What's a skill you're really good at?

How did you get good at it?

It probably wasn't through watching videos and listening to experts.

These can be helpful, of course.

But true mastery likely came from lots of practice.

Trying things out. Figuring stuff on the way.

Learning is like building a muscle.

It's the practice and consistency that really make the difference.

Same applies to learning Excel.

The most common question I get is "How can I get good at Excel?"

You probably know my answer.

So, if you're looking for more practice, I've made it easy for you.

Here's a comprehensive set of Excel Practice Exercises.

You'll cover many topics. Like tables, formulas, data validation, charts, pivot tables, etc. They range from basic to intermediate.

You can treat them as real-world challenges. By doing these exercises, you’ll improve your confidence in your abilities. You'll practice and learn new things at the same time.

If you’re looking for a job, you know that employers want candidates with strong Excel skills. This is your chance to brush up on your skills. Make sure you have a good grasp of functions and features to get the job done.

Get your exercises 👉 here.

We've put a lot of thought and love in creating these exercise packs. Each file has easy navigation and progress tracking. You might even learn a few organization tips and tricks just from the setup of these files.

To add to the fun, I have a summer challenge for you 👇

Win My Upcoming Pivot Tables Course!

Here’s your chance to win my upcoming Excel Pivot Tables Masterclass!

I'm still in the middle of recording this course. What started as a quick guide to pivot tables, pivoted into a masterclass.

It was no surprise to my team, though. They were skeptical from the beginning. They know me too well.

It was almost expected that I'll end up going deep covering all potential pitfalls, etc.

We are on track to release the course in September. Here is your chance to enter our summer challenge and get it for free.

How to Enter:

1. Complete All Three Exercise Packs: Finish all tasks.
2. Add your name: Include your full name in the file names (as shown below).
3. Send them to us: Email your completed packs to info@xelplus.com​
4. Add as Subject: Make sure to write "Summer Excel Fun" in the subject.

Important details to qualify:

⏰ Deadline: 31 August, 2024

🎰 Selection: 10 winners will be randomly chosen from those who submit solved packs.

📢 Winner Announcement: We will get in touch with the winners in the first week of September.

🎗️ Award: Winners will get my upcoming Pivot Table course for free.

What we welcome:

Different methods: The approach you use to solve the exercises doesn't have to match the approach we used in the solutions. It only matters that you get the right outcome.

Mistakes: Mastery is at the end of a mountain of mistakes. Make mistakes. But recognize them. You'll notice if your solutions are different from ours. But then take time to figure it out. For those in our Excel Essentials course, we've included direct links to the right lecture. They have detailed explanations.

Enjoy the summer: Being first isn't important. Don't stress. Fit learning into your schedule. Just make sure you send the pack back by 31st August if you'd like to qualify for the challenge.

I can’t wait to see your solutions! Happy learning and good luck!

​

🤓 Geeky News

🪀One-click templates from PowerToys

You know I'm a fan of PowerToys. It's a suite of useful tools that improve your Windows experience.

And they keep coming up with new ones.

In an upcoming update, PowerToys adds an option to create pre-populated files from Windows context menu.

When you right-click in Windows File Explorer, you can create a new folder, a new Excel file, new Word doc. They are empty shells, awaiting your content.

With New+ from PowerToys, you get a head start.

Some pre-loaded options include:

• a job application,
• a business proposal presentation,
• a daily to-do list,
• meeting minutes.

But you can also create your own, and always have them at the right-click of the mouse button. All the templates are stored in the Documents folder and can sync via OneDrive.

Obviously, Office apps come with their own templates. They also allow you to create custom ones. But it's always a bit of a hassle to get to them. Soon, you'll have a handy shortcut.

🧑‍✈️ Less powerful Copilot in Windows

Microsoft has rolled back some of the capabilities of the Copilot app in Windows.

It started as a taskbar feature, integrated into the operating system. This allowed you to control your system settings with natural language commands typed into Copilot.

With the latest update, all Copilot does is open copilot.microsoft.com in Edge. There's no more Windows integration. It's also no longer linked to the Win+C shortcut.

One upside is that as an app, it can be easily uninstalled.

🌩️ CrowdStrike outage and its fallout

I hope you weren't badly affected by the global blue screen of death (BSoD) computer crash.

Last week, millions of corporate Windows machines stopped working. A third-party security update was at fault.

The outage affecting airlines and banks was particularly chaotic.

Microsoft has since released a tool to speed up recovery. Hopefully, the issue has been resolved.

​Office Watch raises a warning about the opportunity for scammers. Watch out for any phishing attempts that try to pass it off as CrowdStrike fixes.

Let your IT department handle it.

​

👏 Power Stories

I appreciate the shoutout, Norgelio. 😊 I'm glad you found Excel Essentials for the Real World beneficial.

And I hope you're having an equally positive experience with Excel Power Query.

If, like Norgelio, you would like to strengthen your Excel foundations, check out Excel Essentials for the Real World.

If you want to challenge yourself instead, have a go at the Exercise Pack. It might highlight a few gaps in your Excel knowledge.

But I hope you crush it. 💪

Reminder: you can submit your completed exercises by August 31st. #SummerExcelFun 🌞

See you next week,

Leila

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