□ Tip: If you have Excel for Microsoft 365, then consider using Dataverse for Teams as your database instead of Excel. You will need to decide what features are essential for your situation in order to decide if you should use Excel or some other database tool. Not all databases have the same features and functionality. The features that a database has depends on what database it is. This is not a comprehensive list of features that a database will have, but they are some of the major features that will usually make a proper database a more suitable option. ✔️ Your organization might already have access to and use Excel. ❌ Can be expensive to set up, run, and maintain a proper database tool. ✔️ Most people have some experience with using Excel. ❌ A database might not be user-friendly and may come with a steep learning curve that your intended users won’t be able to handle. Tools like Power Query and Power Pivot can help you deal with larger amounts of data but they will be constrained based on your hardware specifications. ⚠️ Excel can hold up to 1,048,576 rows of data in a single sheet. ✔️ Excel has many lookup functions such as XLOOKUP, as well as table merge functionality in Power Query, and 1 to many relationships in Power Pivot. ✔️ Excel can easily aggregate and summarize data with formulas, pivot tables, or power pivots. Excel also has the DAX formula language for calculated columns in Power Pivot. ✔️ Excel has a large library of functions that can be used in calculated columns inside tables. ✔️ Excel allows you to extract and query data through Power Query which is easy to learn and use. These can be manually created or automated in SharePoint. But anyone can access your Excel file if it’s downloaded and sent to them. This is usually managed through your on-premise network or through SharePoint online. ❌ Excel doesn’t have any access or security controls. ⚠️ Excel has some data validation features, but you can only apply one rule at a time and these can easily be overridden on purpose or by accident. But lacks more complex data types such as date and timezones, files, or JSON. ![]() ⚠️ Excel allows for simple data types such as text, numbers, dates, boolean, images, and error values. This can be viewed as a negative consideration. ✔️ Excel allows anyone to add or edit data. ![]() Here are some of the key features of a database and how they compare to an Excel file. Database vs ExcelĪn Excel spreadsheet is not a database, but it does have a lot of great and easy-to-use features for working with data. and retrieve data.įor example, a database might be used to store customer names, addresses, orders, and product information.ĭatabases often have key features that make them an ideal place to store your data. Get the example files used in this post with the above link and follow along below! What is a Database?Ī database is a structured set of data that is often in an electronic format and is used to organize, store. This post will show you what a database is and the best practices you should follow if you’re going to try and use Excel as a database. This is especially true with small businesses since there is no budget or expertise available for more suitable tools. ![]() Since Excel is so widely used and available, it tends to get used frequently to store and manage data as a makeshift database. Do you need to create and use a database? This post is going to show you how to make a database in Microsoft Excel.Įxcel is the most common data tool used in businesses and personal productivity across the world.
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