Just because electronic spreadsheets like Excel 2002 have become almost as commonplace on today's personal computers as word processors and games doesn't mean that they're either well understood or well used. If you're one of the many folks who has Office XP on your computer but doesn't know a spreadsheet from a bedsheet, this means that Excel 2002 is just sitting there taking up a lot of space. Well, it's high time to change all that.

One look at the Excel 2002 screen (with all its boxes, buttons, and tabs), and you realize how much stuff is going on there. Excel 2002 For Dummies will help you make some sense out of the rash of icons, buttons, and boxes that you're going to be facing day after day. And when you ready to go beyond spreadsheet basics, this guide will also introduce you to

Conjuring up charts
Inserting graphics
Designing a database
Converting spreadsheets into Web pages
Most of all, Excel 2002 For Dummies covers the fundamental techniques that you need to know in order to create, edit, format, and print your own worksheets. In this book, you'll find all the information that you need to keep your head above water as you accomplish the everyday tasks that people do with Excel. This down-to-earth guide covers all these topics and more:

Creating a spreadsheet from scratch
Document recovery
Formatting fundamentals
Making corrections (and how to undo them)
Retrieving data from your spreadsheets
Protecting your documents
Demystifying formulas
Now, even if your job doesn't involve creating worksheets with a lot of fancy financial calculations or lah-dee-dah charts, you probably have plenty of things for which you could and should be using Excel. For instance, you may have to keep lists of information or maybe even put together tables of information for your job. Excel is a great list keeper and one heck of a table maker. You can use Excel anytime you need to keep track of products that you sell, clients who you service, employees who you oversee, or you name it.