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What do birthdays and spreadsheets have in common? At GoSkills, they both call for a little celebration! 🎉
This January 2026 marks a major milestone: Excel Challenge #60.
For five years, we’ve been sharing practical, hands-on challenges to help you sharpen your spreadsheet skills — and to celebrate this 60th release, we’re inviting you to take your pick.
Maybe there’s a challenge you skipped. Maybe you want to revisit one with a new approach. You can browse our full archive of Excel challenges and choose whichever one speaks to you.
New here? Or not sure where to start? We’ve rounded up 15 of our favorite free Excel practice exercises — from beginner-friendly builds to dynamic, creative tools you’ll actually want to use.
15 favorite free Excel practice exercises
Below is a roundup of our 15 favorite Excel exercises, spanning beginner to advanced levels:
- 5 beginner-friendly Excel challenges
- 5 advanced-level Excel challenges
- 5 fun and dynamic Excel challenges
You can download all the exercise files in one handy ZIP file, so you can explore and experiment at your own pace.
Grab all 15 Excel challenges
Ready to level up your Excel skills? Download all 15 challenge files and start practicing with real-world scenarios.
Want to see how your solution compares? Click into each challenge to watch the full walkthrough video with expert tips and techniques.
Curious or looking for feedback? Join our Excel Slack community and connect with other learners, pros, and spreadsheet fans.
5 beginner-friendly Excel exercises
1. Using Basic Logical Functions
By Claudia Buckley
Ready to put your formula skills to the test? In this Excel challenge, you’ll help HR prioritize vacation requests based on employee tenure and remaining days off. Your task: create a formula that flags who gets priority, and another that totals vacation days by department.
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Creating conditional logic with IF and OR
- Summing by category with SUMIF
- Referencing drop-down values in formulas
2. Methods for Splitting Cell Values
By Claudia Buckley
This Excel challenge is all about cleaning up messy data fast. You’ll work with a list of major world cities paired with country codes, and your task is to split that info into separate columns using the method of your choice. Then sort the results by country and city.
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Splitting data with Flash Fill, Text to Columns, or Power Query
- Writing basic string functions
- Sorting data by multiple levels
3. Counting Values That Meet Conditions
By Deb Ashby
In this challenge, you’re in charge of tracking guest responses — but not everyone replies the same way. Some say “Yes,” others type “Y” or “X”... and don’t even get us started on the plus-ones!
Your goal: count attendees accurately and recommend the perfect venue.
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Counting values using multiple criteria
- Filtering totals with SUBTOTAL
- Looking up values flexibly with XLOOKUP
4. Prepare an Excel Worksheet for Printing
By Deb Ashby
Ever had a spreadsheet misbehave at print time? In this Excel exercise, you’ll get a messy worksheet into print-ready shape, adjusting layout, headers, and scaling to ensure everything fits and looks great.
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Cleaning up formatting for print
- Setting page layout and scaling options
- Using Find & Replace for quick fixes
5. Dependent Dropdown Lists
By Ilgar Zarbaliyev
This Excel exercise is all about building smarter, cleaner spreadsheets with dynamic drop-down lists. You’ll create a form where the list of cities updates automatically based on the selected state — a handy trick for interactive dashboards, clean data entry, and more.
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
5 advanced-level Excel exercises
6. Clean and Transform Data With Power Query
By Alan Murray
Got messy data? In this Excel challenge, you’ll use Power Query to clean, reshape, and analyze a list of customer issues. A practical intro to real-world data prep!
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Importing and transforming data in Power Query
- Preparing datasets for analysis
- Loading cleaned data back into Excel
7. Automating Repetitive Tasks With Macros
By Claudia Buckley
Tired of repetitive tasks? In this Excel exercise, you’ll build a macro that transforms web analytics data into a ready-made report with just one click.
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Recording and editing macros
- Automating chart creation
- Getting started with basic VBA
8. Create a Column Chart With Conditional Formatting
By Deb Ashby
Can a chart change with your data? In this Excel exercise, you’ll create a dynamic column chart that highlights whether sales meet or miss targets.
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Building conditional charts
- Using helper columns for dynamic visuals
- Formatting charts to communicate clearly
9. Create an Interactive Sales Chart
By Maria Fernanda Castro
In this Excel challenge, you’ll build a sleek sales dashboard that responds to drop-down selections and filters. No PivotTables required!
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Creating interactive charts with formulas
- Controlling chart data with drop-down menus
- Designing responsive chart elements
10. Break-Even Analysis Using Data Tables
By Ilgar Zarbaliyev
How many units do you need to sell to break even? In this Excel exercise, you’ll use a two-variable data table to explore different pricing and sales scenarios.
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Performing what-if analysis
- Using data tables to visualize outcomes
- Applying conditional formatting for insights
5 fun and dynamic Excel exercises
11. Convert Dates Stored as Text
By Chahine Atallah
Not all dates are created equal. In this Excel exercise, you’ll clean up a messy list of task start dates — some stored as text, others as real dates — and figure out which ones began in 2022.
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Converting text values into valid Excel dates
- Using tools like Text to Columns and DATEVALUE
- Filtering based on date logic
12. Make a Progress Bar in Excel
By Deb Ashby
How do you turn a to-do list into a visual tracker? In this Excel exercise, you’ll build a progress bar that updates with each checkbox you tick — perfect for tracking goals, tasks, or habits.
Bonus points for styling it like a pro.
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Inserting and linking checkboxes
- Calculating progress using formulas
- Building and styling a custom bar chart
13. Generate Unique Random Values
By Deb Ashby
Ready to jump into something different? In this Excel challenge, you’ll randomly assign skydivers to jump order and organize them into flight groups — no duplicate positions allowed.
The twist? You’ll need to dynamically fill each plane and label any empty seats with “free spot.”
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Creating unique randomized lists
- Using dynamic arrays to reshape data
- Managing gaps with custom error handling
14. Create a Custom Excel Calculator
By Avery Dace
In this Excel exercise, you’ll build a custom calculator that estimates insurance premiums based on a set of building specs — just like the ones used by banks or vendors.
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Creating input controls with drop-down lists
- Pulling values from multiple reference tables
- Building formulas with XLOOKUP and nesting
15. Create a Dynamic Lookup Tool With Images
By Ilgar Zarbaliyev
Can Excel display a picture based on your selection? In this creative challenge, you’ll build a tool that reveals a player’s profile — including photo, birthday, country, and club — all triggered by a dropdown.
What you’ll practice with this Excel exercise:
- Linking visuals to dynamic selections
- Using INDEX and MATCH to power lookups
- Enhancing analysis with PivotTables and slicers
Ready for the 60th Excel challenge?
We hope this roundup made your decision a little easier — because choosing from over 50 Excel challenges is no small feat! Whether you're tackling one of these 15 favorites or exploring the full archive, Challenge #60 is yours to define.
Grab all 15 Excel challenges
Ready to level up your Excel skills? Download all 15 challenge files and start practicing with real-world scenarios.
And if 2026 is the year you’re doubling down on your Excel goals, don’t forget: GoSkills Excel courses are here to help you learn faster, work smarter, and master new skills one small win at a time.
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Join the Excel conversation on Slack
Ask a question or join the conversation for all things Excel on our Slack channel.
