The database capabilities of Excel are very powerful. In fact, not only can Excel be used to create a simple searchable database, it also can be used to create a proper relational database.

Here's how to create a pivot table in Excel to slice and dice your data, letting you perform in-depth analyses and spot important trends.

Tips This article applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, and Office 365. View the videos listed in the Resources section for more ideas on using Excel's database functions.

To create data bars in Excel, select your cells and then choose data bars from Conditional Formatting.

In other words, these references will never change—I will always use the ID to create the lookup, and the database will always be in these cells.