External data is data that is stored outside of Excel, in databases created in Microsoft Office Access, Microsoft SQL Server™, or on a Web server, for example. Whether that data is in a database stored on your computer or on a remote server, it's a snap to import it into Excel.

Once you have the data in Excel, there are all sorts of ways you can analyze it. You can use AutoFilter to see just the data you need to see, create PivotTable reports to organize and summarize your data to reveal its meanings, or use charts to create pictures out of the data.

And if the information in the external data changes, you can refresh the data in Excel to keep it up to date.

To learn more about this course, read the overview in the center of this page or the table of contents in the left column. Then click Next to start the first lesson.

To learn about other ways to import external data, see the following courses:

• Import data: Import text files into Excel
• Import data: Filter external data before importing it into Excel