Appendix A. Getting Help in Excel

• Asking Questions

• The Office Assistant

• Other Help Menu Options

On the one hand, you've got to give it up for Excel's developers, who've beefed up the search tools inside Excel's help system to the point where they're actually pretty good. On the other hand, the information you actually uncover in your search can be vague, confusing, and sometimes painfully obscure programmer-speak.

Overall, the Excel help system isn't, alas, much help when you need to tackle new topics or learn fundamental Excel concepts. But if you just need to look up a list of steps, then you'll be thankful it's fairly easy to find what you need. In fact, many Excel gurus use this approach, referring to magazine articles and books (like this one) to learn the tricks of the trade, relying on the online help system only when they need to fill in the occasional memory gap.

In this appendix, you'll take a quick tour of Excel's help system, and see how you can use it to track down a step-by-step list of instructions for many tasks. You'll also take a quick look at the often-exasperating Office Assistant.