Presented by:
IT Service Manager & Instructor
Fred Miller Jr.
Updated October 2015
Introduction to Microsoft Excel
This Class is designed to cover the following basics:

Formulas & Functions

Inserting Comments Into A Cell

Autofill

Inserting A Text Box

Sorting

Hiding/Unhiding A Column/Row

Chart & Chart Tools

Referencing Cells In Multiple
Worksheet
Formulas
The distinguishing feature of a spreadsheet program such as Excel is that is allows you to create
mathematical formulas and execute functions. Otherwise, it is not much more than a large table
for displaying text.
Formulas are entered in the worksheet cell and must begin with an equal sign “=”. The formula
then includes the addresses of the cells whose values will be manipulated with appropriate
operands placed in between. After the formula is typed into the cell, the calculation executes
immediately and the formula itself is visible in the formula bar. See the example below to view
the formula for calculating the sub total for a number of textbooks. The formula multiplies the
quantity and price of each textbook and adds the subtotal for each book.
To view the actual formula or function in the cell and its components, double-click on the cell or
click once and press F2. Also, if you select the cell, you will see the formula or function for the
cell in the Formula Bar.
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Functions
Instead of manually typing a formula into the formula bar, you can use the Formula Ribbon to
insert common functions such as Sum, Date, Average, Count, Max, etc.
Activate the cell where the function will placed and select Insert Function from the Formula
Ribbon. From the Insert Function dialog box, you can enter a description of what you want to do
or you can select a category. Browse through the functions by clicking in the Select a Function
menu choices. As each function name is highlighted a description and example of use is provided
below the box. Click OK to select a function.
The next window allows you to choose the cells that will be included in the function. Excel will
suggest a range that it thinks might be relevant to where you cursor is; notice that there is a colon
in between the range of cells. If you would like Excel to use a different range, you can place your
cursor in the field and edit the default range. (Remember to include the colon.)
Click OK when all the cells for the function have been selected.
AutoSum
The Autosum button right next to the Function Insert button contains a short list of
functions you can access when you click on the triangle underneath the words Autosum.
This works the same way the Insert Function button works in that you activate the cell
in which you would like to insert the sum of contents from the column above or the row
to the left of the activated cell.
After clicking the Autosum button, Excel will suggest a range of cells that it thinks might be
relevant to where your cursor is. As with the Insert Function, you can edit the range.
Autofill
The Autofill feature allows you to quickly fill cells with repetitive or sequential data such as
chronological dates or numbers, and repeated text.
1. Type the beginning number or date of an incrementing series or the text that will be
repeated into a cell.
2. Select the handle at the bottom, right corner of the cell with the left mouse button and drag
it down as many cells as you want to fill.
3. Release the mouse button.
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If you want to Autofill a column with cells displaying the same number or date you must enter
identical data to two adjacent cells in a column. Highlight the two cells and drag the handle of the
selection with the mouse.
Autofilling Functions
Autofill can also be used to copy functions. In the example below, column A & column B each
contain lists of numbers and column C contains the sums of columns A & B for each row. The
function in cell C2 would be”=SUM (A2:B2)”. This function can then be copied to the remaining
cells of column C by activating cell C2 and dragging the handle down to fill in the remaining
cells. The Autofill feature will automatically update the row numbers as shown below if the cells
are reference relatively.
0
Autofill Handle
Sorting
Basic Sorts
The Data Ribbon can be used to sort cells in a spreadsheet. To sort by one column, highlight the
cells that will be sorted and click the Sort Ascending (A-Z) button or Sort Descending (Z-A)
button. Note that if you do not include the adjacent cells, you will get a warning asking you if you
wish to expand the selection.
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Complex Sorts
To sort by multiple columns, follow these steps:
1. Highlight the cells, rows, or columns that will be sorted.
2. Select Sort button from the Data Ribbon.
3. From the Sort dialog box, select the first column for sorting from the Sort By drop-down
menu and choose either ascending or descending.
4. Select the second column and, if necessary, the third sort column from the Then By dropdown menus.
If the cells you highlighted included the text headings in the first row, mark My list has…Header
row and the first row will remain at the top of the worksheet.
Charts & Chart Tools
Creating Charts
Charts allow you to present data entered into the worksheet in a visual format using a variety of
graph types. Before you can make a chart you must first enter data into a worksheet. Once you
have entered data, you can select the data and headings in the worksheet that you want
represented in the new chart. Click on the Insert Ribbon tab and then select the type of chart to
create by clicking the button for the general type of chart (Column, Line, Pie, Bar and so on).
You can then select the thumbnail of the subtype you want to use from the button’s drop-down
gallery.
After you’ve created your chart, a Chart Tools tab will be available on the Ribbon. You can
refine the new chart as needed using the command buttons on the Design, and Format tab under
the Chart Tools contextual tab on the Ribbon.
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Copying a Chart to Microsoft Word
A finished chart can be copied into a Microsoft Word document. You can either copy that chart as
a picture or copy it so that any changes made to the table in Excel will reflect over to the chart
you’ve imported into Word.
To copy the chart as picture, click on the chart (taking care to
highlight the entire chart picture and not just an element of it).
Using the Home Ribbon, click on the drop-down arrow on the
right-hand side of the Copy button. Select Copy as Picture.
Now that the picture of the chart is on your clipboard, you can
paste it into a Word Document.
To copy the chart so that any changes made to the table in Excel will automatically update the
chart in Word, copy the chart from Excel. Open Word and position your cursor where you’d like
to chart to be. Click on the arrow next to the Paste button on the Home Ribbon. You will have
several paste options. To link the Excel chart to the Word document choose either: Use
Destination Theme & Link Data – OR – Keep Source Formatting and Link Data. Either
option links the Excel table with the Word document.
Charting with Pie Charts
Data for a chart doesn’t have to all be in one block. You can use CTRL+click on cell not directly
connected to the original set of cells selected. If you select values and their respective labels, you
will create a legend within the chart box which is generated. If you only select values, your pieces
of the pie will not be labeled.
1. Highlight the values and labels you wish to use to create a pie chart.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Charts subsection,
click on Pie chart and select the type of pie
chart you’d like.
3. To change the appearance of the pie chart,
select the actual pie then Chart
Tools/Layout/Format Selection to
 Select the angle of the first slice
 Explode the pie
 Change borders, 3-D effects, etc.
You can copy and paste you chart into Word. When doing this you can choose to link the two
files dynamically (which would mean that updates to your Excel sheet would automatically
update the Word document which links to it), or you can simply paste your chart into Word
without linking the two files.
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Charting multiple columns with Line Charts
You can look at the values contained in multiple columns by charting these columns using a Line
graph as follows:
1. Click on the column labels to highlight the columns you’d like to chart
2. On the Insert tab, in the Charts subsection, click on Line chart and select the type of
line chart you’d like.
You can remove any of the charted lines using the Chart Tools/Design/Select Data. Highlight
the column of data you’d like to remove and click on Remove.
To use the Chart Tools tab to make changes, click on the chart and then select one of the
following:
 Design – change the chart type or general appearance
 Chart Layouts – change title, axes, axes labels, etc.
 Format – change background fill (color & texture such as gradient), shape outline and
effects. There are also options to change your text color and effects.
You can also change objects on the chart by double-clicking on the object and then selecting the
appropriate options.
Inserting Comments into a Cell
Inserting a comment is like attaching a Post-It note to a specific cell. You can choose to display
the comments or hide them after you’ve created them.
To insert a comment:
1. Select the cell to which you’d like
to attach a comment
2. On the Review Ribbon, click on
New Comment
You can show/hide one or all comments
by clicking on Show/Hide Comments or
Show All Comments (also on the Review Ribbon in the Comments subsection). You can also
click on the border of the comment with a right-mouse click for formatting options.
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Inserting a Text Box
Similar to inserting a comment, a text box can also be inserted. A text box sits on top of the
spreadsheet and can be used, similar to a Post-It note, to make a note about the entire worksheet.
You can change the size of these text boxes and move them around to reposition them.
To insert a text box:
1. On the Insert Ribbon select Text Box
2. Click on the worksheet area to place the textbox
3. To format the text box, select the text box, click on Drawing Tools/Format, then select
the appropriate option to change the alignment, color fill, transparency, margins, etc.
Hiding and Unhiding a Column or Row
Not all the data on a worksheet should be available to everyone. You can hide sensitive
information without deleting it by hiding selected columns or rows. For example, if you want to
share a worksheet with others, but it includes confidential employee salaries, you can simply hide
the salary column. Hiding columns and rows does not affect calculations in worksheet; all data in
hidden columns and rows is still referenced by formulas as necessary. Hidden columns and rows
do not appear in a printout either. When you need data, you can unhide the sensitive information.
How to hide a column or row:
1. Click the column or row header button of the column or row you want to hide. (Drag to
select multiple header buttons to hide more than one column or row.)
2. From the Home Ribbon, select
Cells/Format/Visibility/Hide and
Unhide, select Unhide Columns.
3. Protect the sheet, if desired.
How to unhide a column or row:
1. (Unprotect the sheet if it has been protected.)
2. Drag to select the column or row header buttons on either side of the hidden column or
row
3. From the Home Ribbon, select Cells/Format/Visibility/Hide and Unhide, and Unhide
Columns.
How to hide Formula:
1. Select the cells which contain formulas you wish to hide
2. From the Home Ribbon, select Cells/Format, select Protection/Format Cells. Select
the Protection tab, and then check the hidden box.
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Remember – the cells are not protected until the Protect Sheet option is switched on. Now when
you view your worksheet, the formula will no longer appear at the top when the cell is selected.
Referencing cells in multiple worksheets
The various sheets in a workbook can be referred to in other worksheets by including the sheet
reference as well as the cell reference in a formula. A sheet reference includes the sheet name
followed by an exclamation point, e.g., Sheet2! Refers to Sheet 2. To refer to cell A1 on Sheet 2
(when working in any sheet other than Sheet 2) the reference would be Sheet2!A1.
Notice that the exclamation point separates the sheet reference from the cell reference. If you
have named the sheet, simply use the new sheet name (followed by an exclamation point) and
the cell reference. If the sheet name includes spaces you must surround the sheet name with
single quotation marks.
To refer to cell A1 on a sheet named Budget, the reference would be:
=Budget!A1
To refer to cell A1 on a sheet named Annual Budget, the reference would be:
=’Annual Budget’!A1
How to summarize data held on multiple worksheets:
1. Click a cell that you want to contain the summarized data
2. Type a formula that includes references to the source cells on each worksheet that
contains data you want to summarize, e.g. =SUM(‘Worksheet Name’!B13:B3)
3. Repeat steps 2 & 3 for each cell where you want to summarize data
Helpful hint:
To enter a reference in a formula with less typing, enter the formula up to the point where you
need to reference cells from another worksheet. If the cell/s is/are on another worksheet, first
click that worksheet’s tab, and then click the cell/s you’d like to be used in the formula. Press
Enter key.
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