The 5 Best Excel Books To Get For Beginners & Advanced Users
Written by co-founder Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office Specialist.
While we at Spreadsheeto are fans of online courses (especially our own) – some of the greatest contributors to the Excel community only teach through books.
So, I’ve picked the 5 best Excel books that’ll help you to learn Excel as fast as possible.
Spoiler alert: The “Excel 365 Bible“ is my favorite Excel book. It’s written by the world’s 3 greatest Excel experts and basically teaches you everything worth knowing.
Whether you are a total beginner, intermediate, or even accountant-level, you can find something valuable on the titles listed below.
Let’s go!
Full disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to click on one of our links and buy a book, we get a small commission. Thank you for that!
Excel Books Reviewed
Last updated on January 4th, 2024.
Excel All-in-one for Dummies
(Greg Harvey)
(Greg Harvey)
If you are a total stranger to an Excel spreadsheet, you might want to start with this very basic, easy-to-digest Excel book written in simple language (which makes it perfect for beginners).
Harvey’s Excel All-in-one for Dummies has 8 subtopics that cover topics like:
- Basic formatting
- Creating worksheets and design
- Charts and graphics
- Setting up formulas
- Importing data
- And even macros and VBA
If you’re new to Excel and want to start off right, there’s no better book than Greg Harvey’s Excel for dummies to take your basic Excel skills to the next level.
Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of SpreadsheetoGreg’s book is a whopping 784-pages (literally 8 books in one), and worth every $.
Slaying Excel Dragons
(Mike Girvin and Bill Jelen)
(Mike Girvin and Bill Jelen)
This interesting title catches our attention because of how it speaks for all of us.
We have all, at certain points in our lives, been frustrated (or still are) by the amazing but equally confusing world of Excel.
“Slaying Excel Dragons” is an old book – and although some of the methods used in the book have been replaced by easier functions by Excel – this book still teaches you quirky tricks you just can’t learn anywhere else.
This book provides a rather unique way of teaching advanced concepts of Excel. It’ll get you hooked for sure.
Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of SpreadsheetoAlso included in this volume is their 43 Excel Efficiency Rules. With these and some one-thousand plus screenshot images, you can have a solid foundation of Excel.
Excel Charts and Graphs Ninja
(Henry E. Mejia)
(Henry E. Mejia)
Got a presentation coming up?
In this book, you learn all about charts and graphs in Excel.
The knowledge you get from this book is universal and can be used across all never versions of Excel.
If you are looking to advance your Excel game, this one is a must-have.
Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of SpreadsheetoExpect to tackle topics like:
- Basic and advanced charting features
- Master trend lines
- Pivot charts
- How to use individual chart types and what to use them for
If you are interested in learning charts with this book, get it here.
Microsoft Excel 2019 VBA and Macros
(Bill Jelen, Tracy Syrstad)
(Bill Jelen, Tracy Syrstad)
This one is dedicated to taking your Excel skills into a more serious business scale.
Coming from the two most authoritative names in Excel space, take your Excel-ing to another level.
With the good progression of difficulty, building from the previous lesson to the next, it will help you grasp the skills faster.
Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of SpreadsheetoAlso, with a variety of examples and projects, they try to make the 624 pages very actionable and edible.
This is a worth-every-penny resource for advancing your Excel skills.
And don’t worry that it’s a few years old. The Excel VBA programming language has not gotten any significant updates since then.
Microsoft Excel 365 Bible
(Michael Alexander, Dick Kusleika)
(Michael Alexander, Dick Kusleika)
I saved the best for last!
The trifecta of how-to Excel books came together and put up the Bible of Excel, starting several years back by John Walkenbach.
This book is the “Office 365” follow-up of the popular series.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
If you prefer learning through books – this is the book you need.
Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of SpreadsheetoThey have covered almost everything in their Microsoft Excel bible:
- Visualizing your data using conditional formatting
- Integrating graphics into your sheet
- Making visually stunning charts and multifunctional Excel dashboards
- Importing data and creating a functional spreadsheet
- Functions and formulas
- Data analysis with Pivot tables
- And a lot more!
They got it all covered in this all-encompassing resource for Excel enthusiasts.
With this upgraded and up-to-date 1072-page book, you couldn’t ask for more.
If you get ANY book on this list, make it the “Excel 365 Bible”!
Wrapping things up…
Although there are thousands of Excel books out there, getting the best ones will be your first task.
Getting the right one for your needs will greatly impact your understanding and frustration learning excel.
Just be sure you are aware of what you need and what you are looking for.
So whether you still find Excel as an intimidating task, or wanting to step your Excel game or just looking for a good gift for your friend in the next cubicle at your office, this is a good list for you.
Amazon has every single one of the titles mentioned above and we linked to all of them for you! 😊
Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of SpreadsheetoIf you’re up for something different than a book, consider learning Excel through an online course.
Our flagship course is “Zero to Hero” where you go from beginner to Excel-superuser in 14 hours.
In the course, you learn all the essential and advanced Excel features you will need in the real world – without any fluff.
Learn all about Zero to Hero here!
Or, try my free Excel training right below 😊