Introduction Microsoft Excel 2000

Class 1 - Introduction

Microsoft Excel 2000

You can use Microsoft Excel to analyze and calculate data, create databases, and generate meaningful charts that present your information. With Excel you can organize data for reports, and solve complex mathematical problems.

The Excel Window

When you start working in Excel you begin using a workbook that contains screens called worksheets. They are identified as Sheet1, Sheet2, and so on. One or many worksheets make up a workbook. There are 65,536 rows and 256 columns per worksheet. The number of worksheets is determined by your computers memory.

This is the first screen you will see when you open Excel. This is a workbook and it is made up of three worksheets.

Columns - Columns run up and down the screen. Like the columns on a building

In a spreadsheet the COLUMN is defined as the vertical space that is going up and down the window. Letters are used to designate each COLUMN'S location.

In the above diagram the COLUMN labeled C is highlighted.

Rows - Rows run from left to right.

In a spreadsheet the ROW is defined as the horizontal space that is going across the window. Numbers are used to designate each ROW'S location.

In the above diagram the ROW labeled 4 is highlighted.

In a spreadsheet the CELL is defined as the space where a specified row and column intersect. Each CELL is assigned a name according to its COLUMN letter and ROW number.

In the above diagram the CELL labeled B3 is highlighted. When referencing a cell, you should put the column first and the row second.

The location of the selected cell is A1.
The area surrounded by the darker outline is a cell.
The little black square in the lower right hand corner of the cell is known as the fill handle. When you point to the fill handle, the pointer changes to a black cross. To copy contents to adjacent cells or to fill in a series such as dates, drag the fill handle. /

Moving around in the Excel worksheet

To move from one cell to another cell using the keyboard
Press this / To move:
 / One cell to the right
 / One cell to the left
 / One cell down
 / One cell up
Ctrl +  / To the right hand edge of the current region
Ctrl +  / To the left hand edge of the current region
Ctrl =  / To the bottom edge of the current region
Ctrl +  / To the top edge of the current region
Home / To the first cell in the row
Ctrl + Home / To the first cell in the worksheet
Ctrl = End / To the lowest right hand cell in the worksheet that contains a data entry
Page Down / One screen down

Page Up

/ One screen up
Alt = PgDn / One screen to the right
Alt = PgUp / One screen to the left
To move within a selected range
Tab / To the right one cell
Shift + Tab / To the left on cell
Enter / One cell down
Shift + Enter / One cell up
Keyboard Shortcuts
Alternate between displaying cell values and displaying cell formulas / CTRL+` (single left quotation mark)
Calculate the active worksheet / SHIFT+F9
Copy / CTRL+C
Create a chart that uses the current range / F11 or ALT+F1
Display the Format Cells dialog box / CTRL+1
Display the Go To dialog box / F5
Insert the current time / CTRL+:
Insert today's date / CTRL+;
Open / CTRL+O
Paste / CTRL+V
Print / CTRL+P
Save / CTRL+S
Select all (when you are not entering or editing a formula) / CTRL+A
Select the current column / CTRL+SPACEBAR
Select the current row / SHIFT+SPACEBAR

Getting Help

If you run into a problem while using Excel there are a number of things you can do to get some additional help.

  1. Press the F1 key. That is the key that is located at the top left side of your keyboard. The F1 key is above the number 2 and @ key.
  2. Go to Help up on the Menu Bar

  1. Use the Office Assistant. The Office Assistant can answer your questions and give tips to help you improve your productivity. If the Office Assistant has a light bulb associated with it this signals that Excel has a feature that could help you perform your current task. Just click on the light bulb to get the tip.
  1. Check out the following web pages for additional information-

Mr. Excel.com /
City University London /
Vital News - Excel Tips /
Tipworld /
Microsoft's Excel Home /
Microsoft's K-12 /


Using automatic fill

Using the automatic fill feature you can quickly and easily create lists of months, days or a sequence of numbers.

  1. In cell C4, type Monday
  2. Click and drag the fill handle to select the cells through cell G4
  3. In cell C5, type Week 1
  4. Click and drag the fill handle to cell G5
  5. In cell B6, type September
  6. Click and drag the fill handle to B14

Renaming, Adding, Deleting and Reordering Worksheets

You can add, delete, rename and reorder the worksheets that make up a workbook. A sheet tab is the tab near the bottom of a workbook window that displays the name of the sheet. The default worksheet tab names are Sheet 1, Sheet 2 and Sheet 3. Click the sheet tab to make a sheet active. To display a shortcut menu, click a tab with the right mouse button.

To rename a worksheet
  • Double-click the sheet tab.
Type a new name over the current name
Or
  • Right click on the sheet tab and select Rename
To add or delete a worksheet
  • Right click on a sheet tab and select Insert or Delete
Or
  • To insert a worksheet
  • Go to Insert on the menu bar and then down to Worksheet
Or
  • To delete a worksheet
Go to Edit on the menu bar and then down to Delete Sheet
To reorder the worksheets
  • Left click and drag the worksheet tab to the preferred location.
/
Worksheet Labels

Practice

  1. Open a new workbook.
  2. Select the new workbook icon from the standard toolbar

Or

  1. Go to File  New
  1. Rename Sheet 1 to Practice
  2. Double click on the Sheet 1 tab and type Practice
  3. Delete Sheet 2 and Sheet 3
  4. Right click on the Sheet 2 and Sheet 3 tabs and select Delete
  5. Enter the following information in your new workbook.
  1. Add a column to the left of the worksheet.
  2. Click on the letter A at the top of the first column. This will highlight the entire column.
  3. Right click on the letter A at the top of the selected column.
  4. Select Insert
  1. Add two rows to the top of this worksheet.
  2. Left click and drag across the row numbers 1 and 2 to the left of your worksheet.
  3. Right click on the heading 1 or 2
  4. Select insert

  1. In cell A1 type in Widgets
  1. In cell B2 type in January
  1. In cell A3 type in Store 1
  1. Using the fill handle copy the month headings across the columns
  1. Using the fill handle copy the stores down the rows
  1. In cell A9 type in Totals
  1. In cell E2 type in Totals
  1. Resize the columns
  2. Columns and rows can be resized by putting your cursor between two column or row headings until the cursor changes into a two headed cursor then left clicking and dragging the rows or columns to the size you want

Or

  1. Double clicking on the line between the columns or row headers
  1. Merge and center the table title by dragging across cells A1 to F1
  2. Select the Merge and Center button from the formatting toolbar
  1. Bold the word Widgets by selecting the word and clicking on the Bold button on the formatting toolbar

Your workbook should look like this-

Training GroupPage 1Filename: excel/intro.doc

User Support Services, ITSRevised: 6/1/2000