Details : https://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~pecklund/ExcelReview/2001_Documents/2001XLGettingStarted.pdf
What is Excel?
Microsoft Excel is an electronic spreadsheet program.
You might of heard the terms "spreadsheet" and "worksheet". People generally use them interchangebly. To remain consistent with Microsoft and other publishers the term worksheet refers to the row-and-column matrix sheet on which you work upon and the term spreadsheet refers to this type of computer application. In addition, the term workbook will refer to the book of pages that is the standard Excel document.The workbook can contain worksheets,chart sheets, or macro modules.
The Spreadsheet Concept
The Workbook
Most of the Excel screen is devoted to the display of the workbook. The workbook consists of grids and columns. The intersection of a row and column is a rectangular area called a cell.
Cells
The workbook is made up of cells.There is a cell at the intersection of each row and column.A cell can contain a value, a formula, or a text entry. A text entry is used to label or explain the contents of the workbook. A value entry can either be a constant or the value of a formula. The value of a formula will change when the components (arguments) of the formula change. The appeal of spreadsheet programs is the ability to change one value and watch all other values that depend on that first value automatically change when the spreadsheet is recalculated.
Rows, Columns, and Sheets
The Excel worksheet contains 16,384 rows that extend down the worksheet, numbered 1 through 16384.
The Excel worksheet contains 256 columns that extend across the worksheet, lettered A through Z, AA through AZ, BA through BZ, and continuing to IA through IZ.
The Excel worksheet can contain as many as 256 sheets, labeled Sheet1 through Sheet256. The initial number of sheets in a workbook,which can be changed by the user is 16.
Cell References
Cell references are the combination of column letter and row number. For example, the upper-left cell of a worksheet is A1.
The Excel Window
You will learn about Excel's toolbars and entering information into a workbook in the next part of the tutorial.
Getting Started with Microsoft Excel
This handout introduces the basic features of Microsoft Excel, a spreadsheet program on Macintoshes and on computers running Microsoft Windows. The handout covers entering and editing data, formatting, formulas, page setup, and printing spreadsheets.
Starting Excel
| You can start Excel by: 1. Double-clicking on the Microsoft Excel application icon. This application is usually in a folder called Excel. An alias for this icon appears on the desktop of the computers in the Student Microcomputer Facility. |  |
| 2. Double-clicking on the icon of any Excel document. When you double-click an Excel document, Excel opens with the document already loaded. |  |
Exploring the Excel Interface
Components of the Excel Window
Besides the usual window components (close box, title bar, scroll bars, etc.), an Excel window has several unique elements identified in the figure below.
Standard Toolbar
The Standard toolbar, located beneath the menu bar, has buttons for commonly performed tasks like adding a column of numbers, printing, sorting, and other operations. Excel let's you customize the toolbar or even display multiple toolbars at the same time. The Standard Excel XP toolbar appears in the figure below.
Formatting toolbar
The Formatting toolbar, located beneath the Standard toolbar bar, has buttons for various formatting operations like changing text size or style, formatting numbers and placing borders around cells.
Formula bar
The formula bar is located beneath the toolbar at the top of the Excel worksheet. Use the formula bar to enter and edit worksheet data. The contents of the active cell always appear in the formula bar. When you click the mouse in the formula bar, an X and a check mark appear. You can click the check icon to confirm and completes editing, or the X to abandon editing.
Name box
The Name box displays the reference of the selected cells.Row and column headings
Letters and numbers identify the rows and columns on an Excel spreadsheet. The intersection of a row and a column is called a cell. Use row and column headings to specify a cell's reference. For example, the cell located where column B and row 7 intersect is called B7.Active cell
The active cell has a dark border around it to indicate your position in the worksheet. All text and numbers that you type are inserted into the active cell. Click the mouse on a cell to make it active.Fill handle
The lower right corner of the active cell has a small box called a Fill Handle. Your mouse changes to a cross-hair when you are on the Fill Handle. The Fill Handle helps you copy data and create series of information. For example, if you type January in the active cell and then drag the Fill Handle over four cells, Excel automatically inserts February, March, April and May.Worksheet tabs
An Excel workbook consists of multiple worksheets. Use the worksheet tabs at the bottom of the screen to navigate between worksheets within a workbook.Working with Excel documents
Opening and Closing Documents
| To open an existing Excel workbook, choose Open from the File menu or click the Open tool on the toolbar. |  |
To open a file, select the appropriate location by clicking on the down pointing arrow next to the Look In: selection box. Excel will display all Excel files found there. Select the file you wish to open and click Open to open the file.
Saving a Document
The lower right corner of the active cell has a small box called a Fill Handle. Your mouse changes to a cross-hair when you are on the Fill Handle. The Fill Handle helps you copy data and create series of information. For example, if you type January in the active cell and then drag the Fill Handle over four cells, Excel automatically inserts February, March, April and May.| To save an untitled Excel workbook, from the File menu choose Save As or click the Save button on the toolbar (shown at right). The Excel Save As dialog box is the same as the Open dialog box above except it is labeled "Save As" |  |
Difference between Save As and Save
Notice on the File menu there is a Save command and a Save As command. Use Save to save an existing workbook with the same name in the same location. Use Save As when you want to save a file with a different name or save it in a different location. For example, suppose you are working on a workbook called BUDGET.XLS. After you edit the workbook, you should save it again using the Save command. The Save command will replace the copy on the hard drive with what is in memory (what you see on your screen). At the end of the day, you might want to save a copy of the file on a diskette to take home. Choose Save As and select the proper drive in the Save As dialog box. This will create another copy of the file on your diskette.Creating a New Workbook
The lower right corner of the active cell has a small box called a Fill Handle. Your mouse changes to a cross-hair when you are on the Fill Handle. The Fill Handle helps you copy data and create series of information. For example, if you type January in the active cell and then drag the Fill Handle over four cells, Excel automatically inserts February, March, April and May.| If you are already in Excel and you want to create a new workbook, choose New from the File menu or click the New tool on the toolbar. If you choose New from the file menu the Task Pane will open on the right side of the Excel worksheet. To create a blank workbook, click Blank Workbook in the Task Pane, and a new workbook opens. |  |
Managing Multiple Workbooks
Excel enables you to have more than one workbook open simultaneously. Each open workbook appears on the Window menu. The document with the check next to it is the active document. To switch to another document, simply choose that document from the Window menu.To navigate between worksheets within a workbook, click the worksheet tab you want to activate. Double-click a worksheet tab to change its name.
Entering and Editing Data
Entering Data
You can enter text, numbers and dates in an Excel worksheet. In Excel¹s terminology, numbers and dates are called values and text is referred to as a label. To enter data of any type, click on the cell you want to contain that data, and then type the information you want in the cell. When you begin typing, your data also appears in the formula bar. When you have finished typing the data for the active cell, press the Return or Enter key.Editing Data
The easiest way to edit the contents of a cell is to select the cell and then retype the entry. The new entry replaces the old contents. For example, to change the number in cell B6 to 199, select cell B6, type 199 and press Return. This method works well with numbers, but is more difficult when editing long text labels or formulas.The formula bar gives you more flexibility while editing. When the mouse pointer moves into the formula bar, it changes shape to an I-beam, signifying that you can enter or edit text. Text in the active cell appears in the formula bar and you can edit it there. Use the mouse to select the text you want to change in the formula bar and then type the new text. Excel automatically replaces what is selected. Don't forget to press the Return key when you finish editing a cell.
You can also edit labels and values directly in cells. Double-click on the cell you want to edit. This puts an insertion point in the cell. Edit the contents of that cell the same way you would using the formula bar.
Moving the Active Cell
Cell selection and movement around the worksheet are similar operations in Excel. To select a given cell or make it active, simply click on that cell. Use the mouse or the arrow keys to move around the worksheet. For example, if you press the right arrow key twice you move two cells to the right.Refer to the table below for additional information on using the keyboard to navigate a worksheet.
| To move | Press this key |
|---|---|
| One cell left | Left Arrow |
| One cell right | Right Arrow |
| One cell up | Up Arrow |
| One cell down | Down Arrow |
| To top of worksheet (cell A1) | Control Home |
| To last cell containing data | Control End |
| To end of data in a column | Control Down Arrow |
| To beginning of data in a column | Control Up Arrow |
| To end of data in a row | Control Right Arrow |
| To beginning of data in a row | Control Left Arrow |
Go To Command
A quick way to move a large distance on a worksheet is with the Go To command on the Edit menu. When you select the Go To command, a dialog box prompts you to identify the cell. Enter the cell reference and click OK or press Return.Clearing Cell Contents
To clear the contents of a cell choose Clear from the Edit menu. Then, select what you want to clear from the cell: All, Formats, Contents, or Notes. Most frequently you will want to clear the Contents of a cell. Pressing the Delete key also clears the contents of cells.Undoing Mistakes
If you make a terrible mistake and you accidentally delete important data. Use the Undo command on the Edit menu or the Undo tool to correct the mistake.Copying and Moving Data
Copy selected data from one cell to another with the Copy and Paste commands, or with the Drag and Drop procedure. If you want to move data instead, use the Cut and Paste commands, or the Drag and Drop procedure.These commands and procedures are described below.
| Cut | |
| The Cut command extracts the selected data and puts it on the Clipboard, a temporary storage area. The contents of the Clipboard are overwritten with each copy or cut. | |
| Copy | |
| The Copy command puts a copy of the selected data on the Clipboard. | |
| Paste | |
| The Paste command inserts the Clipboard¹s contents into the active cell. Selected data is replaced by pasted text. | |
| Drag and Drop | |
| This procedure does not involve the Clipboard and works best when moving data a short distance. To move cells, position the mouse on the cell borders. Wait until the mouse changes to a left-pointing arrow. When the mouse is this shape, press and drag the data to the new location. |
Formatting Data
Changing formats using the toolbar
In Excel, you can change text fonts and styles in the worksheet. Excel has a Formatting toolbar to simplify basic formatting tasks. The Formatting toolbar appears in the figure below. The formatting toolbar has several tools you can use to change formats. The B button makes cells bold, the I button italicizes cells and the U button underlines. Use these buttons to turn formats off as well as on. For example, if cells are bold and you want to turn off that format, select the cells and click the B button. The toolbar also has buttons to change font and size.
Font tab in Format Cells
The formatting toolbar offers quick access to varying text formats. For a more complete selection of formatting options, use the Font tab in the Format Cells dialog box.
Alignment
By default, Excel left-aligns labels and right-aligns values in a worksheet. You can change cell alignment using the toolbar or the Format Cells command.The toolbar has text alignment icons next to the bold and italic icons. You can left-align, right-align, or center text within a cell using these buttons. Select the cell(s) you want to align and click the appropriate alignment button on the toolbar.
| The toolbar also has a button that will center a label over a range of cells, for example centering a title over a report. To center data over a range of cells, select the cell you want to center and the columns you want to center it over and click the Center over Cells button (shown at right). |  |
Format Alignment command
You can also change the alignment of data within cells using the Alignment section of the Format Cells dialog. This dialog box also has options to change the orientation of text (i.e. sideways or vertical) and a box to wrap text within a cell.Changing Numeric Formatting
To change the format of a number, choose the Cells command from the Format menu. In the Format Cells dialog box, Excel displays different tabs for various formatting types. To change numeric formats, click the Number tab. Select the category you want and then the actual format. For example, to display numbers as currency with two decimal places, select the Currency category, enter 2 for the number of decimal places, and select the appropriate currency symbol. Or to display a number as a percentage, choose the Percentage category and select the number of decimals you want to display.
Placing borders around cells
| The toolbar has a button for placing borders around cells. You can also use the Border section of the Format Cells dialog box, which provides more options. Select the cells you want a border on and choose the desired format from either the toolbar or the Format Cells dialog box. |  |
Shading cells
| To apply a specific pattern or color to a range of cells, use the Patterns section of the Format Cells dialog box. The sample area in the Patterns dialog box displays what the selected colors and patterns will look like. You can also apply a solid color using the Fill Color tool on the Formatting toolbar. |  |
Changing column width with the Format menu
To change column width using the Format menu, select the column or columns you wish to change and choose Column then Width. In the Column Width dialog box, type a number for the width of the column. The number represents the number of characters that can fit in the cell. The default column width is 10, which means a column is wide enough for ten, Helvetica 10-point characters. Choose Best Fit to automatically widen a column to accommodate the widest label, or click the Hide button to hide the column completely. Hiding columns is useful when you have data that you do not want to print.
* Changing row height is similar to changing column width. Select the row(s) you wish to change and choose Row then Height from the Format menu.
Changing column widths by dragging column borders
You can change column widths by dragging column borders with the mouse. Move the mouse pointer to the right hand border of the column you wish to change. The mouse pointer will change shape to a left and right pointing arrow as seen below.
Formulas and Functions
Formulas and functions that perform calculations are the true power of spreadsheets.
Formulas
To build a formula, first select the cell in which you want the results to appear. In Excel, all formulas start with the = sign. After the = sign, type the cells you want to add or subtract along with the mathematical operation you wish to perform. For example, to add the January sales in the worksheet below, the formula would be =B3+B4+B5. If you want to subtract February Widget Sales from January Widget sales, the formula would be =B3-C3.
Copying Formulas
The easiest way to copy a formula is with the Fill Handle in the lower right corner of the cell. Create your initial formula and then position the mouse on the Fill Handle. When the mouse changes shape to a cross-hair, press and drag over the adjacent cells you want to copy the formula to.SUM( ) function
The SUM( ) function is probably the most common function in Excel. It adds a range of numbers. To build a SUM( ) function, begin by typing the = sign; all functions begin with the = sign. Next type the word SUM followed by an open parenthesis. You must now tell Excel which cells to sum. Using the mouse, click and drag over the range of cells you wish to add. A dotted outline will appear around the cells and the cell range will be displayed in the formula bar. When you have the correct cells selected, release the mouse button, type a closing parenthesis and press the <Enter> key.If you do not want to use the mouse, type in the references of the cells you want to sum. For example, to add cells B3 through B5, type =SUM(B3:B5). Excel interprets B3:B5 as the range of cells from B3 to B5.
AutoSum button
| In Excel, the standard toolbar has a button that simplifies adding a column or row of numbers. The AutoSum button, which resembles the Greek letter Sigma (shown at right), automatically creates a SUM( ) function. When you click the AutoSum button Excel creates a sum function for the column of numbers directly above or the row of numbers to the left. Excel pastes the SUM( ) function and the range to sum into the formula bar. If the range is not correct, simply select the proper range with your mouse on the worksheet. When you have the correct range entered, press the <Enter> key to complete the function. |  |
Using the Insert Function Button
| The Insert Function Button is located by the Formula Bar. Click the Insert funtion button in to activate the Insert Function dialog window. |  |
In the Function Arguements dialog box you specify the cells the function will operate on, which are called its arguments. Select the cells with the mouse and click OK. Notice the creation of the function in the formula bar.
Adjusting Page Setup settings
Before you actually print a worksheet, you should provide Excel information about margins, headers, footers, and page orientation. You change these settings using the Page Setup option on the File menu.
The Page Setup dialog box, shown below, has controls for margins, page orientation, headers and footers and whether gridlines and row and column heading should be printed.
To change page margins
To change your margins, click the Margins tab, and enter the measurement for your margin, in inches, in the appropriate text box.To change page orientation
If you want to change the orientation of the page from portrait (vertical) to landscape (horizontal) click the appropriate button in the Page Orientation section of the Page tab.To change the header or footer
A header is text that prints at the top of each page. A footer is text that prints at the bottom of each page. Headers and footers often include the name of the file being printed or an alternative title, the date, page number, or additional descriptive information. To change the header or footer, click on the Header /Footer tab in the Page Setup dialog box. The current header and footer will appear at the top and bottom of the dialog box respectively. Click the Custom Header or Custom Footer button to change the existing header or footer.The header and footer are divided into three sections (left, center and right). Press <Tab> or <Shift Tab> to move from section of the header or footer to another.
Printing
Print preview
| Before you actually print, it¹s a good idea to preview your output on the screen.Choose Print Preview on the File menu to preview your output on screen. Excel¹s Print Preview screen displays how the document will print on the page, but it is difficult to actually read the text. Notice that the mouse pointer takes the shape of a magnifying glass. You can enlarge the printed image by clicking the Zoom button or by using the magnifying glass. Simply click the magnifying glass on a part of the page you want to enlarge. |  |
If you are satisfied with how the output appears in the Print Preview screen, the Print button lets you send your output directly to the printer.
Sending your workbook to the printer
| Choosing the Print option on the File menu or clicking the Print button on the toolbar opens a dialog box that lets you change print settings and specify the number of copies to print. The Print dialog box appears below. |  |
Getting Help
In the Help System, any topic that has additional information is underlined. To read the information about an underlined topic, click on the topic. The Help System automatically switches to information about the selected topic.
To expand to the full Help window, click the Show icon.  |
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