Week 2 Excel Shortcuts

Week 2: Toolbox
Keyboard Shortcuts:
Windows Shortcuts: Microsoft Office Support pages | Mac Shortcuts: Microsoft Office
Support pages
CTRL + Z — Undo previous action
F4 (fn + F4 / CMD + T) — Cycle through all 4 types of cell references. (Absolute, Mixed x2,
Relative)
CTRL + ~ (CTRL + `) — Show formulas in the worksheet
SHIFT + F3 (CTRL + A) — Open Formula Builder/ Function Wizard
CTRL + PgUp (CMD + PgUp) — Go to the previous sheet.
CTRL + PgDn (CMD + PgDn) — Go to the next sheet.
Excel Terminology
Formula
A formula is entered into a cell to perform a calculation. A formula always starts with an equal
sign (=) and once committed (press Enter), the result is displayed in that cell. At its most basic,
formulas can be simple mathematical calculations with values much like you would type into a
calculator. An example of a formula would be: =A1+B1 which would take whatever value was
entered into cell A1 and add it to the value that was typed into B1. After typing the formula and
pressing the Enter key, the resulting value will be displayed in the cell in which you entered the
formula.
Function
A function is what we referred to in the videos a 'mini-program' that you can use to make more
complex calculations. Functions are used inside formulas and therefore, you need to start with
an equal sign (=). Formulas operate with cell references and are very powerful. One commonly
used function is SUM, which will add up the values in a defined range. The function:
=SUM(A1:A12) will sum up all values contained in cells A1through to A12 and return the result
once you commit the function by pressing the ENTER key.
Formula Bar
The formula bar is located underneath the ribbon. The first edit line shows cell reference of the
currently active cell - this is called the Name Box. The second edit line provides space to enter
cell content and a helper tool to enter formulas:
Once you enter an equal sign into the active cell, frequently used functions appear in the Name
Box on the left - a drop-down menu offers more options.
Value
Values are numeric data that is entered into a cell. When text is entered into a cell without
being assigned a number format, we refer to them as labels. When data is formatted as a
value type, it can be referred to in formulas and functions and used in calculations.
Range
A range refers to two or more cells. When these cells are together, we call this an adjacent
range. Consider this example:
This adjacent range covers all the cells from A1 through to C2 - or in Excel syntax this is
written as A1:C2. The colon (:) basically stands for 'through to'. Whenever we want to define a
range of cells that are not all in one place, we talk about non-adjacent ranges:
This range includes cells A1:A2 and C1:C2. In Excel syntax this is written as A1:A2,C1:C2.
Reference, relative
A relative cell reference is one that changes relative to the direction in which it is copied.
Consider this example:
A2 and B2 are relative cell references. When we copy the formula in C2 downwards into C3
and C4 with the fill handle, then Excel will assume that you want to conduct the same
calculation in rows 3 and 4 as you did in row 2. In other words, Excel will perform the
calculation A3*B3 in C3 and A4*B4 in C4. Excel effectively updates the row number in each of
the cell references for every row that you copy your formula downwards.
Reference, absolute
Or, as we like to fondly call it, the dollar thingy. A cell reference is absolute when it does not
change whenever it is copied. To make a cell reference absolute, you must include a $ before
each element of the cell reference: $A$1. This can be a bit cumbersome. The keyboard
shortcut to turn a cell reference into an absolute cell reference is to press F4.
Ninja Tip for the Week
Order of basic mathematical operations
Calculations in Excel follow the general mathematical rules for calculations, in other words,
Multiplication (*) and Division (/) come before Addition (+) and Subtraction (-). So, when you
are using these arithmetic operators in your calculations, you need to keep these general rules
in mind.
Example: =3+4*5
Excel reads the formula from left to right, so one might assume that it adds 3 and 4 together
before it multiplies the result by 5. However, as multiplication takes precedence over addition,
Excel will calculate 3 plus the result of 4 multiplied by 5. If you wanted Excel to choose the first
path, you need to 'tell' this to Excel with the help of parentheses. The formula should look like
this: =(3+4)*5
Week 2: Excellent Tips and Resources
Use Excel instead of a hat: Using the function RANDBETWEEN, you can have Excel randomly
select a number between a range of numbers you specify. In our example, you can use Excel
to randomly assign 'cake-duty' to one of your team members.
The two values you need to use are the lowest and highest numbers, which should be at the
ends of the range of numbers you’ve applied to each person’s name.
Once you hit the Enter key, the function will randomly select one of the numbers within the
range.
Most of the functions that we looked at this week only have 1 argument (input value). However,
the function RANDBETWEEN has 2 arguments: bottom and top. In the screenshot below
these arguments are separated by a comma, e.g. RANDBETWEEN(B4,B17). In some
countries the comma is used as the decimal separator in numbers, so it cannot be used as the
argument separator as well. In these countries a semicolon is used instead, so your function
will look like RANDBETWEEN(B4;B17). Do not be alarmed — this is one of the many regional
differences in Excel.

Week 2 Excel Shortcuts

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Week 2 Excel Shortcuts

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Week 2: Toolbox

CTRL + Z — Undo previous action

CTRL + ~ (CTRL + `) — Show formulas in the worksheet

SHIFT + F3 (CTRL + A) — Open Formula Builder/ Function Wizard

CTRL + PgUp (CMD + PgUp) — Go to the previous sheet.

CTRL + PgDn (CMD + PgDn) — Go to the next sheet.

Ninja Tip for the Week

Order of basic mathematical operations

Week 2: Excellent Tips and Resources

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