SQL for Excel Users: The Queries You Need to Know

SELECT: Choosing Columns

Like choosing which columns to show in Excel:

SELECT Name, Email, Phone FROM Customers

SELECT * gets all columns (like unhiding everything).

WHERE: Filtering Rows

Like Excel's Filter feature:

SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE Total > 1000

Multiple conditions:

WHERE Total > 1000 AND Status = 'Shipped'

Text matching: WHERE Name LIKE '%Smith%' (like Excel's “contains”)

ORDER BY: Sorting

SELECT * FROM Products ORDER BY Price DESC

ASC = ascending (A-Z, low to high), DESC = descending (Z-A, high to low).

GROUP BY + Aggregates: Like Pivot Tables

Summarize data by categories:

SELECT Region, SUM(Sales) FROM Orders GROUP BY Region

Common aggregates: SUM(), COUNT(), AVG(), MIN(), MAX()

JOIN: Like VLOOKUP Across Tables

Combine data from related tables:

SELECT Orders.OrderID, Customers.Name FROM Orders JOIN Customers ON Orders.CustomerID = Customers.ID

This is like VLOOKUP, but handled by the database for better performance.

TOP/LIMIT: First N Rows

Get just the first rows (useful for testing):

SQL Server: SELECT TOP 100 * FROM Orders
MySQL/PostgreSQL: SELECT * FROM Orders LIMIT 100

Official Resources

• SELECT statement — SQL Server query syntax
• Create tables — SQL Server table basics