Difference between MS Word and MS Excel

MS Word and MS Excel are two widely used software applications in offices. MS Word and MS Excel both are a part of the Microsoft Office Suite, developed by Microsoft Corporation. However, they are completely different from each other in terms of their primary function. MS Word is a word processing tool used for creating and editing text-based documents like letter, reports, etc.; whereas MS Excel is a spreadsheet tool used to organize and analyze data with the help of several mathematical tools like formula, chart, pivot tables, etc.

Read this article to learn more about MS Word and MS Excel and how they are different from each other.

What is MS-Word?

MS Word or Microsoft Word or Word is a word processing software developed by Microsoft as a part of Microsoft Office Suite. MS Word is one of the most extensively used tool for word processing. It provides several tools to create and edit a text-based document. Using all these tools, a user is able to create any kind document like letters, resume, brochures, ID cards, reports, books, etc.

• MS-Word supports a wide range of text and object formatting tools, such as fonts, font sizes, text styles and effects, text alignment, tables, images, charts, smart arts, headers and footers, page numbers, equations and symbols and many more.

• MS-Word also supports multi-user feature that enables multiple users to work on a single document at the same time. It also provides several different advanced security related features such as track change, restrict editing, encryption with password, etc.

• MS-word is a powerful and highly versatile word processing software used in offices and businesses to increase productivity.

What is MS-Excel?

MS-Excel or Microsoft Excel or Excel is a spreadsheet software which is developed to create, organize and analyze data in spreadsheet format. MS Excel is also a part of Microsoft Office Suite developed by Microsoft Corporation.

• MS Excel allows users to organize their data into rows and columns. It also supports a wide range of built-in formula to perform calculation for data analysis. Apart from formulae, it also supports advance data analysis tools like charts, tables, pivot tables, filters, conditional formatting and much more.

• MS Excel is one of the most powerful spreadsheet programs used in offices and businesses to perform complex mathematical calculations, generate reports, big data analysis, etc. In a business, it can be a very helpful software in several different fields like finance, budgeting, data analysis, inventory management, etc.

MS Excel is a powerful and versatile application software used in businesses to perform several office activities like data analysis, generating reports, etc.

Differences between MS Word and MS Excel

The following table highlights all the important differences between MS Word and MS Excel −

Parameter	MS Word	MS Excel
Definition	MS Word is an application software that is used for word processing in offices.	MS Excel is an application software that is used for organizing and analyzing data in spreadsheet format.
Main function	MS Word is primarily designed to create and edit text-based documents like letters, reports, etc.	MS Excel is mainly designed to organize and analyze data using formula and functions.
File	The file created in MS Word is called a document file.	The file created in MS Excel is called a workbook.
File extension	The file extension of the file of MS Word is “.doc” or “.docx”.	The file extension of the file of MS Excel is “.xls” or “.xlsx”.
Document structure	The document in MS Word is structure in multiple pages.	The document in MS Excel is structured in spreadsheets.
New document	A new document in MS word consists of a blank page where the user can add text, images, tables, equations, etc.	A new document in MS excel consists of a page with rows and columns (called spreadsheet) where the user can add text and numeric data.
Statistical data	MS Word is not suitable for organizing and analyzing statistical data.	MS Excel can be used for organizing and analyzing statistical data.
Formula	In MS Word formula is written manually. It cannot perform automatic calculations.	MS Excel has a huge library of built-in formula and functions to perform automatic calculations on different types of data.
Tables	MS Word supports basic tables where data can be arranged in a tabular structure.	MS Excel supports a much-advanced table that can be used as a data analysis tool, as it supports a number of tools.
Charts	MS Word supports basic charts, also chart is imported from excel.	MS Excel has built-in chart and it supports a wide range of graph related options.
Pivot table	MS Word does not support pivot table.	MS Excel supports pivot table to analyze and summarize large amount of data.
Applications	MS Word is used for creating documents like letters, brochures, books, question papers, resumes, etc.	MS Excel is used for arranging and analyzing text and numeric data in spreadsheet format.

Conclusion

Both MS Word and MS Excel are two most widely used productivity software. They are available to use on Windows, MacOS, and Android based systems. However, MS Word and MS Excel are two completely different software programs as described in the above table. The most significant difference between MS Word and MS Excel is that MS Word is used for creating and editing text-based documents like letters, resumes, etc. whereas MS Excel is used for creating and analyzing data in spreadsheet format.