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Microsoft Excel For Mac Manual

There hasn't been an official printed manual for Word for many years, but the Quick Start guide Desiree pointed you to will get you started. Other Microsoft (and third-party) articles cover many other specific Word features, both in Word 2016 and in other versions.

  1. Open the Mac App Store from your Dock or Finder. Click Updates on the left side menu. Click Update All, or click the Update button next to the apps that you want to update.
  2. Save time and conquer the spreadsheet with these 50 Excel keyboard shortcuts. Get the most out of Excel in Windows with these pro tips. This is an accessible template.
The Download Now link above will take you to the Microsoft Office web site, where you may continue the download process. You must have a Microsoft account with an active Office 365 subscription in order to download and install the software.

Excel 2016 for Mac brings lots of welcome improvements to the workhorse spreadsheet but also leaves out useful tools.

Pros

Microsoft Excel For Mac ManualManual

Microsoft Excel Mac Os

Moving to the cloud: Like the other apps in the latest Mac Office suite, Excel 2016 lets you store, sync, and edit files online, via Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage service. You can also save Excel files to your Dropbox account.

Collaborate: Excel 2016, through OneDrive, lets you share documents with colleagues and collaborate in real time. You can chat online as well, either through a document chat window or through Skype.

Modern design: The redesigned ribbon for the Mac version of Excel borrows the look and feel of its Windows counterpart, presenting tools and formatting options in much the same way as Excel for Windows does. Excel also recommends appropriate charts based on spreadsheet data.

Moving across platforms: Excel 2016 supports many of the Windows keyboard shortcuts and most of the Excel 2013 for Windows functions, which should make it easier to use the tool across platforms. The update also includes an Analysis ToolPak add-in, PivotTable slicers for analyzing data, and an improved formula builder.

Cons

Macro limits: Prior to Office 2016, you could build macros in Excel for Mac. The 2016 edition offers what Microsoft calls a 'simplified' Visual Basic Editor (VBE), which allows you to debug existing macros. But if you want to build new macros, you need to do that on the Windows side or use an earlier Mac version. For those who built macros in preceding Mac editions, this is a big loss.

Bottom Line

Excel 2016 is probably worth the upgrade just based on its ability to take advantage of OneDrive. The new analysis tools and formula builder help keep Microsoft's spreadsheet an essential tool. Hobbling its macros tool, however, diminishes a bit of the attraction for serious users.

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What do you need to know about free software?

Microsoft AutoUpdate makes sure your copy of Office will always be up-to-date with the latest security fixes and improvements. If you are an Office 365 subscriber, you'll also receive the newest features and tools.

Set up Microsoft AutoUpdate

  1. Open any Office application such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook.

  2. On the top menu, go to Help > Check for Updates.

    Important: If you don't see Check for Updates on the Help menu, download the latest version of the Microsoft AutoUpdate tool. Run the tool and then start over at step 1. The Check for Updates option now appears on the Help menu.

  3. Under 'How would you like updates to be installed?', select Automatically Download and Install.

  4. Select Check for Updates.

    If an update is available for your version of Office, you'll see a link to a website with more information about the update.

Update Office from the Mac App Store

If you downloaded Office from the Mac App Store, and have automatic updates turned on, your apps will update automatically. But you can also manually download the updates:

  1. Open the Mac App Store from your Dock or Finder.

  2. Click Updates on the left side menu.

  3. Click Update All, or click the Update button next to the apps that you want to update.

Early access with Office Insider

You can join the Office Insider for Mac program to get early access to the newest Office innovations. To join, simply check the box Join the Office insider program to get early access to new releases. What is Office Insider?

More about Microsoft AutoUpdate

You can find Release notes for Office for Mac here. If you're looking for previous release downloads for Microsoft AutoUpdate, see Update history for Office for Mac.

Need help with Microsoft AutoUpdate?

Troubleshoot Microsoft AutoUpdate

If you're having trouble updating with Microsoft AutoUpdate, use these troubleshooting steps.

  1. Open Safari and download the latest version of Microsoft AutoUpdate.

  2. Open Finder. Press Command +Shift+h.

  3. Go to Library > PrivillegedHelperTools and make sure that com.microsoft.autoupdate.helpertool exists. Run Microsoft AutoUpdate.

    If the file doesn't exist, redownload Microsoft AutoUpdate using the link above.

Microsoft Excel For Mac Manual Free

Updated Office, but not seeing subscription features

If you previously had a one-time purchase of Office on your Mac but now are an Office 365 subscriber and aren't seeing certain subscription features, your copy of Office may still be using the license of your one-time purchase and not your subscription. See How to remove Office license files for help.

Microsoft AutoUpdate crashing

Excel

We are aware of an issue where older versions of Silverlight are causing Microsoft AutoUpdate to fail. See Microsoft AutoUpdate crashes with older versions of Silverlight for more information.

Microsoft Excel For Mac Manual

See Also

Microsoft Excel For Mac Manual Software

What's new in Office 365?