Learning How to
“Excel”
Adam Little
Catharine Reeder
Ribbon
Workbook
• A workbook is another word for
your Excel file
• When you start Excel, the Start
screen opens
• Click Blank workbook to create an
Excel workbook from scratch or
search for a template
Worksheet
• A worksheet is a collection of cells
where you keep and manipulate the
data
• Each Excel workbook can contain
multiple worksheets
• Manipulating sheets: insert, rename,
move, delete, copy
Data Types
• Text
• Numerics
Data Types - Text
• Letter and numbers in combined cell
Data Type - Numeric
•
•
•
•
Numbers
Formulas
Date/Time
Numeric characters
• 123456789,%$+=*/()^
Navigation and Data Entry
• Open Excel
• Cursor in C7
• Enter the number 36000
• Format
Find & Select
• Use Excel's Find and Replace feature to quickly find specific text and replace
it with other text
• Use Excel's Go To Special feature to quickly select all cells with formulas,
comments, conditional formatting, constants, data validation, etc.
• Download and open “Learning How to Excel” workbook
Find & Select
• Find
• Click Home tab  Editing group  Find & Select  Find  “Ferrari”  ‘Find Next’ or
‘Find All’
• Replace
• Click Home tab  Editing group  Find & Select  Replace  “Veneno” & “Diablo” 
‘Find Next’  ‘Replace’
• Go To Special
• Click Home tab  Editing group  Find & Select  Go To Special  Formulas  Ok
Printing
• Print a worksheet and change some important print settings in Excel
Sorting Data
• Select “Sorting” worksheet
• Format cell width
• Highlight the columns you wish to format
• Home  Cells  Format  AutoFit Column Width
Sorting Data (cont.)
• Quick sorting
• Works when you want to sort by one column only
• Works if there are no blank columns in the middle of your data
• Select cell B4
• Data  Sort & Filter  Sort A to Z
• Home  Editing  Sort A to Z
Sorting Data (cont.)
• Sorting multiple by multiple columns
• Data  Sort & Filters  Sort
• First drop down is the column you want to sort by
• Second drop down is what to sort on (Values is used
95% of the time)
• Third drop down is how to sort
• A to Z, Smallest to Largest
• If multiple columns are wanted, click Add Level button
• Sort by Gender, State, BirthYr
Filtering Data
• Used to narrow down information you want/need
• Data needs to have header row
• Click on the “Filtering” worksheet
Filtering Data (cont.)
• Data  Sort & Filter  Filter
• Home  Editing  Sort & Filter  Filter
• Number of people who bought a laptop?
• Number of people who bought a laptop in March 2014?
Filtering Data (cont.)
• Number Filters
• Number of items sold that are between $1000 and $3000
• Number Filters  Between
Protect
• Encrypt an Excel file with a password so that it requires a password to
open it
• The workbook structure, users cannot insert, delete, rename, move, copy,
hide or unhide worksheets anymore
• Lock cells in Excel if you want to protect cells from being edited
Protect (cont.)
• Protect Workbook
• Review  Changes  Protect
Workbook  Enter Password
• Protect Sheet
• Review  Changes  Protect Sheet
 Enter Password
Protect – Lock Cells (cont.)
• Lock Cells
• Default – Locked
• Select cells to unlock  Right click
 Format Cells  Protection tab 
Uncheck ‘Locked’
Protect – Read-only Workbook (cont.)
• Read-only Workbook
• Save As  Tools  General Options
 Enter passwords