Excel
Excel is a spreadsheet tool that can be very handy when calculations are required
or information or data has to be manipulated or replicated. However, it has some
terminology that is different that the other Microsoft products.
Worksheet - When you start Excel, a workbook is automatically open. A single
workbook can be made up of several worksheets that are called Sheet1, Sheet2,
etc. unless you change their name.
To change the name of the sheet, double-click on the name of the sheet in the tab
at the bottom of the page and type in the name you wish to give it.
If you need more worksheets than are initally provided, use Insert > Worksheet to
add additional ones. It will be place before the sheet you currently have selected.
Cells – Each rectangle in a spreadsheet is called a cell. They are designated by the
column and row that they are located in. Columns are labeled with letters and rows
are labeled with numbers. For example, the top left cell is A1.
You can move from cell to cell most easily with the mouse by just clicking in the cell
with the mouse cursor or using the arrow keys to move up, down, left or right.
Cursors - Excel has a few unique cursor styles.
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Plus – Click & Drag
to highlight
multiple cells or
click in a single cell
Cross – Click &
Drag to fill cell
contents into the
cells below or to
the right
Arrow – Click &
Drag the contents
of the selected cell
to any other cell
I-beam – Click to
place the cursor in
the Formula bar to
edit an equation or
function
Entering Data
You can enter:
• Numbers
• Words
• Equations, formulas, or functions
• Fill color
• Images
To enter data, move to the cell and enter works or numbers. If there is already
data in the cell, it will be replaced automatically without having to delete it.
Formatting the data
Once the data is entered, you may want to change the way it is displayed. For
example, you may enter a phone number as 2625551234, but would prefer it be
displayed as (262) 555-1234 so it is easier to read. To do this, select the cell and
go to Format > Cells. Under the Number tab, pick the format you want. Phone
numbers (and zip codes) are listed under Special. Select the format you want and
click OK. If you select number, you can specify the number of decimal places you
would like to show and if you want to use, separators.
There are also buttons for some of the common formats.
Currency
Percent
Increase Decimal
Decrease Decimal
Commas in Large
Numbers
If you highlight a single cell, the format will be applied to just that cell. You can
apply the same format by selecting multiple cells. If you want the formatting to
apply to an entire row or rows, highlight and entire row (or rows) by clicking on the
number on the left, all cells selected will get that format. If you want the
formatting to apply to an entire column or columns, highlight and entire column (or
columns) by clicking on the letter on the top, all cells selected will get that format.
If you click on the square in the top left corner between the A and the 1, every cell
in the spreadsheet will be selected.
Remember, you also have your normal buttons for formatting data as well.
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You can make your document unique with font type.
You can also choose the size of the font.
You can also customize your font by making it bold
or underlining
, putting it into italics
,
it (or any combination of the three).
You can also change the color of the font
, or fill in the cell with a background
color
You can also put borders around a cell or a group of cells
You have 3 different ways to justify your text within the cells.
Left
Center
Right
Pick your page orientation and set your margins under File > Page Setup.
Orientation is either Portrait (tall) or Landscape (wide).
Editing Data
If you want to replace the data in a cell, you do not have to delete what’s in there
already. Simply select the cell and type the new data in. However, if you just want
to change part of what is in the cell, select the cell and then click in the formula bar
at the top of the page. The I-beam tool will appear. Position it where you need to
make the change and edit your data.
And you still have the same tools available to you in Excel as in other Office tools
for editing
Menu Bar
CUT - deletes from original location
Button
Key
Edit > Cut
Ctrl+X
COPY - creates a copy
Edit > Copy
Ctrl+C
PASTE - puts cut or copied info in a new location
Edit > Paste
Ctrl+V
FIND - finds text you are looking for
REPLACE - replaces text with different text
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Edit > Find
Edit > Replace
UNDO - undo last action
Edit > Undo
Ctrl+Z
FORMAT PAINTER - duplicates format
Using Auto Fill
If there is a pattern to the data you are going to enter, Excel can usually detect the
pattern and fill it in for you. For example if you put “Group 1” in cell A1, and put
the cursor on the bottom right corner of cell A1, a black plus sign appears. Click
and drag the cell down to cell A7. Excel detects the pattern and fills it in for you.
You can also do the same thing going across. For example, if you dragged the
black plus sign to the right to cell E1, it would also fill it in. This works with
numbers, dates, days, months, and times. Sometimes it is necessary to enter two
cells in the pattern before using the black plus sign to auto fill in order for Excel to
recognize the pattern. Note that Auto fill only works right and down, NOT left or
up for older versions of Excel. Beginning with the 2003 version, up and left work as
well.
Using Auto Sum
Excel allows you to quickly find a total for a column or row of numbers. To do this,
select the cell below the column of numbers (or to the right of a row of numbers).
. Verify that the range of selected cells is correct
Click on the Auto Sum Button
(or use the mouse and highlight the correct ones), and hit Enter. The sum will be
displayed.
Using Merge/Center
To give your worksheet a clean look, you may want to merge some cells together to
form a title. Highlight a range of cells and click on the Merge/Center button
.
There should only be data in one of the cells selected since Excel will make one big
cell out of the data and center it in it.
For example, if these 4 cells are selected,
and the Merge/Center button used
it would look like this.
Functions
Excel has many built in functions. They are accessed using the Function key
Some of the ones that might be useful to you are:
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.
•
•
Sum (which can more easily be used with the Auto Sum key
Today (displays today’s date in the selected cell)
Writing your own Equations
If you want to build your own function (equation), the equal sign (=) tells Excel that
this is what you want to do. Here are some examples of basic functions:
•
•
•
•
•
Addition
o =B1+4 (adds the contents of cell B1 to the number 4)
o =B1+B2 (adds the contents of cells B1 and B2)
o =SUM(B1:C4) (adds the contents of cells B1, B2, B3, B4, C1, C2, C3,
and C4)
Subtraction
o =B1-4 (subtracts 4 from the contents of cell B1)
o =B1-B2 (subtracts the contents of cells B2 from the contents of cell B2)
Multiplication
o =B1*4 (multiplies the contents of cell B1 by the number 4)
o =B1*B2 (multiplies the contents of cells B1 and B2)
Division
o =B1/4 (divides the contents of cell B1 by the number 4)
o =B1/B2 (divides the contents of cells B1 by the contents of cell B2)
Average
o =(B1+B2+B3)/4 (average of B1, B2 and B3)
o =(3+4+5)/4 (average of 3, 4 and 5)
Make sure you use parentheses () just like in math equations to get the results that
you want.
Auto Fill with Calcalations
Sometimes Excel makes assumptions you don’t want it to when auto filling. For
example, if Cell C1 contains =(B1/B10)*100 to create a pecent of a total that is in
B10, autofill will generate the following in cells C2 through C4
=(B2/B11)*100
=(B2/B12)*100
=(B4/B13)*100
instead of
=(B2/B10)*100
=(B2/B10)*100
=(B4/B10)*100
which is what you really want.
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To avoid this, we need to tell Excel to use an Absolute Reference for the total cell
we are dividing by. So before using Auto Fill, we need to change our original
equation in cell C1 to =(B1/$B$10)*100. The $ sign before the column and row
designation make this an Absolute Reference. Now if we do the Auto fill, we will get
the desired results.
Print Preview / Printing
It is always a good idea to preview your document before printing it to review
format and how the information is split on how many pages. To do this use File >
Print Preview or use the Print Preview button.
While previewing it, it is easy to see how many pages your document is spread
over. Click on Margins and you can very easily adust the margins at the top and
bottom and sides. You can also adjust the column widths. Click on Setup for some
other nice features.
Under the Page tab
• Set Portrait or Landscape
• Scale your information to fit on a single page
• Pick your page size
Under the Margins tab
• Set your margins (although it’s easier just doing it while previewing it
• You can also choose to center you data on the page if desired.
Under the Header/Footer tab
• Add a header and/or a footer
• Click on Custom Header or Custom Footer
• Use the Font button to add free form text
• Use the Page buttons to add page numbers
• Use the Date and Time buttons to add this information
• Use the FileName and TabName buttons to add this information
• Position your cursor where you want the information positioned before you
click the button
• To change the font (type/size/color/etc), highlight the info in the header or
footer and click the the Font button
• It is a good idea to put a date and FileName in the footer so it is easy to
remember where the file is and when it was last updated.
Under the Sheet tab
• Choose if you want gridlines, row and column headings
When you want to print , you can print the entire thing or just select parts of it..
You can select:
• All page, a single page or a page rannge
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•
Selected data, or the entire active sheet or an entire workbook (which
contains multiple worksheets.
You can also pick a different printer (other than the default). This is helpful in case
you need a color print of your document.
To print, use File > Print or Ctrl-P. If you use the Print button
document will print without the Print window appearing.
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, the entire