At a glance
Are you working with a specialized set of data that the standard Excel features just don’t seem to address? Did you know that Excel add-ins give you additional features above and beyond the standard application? Excel 2016, in particular, offers a few built-in add-ins that you’ll want to check out. It also offers a streamlined way to purchase more add-ins—and manage the ones you have.
To manage add-ins in Excel 2016, we’ll:
Excel offers many ways to analyze and present data, but it cannot anticipate all of your data needs. Excel add-ins offer additional ways to work with your data that are not part of the standard Excel application. These add-ins can give you innovative ways to work with specialized data, as shown in Figure A.
Excel 2016 offers two built-in add-ins that you can use to supplement the new version: infographics and Bing Maps. Both tools offer alternate ways to visually represent your data.
In addition, you can easily access the Microsoft Store to purchase more add-ins. You can also manage your installed add-ins right from Excel. Here’s what you need to know about discovering and managing your Excel 2016 add-ins.
Explore Excel 2016’s two built-in add-ins
There are two add-ins that you will see already installed in Excel 2016. You can access these add-ins, along with other tools for managing add-ins, on the Insert tab, as shown in Figure B.
Present data as an infographic
One of the add-ins available in the Add-ins area of the Insert tab creates a visually appealing infographic from your data. Here’s how we put it to good use.
To create an infographic for your data:
A: One of the built-in Excel 2016 add-ins allows you to present data in a visually appealing infographic.
B: The two icons on the right side of the Add-ins area represent the built-in add-ins: Bing Maps and an infographic add-in.
Put Bing Maps to work
The second add-in already installed in Excel 2016 is a Bings Map add-in that will plot data points on a map, allowing you to visually compare geographic data. Here’s how to get your geographic data mapped in no time.
C: Aggregate your data into the categories you’d like to see in your infographic.
To map geographic data with a Bing Maps add-in: