Excel Best Practices to Keep Data Readable

Excel spreadsheets are one of the best ways to organize and share data and are used by businesses and organizations across the world. Of course, an Excel spreadsheet that hasn’t been maintained well can be a nightmare to work with. There is an art to keeping a neat and tidy Excel environment and doing so can make working with data much easier.

This guide will cover some of the best practices to improve Excel data readabilityand help create professional looking spreadsheets every time.

Excel Data Readability: Best Practices

1. Organize Information in the Most Logical Way

A key factor needed to improve data structure in Excel is understanding the way the data is organized. Placing related information in neighboring positions in the spreadsheet will help keep elements grouped and easy to identify. Choosing a standard way to organize information at the start, either by Name, Order, or Type, will set the stage for an easily readable and organized spreadsheet.

2. Label Everything Correctly

Having proper labels for the spreadsheet data will let users know exactly what they are looking at with only a glance. This includes naming conventions, currencies, data types, and anything else you may want easily identified. Having a label will make searching for groups matching the label criteria easy to locate even in huge spreadsheets.

3. Declutter When Possible

Nothing is worth having to read through a cluttered spreadsheet. Considering there can be thousands of lines in a single spreadsheet, knowing when to cut and consolidate data can make huge improvements in Excel data readability. Removing things like decimals, un-needed fields, and blank spaces is a quick way to clean up a spreadsheet.

4. Use Cell Borders

Using cell borders is another easy way to organize and partition different data into sections. Cell borders can be used to separate labels from data using lines of varying thickness. You can set the line thickness using the drop-down menu in the Excel toolbar. This is a more standard way to separate data rather than using blank spaces or dashed lines.

5. Keep Accessibility in Mind

When working to improve Excel data readability, accessibility is another key area that is often overlooked. This is especially important when working with large, diverse teams inside the same spreadsheet.

Easy ways to improve accessibility include using the built in Accessibility Checker. This will run the spreadsheet through set criteria and highlight any areas that could use improvement.

6. Use Formatting Appropriately

Proper formatting is the secret to a good Excel spreadsheet. Knowing when and if to use bold, italics, underlines, or different font colors and thickness will make it easier to comb through all of the data.

Keeping data as characters and numbers rather than having it identified by text boldness or color will ensure everyone using the spreadsheet knows what they are looking at and avoid confusion.