We want to highlight the Excel 2016 for Mac features that customers rave about and share some tips and tricks that could save you a ton of time using the most powerful spreadsheet and data analysis tool on the Mac platform. Excel like many of Microsoft’s other Office applications are extremely powerful tools that have many ‘hidden’ features. I stumbled on the Analysis ToolPak when I took an quantitative analysis class for my Masters program.
The Analysis ToolPak is an Excel add-in program that provides data analysis tools for financial, statistical and engineering data analysis.
To load the Analysis ToolPak add-in, execute the following steps.
1. On the File tab, click Options.
2. Under Add-ins, select Analysis ToolPak and click on the Go button.
3. Check Analysis ToolPak and click on OK.
4. On the Data tab, in the Analysis group, you can now click on Data Analysis.
The following dialog box below appears.
5. For example, select Histogram and click OK to create a Histogram in Excel.
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
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.