The Excel and SQL Server experts blog

Inserting data into SQL Server is a fundamental operation for business users who need to add new records to their databases. This guide will walk you through the process of using the INSERT statement in SQL Server, providing comprehensive steps and code snippets you can use directly in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). Understanding the …

Deleting data in SQL Server is a critical operation for business users who need to remove obsolete or incorrect records from their databases. This guide will walk you through the process of using the DELETE statement in SQL Server, providing comprehensive steps and code snippets you can use directly in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). …

The SELECT INTO statement in SQL Server is a powerful tool for creating new tables and copying data from existing tables or queries. This guide will walk you through the process of using the SELECT INTO statement in SQL Server, providing comprehensive steps and code snippets you can use directly in SQL Server Management Studio …

Updating data in SQL Server is a common task for business users who need to ensure their data remains accurate and up-to-date. This guide will walk you through the process of using the ‘UPDATE’ statement in SQL Server, providing easy-to-follow steps and code snippets you can use directly in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). Understanding …

If you want to keep track of when changes were made to your data, or see how data changes over time, you need to start using temporal tables in SQL Server. Microsoft introduced this great feature in the 2016 version of SQL Server, but is still relatively unknown. A common associated challenge with tracking changes …

In this article, we’re going to show you how to get started with Azure SQL. Azure SQL is one of the many services offered on Azure, Microsoft’s comprehensive cloud computing platform. And it enables organizations to run workloads and develop applications in regional data centers around the globe. Introduction to Azure SQL Azure SQL is …

In this article we’re going to show you a quick and easy way to copy a table in SQL Server. The new Copy SQL Server Table feature in SQL Spreads means that you can copy a table from one database to another in just a few clicks from within Excel. Introduction Although it’s not something …

This is the sixth in a series of articles aimed at introducing the basics of SQL to Excel users. This article shows how to combine data from one or more data sets using the SQL UNION operator. UNION is one of a number of ‘set operators’ in SQL that are used to join the results …

This is the fifth in a series of articles aimed at introducing the basics of SQL to Excel users. This article shows how to use the IF THEN function in SQL. If you’re interested in the other articles, check them out here: Introduction to SQL for Excel Users What is the equivalent to VLOOKUP in …

In this article, we’re going to show you how to perform the equivalent of Excel’s VLOOKUP in SQL.  This is the second of our articles aimed at teaching Excel users the basics of SQL. In our previous article “Introduction to SQL for Excel Users”, we introduced the JOIN statement, and here we’re going to expand …

This is the first of several articles on SQL for Excel users.  The aim is to show you why it’s so useful for Excel users to be familiar with SQL and to introduce some basic concepts and queries. Why is it important to learn SQL? In a previous article, SQL and Excel: Why you need …

SQL vs. Excel: which is better?  As you can see from the title of this article, it’s not the case that you should choose one over the other; you actually need SQL and Excel. Introduction Excel is a really great application.  There are not many applications that are used by such a wide variety of …

What is data validation in SQL and why is it important?  Data validation is a method for checking the accuracy and quality of data.  Information in databases is constantly being updated, deleted, queried, or moved by multiple people or processes, so ensuring that data is valid at all times is essential. In this article, we’re …