is waiting for another application to complete an Ole action error? Here are several factors that can cause the error. They are summarized as follows.

Excel
  • Many add-ins are added in the application and some of them are corrupted.
  • DDE protocol is disabled from Excel.
  • Office installation is corrupted.
  • There are some conflicts between Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker add-in and Excel.
  • Internet Explorer is interfering with the DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange).

Top recommendation: The Guide to Fix These Libraries Failed to Download Forge Issue

Fix 1: Enable the Ignore Other Applications that Users DDE Feature

Since the DDE application feature can result in the Excel is waiting for another application to complete an Ole action error, one of the solutions is to enable the Ignore other applications that use DDE feature.

Here are detailed steps for that.

Step 1: After opening the Excel sheet, move to the File menu and then click Options button.

Step 2: In the Options dialog box, go to the Advanced tab and then drop down to the General section. Now, check the Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) option.

Now, you can re-open Excel and check if the Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action error is fixed. If not, move to the following fixes.

When you utilize Excel, you may encounter the runtime error 1004. Don’t worry! You can troubleshoot the error with the methods given in this post.

Fix 2: Disable Add-ins

As mentioned earlier, corrupted add-ins can also cause the error - Excel is waiting for another application to complete an Ole action. Given to that fact, you can try disabling all add-ins in the Excel. This method has been proven to be useful by many users. The following are detailed steps.

Step 1: Open Excel and then navigate to the File tab. Click Options from the pop-up menu.

Step 2: Click on Add-ins in the left panel of the next window and then choose Excel Add-ins at the bottom of the window. After that, click the Go button.

Step 3: In the next window, uncheck all the boxes under the Add-Ins available section and click the OK button to save the change. This operation will reduce the load on the application. Now, restart the Excel to see if it runs properly.

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Fix 3: End the Internet Explorer Process

You may also receive the Microsoft is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action error when attempting to save the file of Excel. It is likely that the Internet Explorer process interferes with the Dynamic Data Exchange. Well, you need to kill the Internet Explorer process to solve the error. Here’s how to do.

Step 1: Open the Task Manager from the Start menu.

  1. Right click the Windows icon on the desktop to open the Start
  2. Click on Task Manager from the menu.

Step 2: Scroll down the process list to find Internet Explorer process. Then, right click on it and choose the End task option.

Step 3: Run Excel to see if it runs properly.

What is Microsoft Software Protection Platform Service? Why does it use so much CPU? How to fix this high CPU issue? You can find answers from this post.