Excel language settings

ImportantRequired Excel configuration

For this course, configure Excel so that formulas use:

  • English function names, such as IF, AVERAGE, and VLOOKUP
  • commas , to separate function arguments
  • periods . as decimal separators

Your formulas should look like this:

=IF(A1>0,"Yes","No")

Configurations that use German function names such as WENN, or semicolons between function arguments, do not match the course materials.

Windows

  1. In Office or Excel, go to File → Options → Language and set the display language to English.
  2. In Windows, go to Settings → Time & language → Language & region and set the regional format to an English region, preferably English (United States).
  3. Check that the resulting settings use a period . as the decimal symbol and a comma , as the list separator.
  4. Restart Excel after changing these settings.

macOS

Excel for Mac follows the macOS language and regional settings:

  1. Open System Settings → General → Language & Region.
  2. Make English the preferred language.
  3. Set the region to United States, or another English region that uses . for decimals and , as the list separator.
  4. Restart Excel.

You may keep your normal keyboard layout; changing the keyboard language is not required.

Excel for the web / Office Online

  1. Set your Microsoft 365 display language to English.
  2. In Excel for the web, use File → Options → Regional Settings, where available, and select English (United States).
  3. The regional format controls which delimiters the web version uses in formulas.
TipCheck your setup

Enter these formulas in Excel:

=AVERAGE(1,2,3)
=IF(1<2,"yes","no")

If both are accepted exactly as written, your Excel setup matches the course materials.