Excel Basics: Tips and Tricks to Save You Time
and Headaches
Presented by Clarisse Haxton and Janine Penney
Research, Evaluation, and Assessment Department
February 16, 2017
Overview
• Viewing data
–
–
–
–
Freeze first column/row
Widen columns and wrap text
Hide and expand columns
Filter and sort
• Analyzing data
– Sum
• Formatting and printing data
– Create a header
– Show gridlines
– Print on one page
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Learning Norms
• Laptop “pie slice” or “acute angle” when we
are introducing material
• Laptop open– and try it!– during activity time
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Part One: Viewing Data
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Open the Excel FAKEDATA file
• File is “Excel Basics Session_FAKEDATA.xlsx” on
your desktop
• What do you notice?
• What questions do you have?
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General Notes
• We will use the Mac Excel toolbar (below).
• The toolbar varies in different Excel versions–
and in Google Sheets.
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General Notes
• Excel options can be found in multiple places.
• In addition to the Excel toolbar, we will use:
– “select” and right click to find some option menus
– Apple toolbar at the top of your screen
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Questions and Answers
NOTE: Throughout this section, FIRST select the row/column(s) you want to modify.
Question
Answer (for MACs)
How can I keep the top row (column
titles) when I scroll?
VIEW
How can I get all text to show within a
HOME
cell? (Note: This is called “wrapping text.”)
How can I make columns wider or
narrower?
(Note: You can also do similar
manipulations for row height.)
FREEZE TOP ROW
WRAP TEXT
Mouse over one edge of the column to
find the cursor and then move it
left/right. OR
Two finger click and select COLUMN
WIDTH to modify (but you have to specify
the width).
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Questions and Answers
NOTE: Throughout this section, FIRST click on the row/column(s) you want to modify.
Question
Answer
How can I make all the text appear on the
left/center/right/top/bottom?
HOME
alignment icons
OR Two finger click on selected cells
FORMAT CELLS ALIGNMENT… and then
follow options.
How can I hide some information?
Two finger click and select HIDE. (To
unhide, click on the columns on either
side of the hidden column, right click, and
select UNHIDE.)
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Questions and Answers
CAUTION!!! **Do not sort or filter when you are tired, hungry, or otherwise
preoccupied. **It’s a good idea to copy your dataset and work from the copy.
Question
Answer
How can I sort data (e.g.,
alphabetical order, largest to
smallest)?
HOME  SORT & FILTER  SORT (A to Z/
Smallest to Largest or Z to A/ Largest to Smallest) 

How can I filter (or “get rid of”)
some information?
Select the top row. Then, HOME  SORT &
FILTER  FILTER. Filter arrows will appear.
To use, click on the arrow of the column you want
to filter. Uncheck “Select All” and check the
categories you would like to appear. (To remove
filters, go to HOME  SORT & FILTER, and deselect
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FILTER.)
Go to Sheet1: Let’s Practice!
1. Freeze the top row.
2. Widen column B so you can see the full ID #.
3. Create a filter for school and only show the
Paly students.
4. Create a filter for grade and only show Gr 9.
5. Sort by last name to put the students into
alphabetical order.
6. Hide all of the race data.
• How many students do you see?
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Answer: 16 students
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Now, let’s get it back to the original!
• Remove the filters.
• Unhide the race data.
• Unfreeze the top row.
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Part Two: Analyzing Data
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Summing Data
• Thinking of a data set in “1s and 0s” instead of
“Yes and No”, “X and blank”, etc. can be
helpful.
• Blanks are confusing– does it mean “no” or
“missing”?
• Go back to Sheet1.
• How can we answer the questions, “How
many high school students are in the district?
How many are minorities (Black, Hispanic,
Native American, Pacific Islander)?”
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Go to Sheet1, Column G:
Change Yes to 1, Blank to 0.
• Highlight column G. Go to Apple menu bar 
EDIT  FIND REPLACE. Click REPLACE ALL.
• An Alert box will pop up. Review it; click OK.
• Do the same thing to change Blanks to 0.
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Arithmetic Functions
To
Press
Sum
=SUM(cell1,cell2,etc.) OR
SUM(cell1:cell2)
Create an =10*(2/3) OR = cell1/2 etc. (following
equation
PEMDAS conventions)
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Go to Sheet1, Column I:
Change X to 1, Blank to 0.
• Highlight column I. Go to Apple menu bar 
EDIT  FIND REPLACE. Click REPLACE ALL.
• Find: X, Replace with: 1.
• An Alert box will pop up. Review it; click OK.
• Do the same thing again to change Blanks to
0.
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Go to Sheet1: Let’s practice!
• Freeze the first row.
• Scroll to the first blank row.
• In the fedrace.hispanicLatino column, enter
“SUM(F2:F100)”.
• Do the same for American Indian and Black,
adjusting the sum function for each to include
the correct cells.
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Go to Sheet1: Let’s practice!
• Click on cell I101. Single click the bottom right
corner of the cell. Swipe index finger to the
right and drag to L101. (Ta da!)
• Then, create two “sum of sums.”
– Go to column M101 and enter,
“=SUM(F101,G101,I101,J101”)
– Go to column M102 and enter,
“=SUM(F101:L101)”
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Go to Sheet1: Let’s practice!
• “How many high school students are in the
district? How many are minorities (Black,
Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander)?”
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Answer: 32 minority students and 113
total students
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Additional practice (if time allows)
• How many Hispanic students are at Gunn?
• How many Hispanic students are at Paly?
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Additional practice answers
• There are 12 Hispanic students at Gunn.
• There are 11 Hispanic students at Paly.
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Part Three:
Formatting and Printing Data
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Questions and Answers
Question
Answer
How can I create a header?
INSERT  HEADER & FOOTER. Then, type
in desired text (e.g., title, name, date).
How can I show gridlines to make it easier Select all text. HOME  click on the little
to read?
“Borders” icon  select ALL BORDERS
(or other options, as desired)
How can I set the print area?
Select all text. Then, PAGE LAYOUT 
PRINT AREA  SET PRINT AREA
How can I print on one page?
PAGE LAYOUT  PAGE SETUP SCALING
 FIT to 1 page wide by 1 page tall (or as
desired to be readable)
Note: For wide files, changing to
landscape format helps. PAGE LAYOUT
ORIENTATION  LANDSCAPE.
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Page Setup: Page, Margins,
Header/Footer, Sheet
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Thank You Letters
• For classified staff appreciation week, you
want to send thank you letters to all part-time
staff. Create a list of all part-time staff with
their name, school, and addresses.
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Go to Sheet2: Let’s Practice!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Create a filter to select only part-time staff.
Widen the columns to view everything clearly.
Highlight the entire area.
Set the print area to print on one page.
Add a header.
Sort into alphabetical order by school.
Go to Print Preview to view (CTRL + P).
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Answer: Does yours look something
like this?
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Review: Any Questions?
• Viewing data
–
–
–
–
Freeze first column/row
Widen columns and wrap text
Hide and expand columns
Filter and sort
• Analyzing data
– Sum
• Formatting and printing data
– Create a header
– Show gridlines
– Print on one page
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Additional Resources
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Shortcut keys
To
Press
Cut
COMMAND + X or CONTROL + X
Copy
COMMAND + C or CONTROL + C
Paste COMMAND + V or CONTROL + V
Clear
DELETE
Undo
COMMAND + Z or CONTROL + Z
Redo
COMMAND + Y or CONTROL + Y
Bold
COMMAND + B or CONTROL + B
Print
COMMAND + P or CONTROL +P
Save
COMMAND + S or CONTROL + S
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BONUS: Outlook Basics
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Outlook Scheduling Assistant– in
Webmail
• In PAUSD Outlook– Webmail version: Login at
webmail.pausd.org
• Click on matrix icon in the top left corner
click on calendar  New  Calendar event
• Enter your event details AND Click on
SCHEDULING ASSISTANT to check people’s
availability.
• Attendees’ availability will appear and you can
scroll or change the date as necessary.
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Outlook Scheduling Assistant
(Webmail)
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Outlook Scheduling Assistant
(Webmail)
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Outlook Scheduling Assistant– in
Microsoft Outlook
• Click on calendar icon at the bottom left of
your screen.
• Click on APPOINTMENT. Enter people you
want to invite. Then, click SCHEDULING.
• Attendees’ availability will appear and you can
scroll or change the date as necessary.
• You can also add a room here.
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Outlook Scheduling Assistant
(Microsoft Outlook)
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Outlook Scheduling Assistant
(Microsoft Outlook)
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Outlook Scheduling Assistant
(Microsoft Outlook)
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