How many times have you put your head into your hands and muttered to yourself when using a computer?

Technology can be wonderful and also wonderfully frustrating. That’s why there are help functions built into software, because at some point in time you’re going to need help when dealing with the program.

Microsoft Excel 2016 is no different and, in fact, has a new help function that’s known as Tell Me.

Here’s how to use it.

Tell Me is a new natural language help feature. To take advantage of it, type your question in the text box by the ribbon tabs:

You can also press Alt + Q to switch focus directly to the Tell Me field.

As you type, you will see various links to the related topic:

At the top, you will usually see shortcuts to related commands (1). (If a command is greyed out, it means that it is not currently available.) Next, you will see an option to open the traditional Help window (2). Finally, there is usually an option for Smart Lookup(3), which will search for the term(s) using the Insights feature.

There you have it, don’t put your head in your hands when stumped, help is just a click away.