Introduction to Excel
Definitions:
1. Cell – each square on a worksheet
2. Rows – number lines on the left side of your screen going down
3. Columns – alphabetize rows across the top of your screen
4. Range – highlighted group of cells, consisting of two or more rows
and/or columns
5. Worksheet – spreadsheet area consisting of rows and columns
6. Workbook – spreadsheet file, consist of 1 or more worksheets
7. Active Cell – cell which your cursor is currently located, displayed
with bold black lines around the cell
Moving Around in Excel:
· To move from cell to cell, use one of the following keys or key
combinations:
Note: You can also use the scrollbar on the right and at the bottom of
the Worksheet to move to the area of the Worksheet you want. To
make a cell active, click on the cell you want.
Moving within a selection
· To move from cell to cell within a selected range, use one of the
following keys or key combinations:
Tab - One cell to the right
Shift+Tab - One cell to the left
Enter - One cell down
Shift+Enter - One cell up
Selecting (Highlighting) Cells/Rows/Columns/Ranges:
Selecting a Cell
· Click on the cell you want to select.
Selecting a Row
· Click on the row heading number
· Right clicking on the cell will display a dialogue box where you can
Insert or Delete Rows
Selecting a Column
· Click on the column heading letter
· Right clicking on the column will display a dialogue box where you can
Insert or Delete Columns
Selecting a Range
1. Click on the first cell in the range and drag over the cells you want in
the range using your mouse
2. Remember to start in the top left and drag to the bottom right.
OR Click on the top left cell and hold down the Shift key while using the
Arrow keypad.
Note: The first cell (top left) will keep the white background
Resizing Rows/Columns
Using Format on top menu line:
1. To change the column width or row height simply click on Home Tab
on the top menu line
2. Then choose Cell group and click Format, Column Width
3. Then width or height in the next box and click once
4. A dialogue box will open requesting you to key in the desired size
of the column/row.
Changing the Column width visually
· Begin by locating the column heading of the column you want to affect.
· Placing the mouse over the right border of column heading (your mouse
pointer will change to ), and drag the column border to the width you
want:
Note: If you enter a number which exceeds the width of a column,
###### signs will be displayed in the cell to let you know that the
column is not wide enough.
Changing the Row height visually
· Begin by locating the row heading of the row you want to affect.
Placing the mouse over the bottom border of row heading (you mouse
pointer will change to ), and drag the row border to the height you
want.
Changing the Column/Row height to fit data
· Begin by selecting the column/row(s) you want to affect.
· From the main menu, choose Home Tab – Cell Group – Format – AutoFit Row/Column
Formatting Cells/Rows/Columns/Ranges:
To format cells/rows/columns/ranges you can:
1. Right Click on any single cell, or selected row(s)/column(s)/range
2. Choose Format Cells from the option box
3. Begin formatting – see picture below
OR
1. Click on Home Tab on top menu line
2. Choose Cells group,
3. Click Format then Format Cells option box will open
4. Begin formatting – see picture below.
Centering headings over multiple columns
· Begin by selecting the cell containing the heading and the cells which
the heading will be centered over.
· Click on the Merge and Center icon on the Formatting toolbar:
· The cells are now displayed as one:
Introduction to Excel
Formulas
Formulas:
The following are the functions in the AutoSum drop-down
menu:
· Sum – adds the contents of the list
· Average – determines the average value of the list
· Count – counts the number of values in the list
· Max – returns the maximum number in the list
· Min – returns the minimum number in the list
Using the SUM Function
1. Begin by clicking in the cell you want the total or answer to be in,
making it the Active Cell.
2. Click the AutoSum icon (the Greek E) on the Home Tab – Editing Group.
3. If the predicted range (outlined area) is correct, press the Enter key.
If it is incorrect, select the range you want with the mouse, and press
the Enter key:
Using the AVERAGE Function
1. Begin by clicking in the cell you want your answer displayed in,
making it the Active Cell.
2. Click the down arrow beside the AutoSum icon (Greek E) on the
Home Tab – Editing Group
3. Choose Average from the drop-down menu.
4. If the predicted range is correct, press the Enter key. If it is
incorrect, select the range you want with the mouse, and press the
Enter key:
Using the COUNT Function
1. Begin by clicking in the cell you want your answer displayed in,
making it the Active Cell.
2. Click the down arrow beside the AutoSum icon (the Greek E) on
the Home Tab – Editing Group
3. Choose Count from the drop-down menu.
4. If the predicted range is correct, press the Enter key. If it is
incorrect, select the range you want with the mouse, and press the
Enter key:
Using the MAX Function
1. Begin by clicking in the cell you want your answer displayed in,
making it the Active Cell.
2. Click the down arrow beside the AutoSum icon (the Greek E)
on the Home Tab – Editing Group
3. Choose Max from the drop-down menu.
4. If the predicted range is correct, press the Enter key. If it is
incorrect, select the range you want with the mouse, and press the
Enter key:
Using the MIN Function
1. Begin by clicking in the cell you want your answer displayed in,
making it the Active Cell.
2. Click the down arrow beside the AutoSum icon (the Greek E) on
the Home Tab – Editing Group
3. Choose Min from the drop-down menu.
4. If the predicted range is correct, press the Enter key. If it is
incorrect, select the range you want with the mouse, and press the
Enter key:
To manually type formulas/functions:
1. Click on the cell you want your answer to be displayed in, making
this the Active Cell
2. Type an equal sign =, this tells Excel that you are about to key a
formula/function
3. Type cell names or highlight ranges that you wish to calculate using the math operators on the keyboard number pad
4. The formula/function will also be displayed on the Formula Bar beside the fx (function)
Note: each cell is colored coded to match the formula to make it
easier to view the calculations you have requested to make.
Order of Operations:
The order of operations is extremely important because you can generate two extremely different answers depending upon the order you key your formula.
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
( ) or { } or [ ] -- Parentheses
^ -- Exponentiation
* -- Multiplication
/ -- Division
+ -- Addition
- -- Subtraction
Conditional Formatting
Special formatting that ONLY occurs when certain conditions are TRUE or are met.
Home Tab – Style Group – Conditional Formatting
Introduction to Excel
Printing
Set Print Area:
Before printing, you need to define or tell the Excel program the area that
you wish to include in printing.
1. Highlight the area that contains the data that you wish to print
2. Go to Page Layout Tab > Print Area > Set Print Area
Page Setup:
After defining the Print Area, you need to set your page to print correctly.
1. Go to Page Layout Tab > Orientation
2. For most spreadsheets, choose Landscape
3. If you use Legal or another size paper change Paper Size
4. Print Preview spreadsheet
Repeating Rows/Columns on Multiple Pages:
For spreadsheets that do not fit on one page and have column headers or
row labels that need to be printed on consecutive pages:
1. Go to File > Page Setup
2. Page Setup dialogue box will appear, click on Sheet tab
3. Click in the box beside Rows to repeat at top for row titles or
labels
§ Key in range of rows to repeat
OR
§ Click on the Minimize Dialogue Box to go back to
spreadsheet and highlight rows to repeat
4. Click in the box beside Columns to repeat at left for column
headings
§ Key in range of columns to repeat
OR
§ Click on the Minimize Dialogue Box to go back to
spreadsheet and highlight columns to repeat
5. Print Preview to make sure correct rows/columns are repeated.
6. Click Ok
Turning Gridlines On/Off:
1. Go to File > Page Setup
2. Page Setup dialogue box will appear, click on Sheet tab
3. Under the Print Section place a checkmark in the box beside
the word Gridlines to turn ON (to place checkmark click on
white box)
4. Click OK