« Graphics Charts Formatting a Worksheet »

Charts allow you to present information contained in the worksheet in a graphic format. Excel offers many
types of charts including: Column, Line, Pie, Bar, Area, Scatter and more.  To view the charts available click
the Insert Tab on the Ribbon.
Create a Chart
To create a chart:
 Select the cells that contain the data you want to use in the chart
 Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon
 Click the type of Chart you want to create

Modify a Chart
Once you have created a chart you can do several things to modify the chart. 
To move the chart:
To move the chart:
 Click the Chart and Drag it another location on the same worksheet, or
 Click the Move Chart button on the Design tab
 Choose the desired location (either a new sheet or a current sheet in the workbook)

To change the data included in the chart:

 Click the Chart
 Click the Select Data button on the Design tab
To reverse which data are displayed in the rows and columns:
 Click the Chart
 Click the Switch Row/Column button on the Design tab

To modify the labels and titles:

 Click the Chart
 On the Layout tab, click the Chart Title or the Data Labels button
 Change the Title and click Enter

Chart Tools
The Chart Tools appear on the Ribbon when you click on the chart.  The tools are located on three tabs: 
Design, Layout, and Format. 

Within the Design tab you can control the chart type, layout, styles, and location.
Within the Layout tab you can control inserting pictures, shapes and text boxes, labels, axes, background,
and analysis.

Within the Format tab you can modify shape styles, word styles and size of the chart.

Copy a Chart to Word

 Select the chart
 Click Copy on the Home tab
 Go to the Word document where you want the chart located
 Click Paste on the Home tab

Convert Text to Columns

Sometimes you will want to split data in one cell into two or more cells.  You can do this easily by utilizing the
Convert Text to Columns Wizard.
 Highlight the column in which you wish to split the data
 Click the Text to Columns button on the Data tab
 Click Delimited if you have a comma or tab separating the data, or click fixed widths to set the data
separation at a specific size. 
Modify Fonts
Modifying fonts in Excel will allow you to emphasize titles and headings. To modify a font:
 Select the cell or cells that you would like the font applied
 On the Font group on the Home tab, choose the font type, size, bold, italics, underline, or color

Format Cells Dialog Box

In Excel, you can also apply specific formatting to a cell. To apply formatting to a cell or group of cells:
 Select the cell or cells that will have the formatting
 Click the Dialog Box arrow on the Alignment group of the Home tab
There are several tabs on this dialog box that allow you to modify properties of the cell or cells. 
Number:  Allows for the display of different number types and decimal places
Alignment:  Allows for the horizontal and vertical alignment of text, wrap text, shrink text, merge cells and
the direction of the text.
Font:  Allows for control of font, font style, size, color, and additional features
Border:  Border styles and colors
Fill:  Cell fill colors and styles
Add Borders and Colors to Cells
Borders and colors can be added to cells manually or through the use of styles.  To add borders manually:
 Click the Borders drop down menu on the Font group of the Home tab
 Choose the appropriate border
To apply colors manually:
 Click the Fill drop down menu on the Font group of the Home tab
 Choose the appropriate color

To apply borders and colors using styles:

 Click Cell Styles on the Home tab
 Choose a style or click New Cell Style
Change Column Width and Row Height
To change the width of a column or the height of a row:
 Click the Format button on the Cells group of the Home tab
 Manually adjust the height and width by clicking Row Height or Column Width
 To use AutoFit click AutoFit Row Height or AutoFit Column Width

Hide or Unhide Rows or Columns

To hide or unhide rows or columns:
 Select the row or column you wish to hide or unhide
  Click the Format button on the Cells group of the Home tab
 Click Hide & Unhide

Merge Cells
To merge cells select the cells you want to merge and click the Merge & Center button on the Alignment
group of the Home tab.  The four choices for merging cells are:
Merge & Center: Combines the cells and centers the contents in the new, larger cell
Merge Across: Combines the cells across columns without centering data
Merge Cells: Combines the cells in a range without centering
Unmerge Cells: Splits the cell that has been merged

Align Cell Contents

To align cell contents, click the cell or cells you want to align and click on the options within the Alignment
group on the Home tab.  There are several options for alignment of cell contents:
Top Align:  Aligns text to the top of the cell
Middle Align:  Aligns text between the top and bottom of the cell
Bottom Align:  Aligns text to the bottom of the cell
Align Text Left:  Aligns text to the left of the cell
Center:  Centers the text from left to right in the cell
Align Text Right:  Aligns text to the right of the cell
Decrease Indent:  Decreases the indent between the left border and the text
Increase Indent:  Increase the indent between the left border and the text
Orientation:  Rotate the text diagonally or vertically
Format Worksheet Tab
You can rename a worksheet or change the color of the tabs to meet your needs.
To rename a worksheet:
 Open the sheet to be renamed
 Click the Format button on the Home tab
 Click Rename sheet
 Type in a new name
 Press Enter

To change the color of a worksheet tab:

 Open the sheet to be renamed
 Click the Format button on the Home tab
 Click Tab Color
 Click the color
Reposition Worksheets in a Workbook
To move worksheets in a workbook:
 Open the workbook that contains the sheets you want to rearrange
 Click and hold the worksheet tab that will be moved until an arrow appears in the left corner of the
sheet
 Drag the worksheet to the desired location

Insert and Delete Worksheets

To insert a worksheet
 Open the workbook
 Click the Insert button on the Cells group of the Home tab
 Click Insert Sheet

To delete a worksheet
 Open the workbook
 Click the Delete button on the Cells group of the Home tab
 Click Delete Sheet
Copy and Paste Worksheets:
To copy and paste a worksheet:
 Click the tab of the worksheet to be copied
 Right click and choose Move or Copy
 Choose the desired position of the sheet
 Click the check box next to Create a Copy
 Click OK

Set Print Titles

The print titles function allows you to repeat the column and row headings at the beginning of each new page
to make reading a multiple page sheet easier to read when printed.  To Print Titles:
 Click the Page Layout tab on the Ribbon
 Click the Print Titles button
 In the Print Titles section, click the box to select the rows/columns to be repeated
 Select the row or column
 Click the Select Row/Column Button
 Click OK

Set Print Titles

The print titles function allows you to repeat the column and row headings at the beginning of each new page
to make reading a multiple page sheet easier to read when printed.  To Print Titles:
 Click the Page Layout tab on the Ribbon
 Click the Print Titles button
 In the Print Titles section, click the box to select the rows/columns to be repeated
 Select the row or column
 Click the Select Row/Column Button
 Click OK
Create a Header or Footer
To create a header or footer:
 Click the Header & Footer button on the Insert tab
 This will display the Header & Footer Design Tools Tab
 To switch between the Header and Footer, click the Go to Header or Go to Footer button

 To insert text, enter the text in the header or footer

 To enter preprogrammed data such as page numbers, date, time, file name or sheet name, click the
appropriate button
 To change the location of data, click the desired cell

Set Page Margins

To set the page margins:
 Click the Margins button on the Page Layout tab
 Select one of the give choices, or
  Click Custom Margins
 Complete the boxes to set margins
 Click Ok

Change Page Orientation

To change the page orientation from portrait to landscape:
 Click the Orientation button on the Page Layout tab
 Choose Portrait or Landscape
Set Page Breaks
You can manually set up page breaks in a worksheet for ease of reading when the sheet is printed.  To set a
page break:
 Click the Breaks button on the Page Layout tab
 Click Insert Page Break

Print a Range
There may be times when you only want to print a portion of a worksheet.  This is easily done through the
Print Range function.  To print a range:
 Select the area to be printed
 Click the Print Area button on the Page Layout tab
 Click Select Print Area

Split a Worksheet
You can split a worksheet into multiple resizable panes for easier viewing of parts of a worksheet. To split a
worksheet:
 Select any cell in center of the worksheet you want to split
 Click the Split button on the View tab
 Notice the split in the screen, you can manipulate each part separately

Freeze Rows and Columns

You can select a particular portion of a worksheet to stay static while you work on other parts of the sheet. 
This is accomplished through the Freeze Rows and Columns Function.  To Freeze a row or column:
 Click the Freeze Panes button on the View tab
 Either select a section to be frozen or click the defaults of top row or left column
 To unfreeze, click the Freeze Panes button
  Click Unfreeze

Hide Worksheets
To hide a worksheet:
 Select the tab of the sheet you wish to hide
 Right-click on the tab
 Click Hide

To unhide a worksheet:
 Right-click on any worksheet tab
 Click Unhide
 Choose the worksheet to unhide
Create a Header or Footer
To create a header or footer:
 Click the Header & Footer button on the Insert tab
 This will display the Header & Footer Design Tools Tab
 To switch between the Header and Footer, click the Go to Header or Go to Footer button

 To insert text, enter the text in the header or footer

 To enter preprogrammed data such as page numbers, date, time, file name or sheet name, click the
appropriate button
 To change the location of data, click the desired cell

Set Page Margins

To set the page margins:
 Click the Margins button on the Page Layout tab
 Select one of the give choices, or
  Click Custom Margins
 Complete the boxes to set margins
 Click Ok

Change Page Orientation

To change the page orientation from portrait to landscape:
 Click the Orientation button on the Page Layout tab
 Choose Portrait or Landscape
Set Page Breaks
You can manually set up page breaks in a worksheet for ease of reading when the sheet is printed.  To set a
page break:
 Click the Breaks button on the Page Layout tab
 Click Insert Page Break

Print a Range
There may be times when you only want to print a portion of a worksheet.  This is easily done through the
Print Range function.  To print a range:
 Select the area to be printed
 Click the Print Area button on the Page Layout tab
 Click Select Print Area

Excel Formulas
A formula is a set of mathematical instructions that can be used in Excel to perform calculations.  Formals are
started in the formula box with an = sign.

There are many elements to and excel formula.

References:  The cell or range of cells that you want to use in your calculation
Operators:  Symbols (+, -, *, /, etc.) that specify the calculation to be performed
Constants:  Numbers or text values that do not change
Functions:  Predefined formulas in Excel

To create a basic formula in Excel:

 Select the cell for the formula

 Type = (the equal sign) and the formula
 Click Enter

Calculate with Functions

A function is a built in formula in Excel.  A function has a name and arguments (the mathematical function) in
parentheses.  Common functions in Excel:

Sum:  Adds all cells in the argument

Average:  Calculates the average of the cells in the argument
Min:  Finds the minimum value
Max:  Finds the maximum value
Count:  Finds the number of cells that contain a numerical value within a range of the argument

To calculate a function:

 Click the cell where you want the function applied

 Click the Insert Function button
 Choose the function
 Click OK

 Complete the Number 1 box with the first cell in the range that you want calculated
 Complete the Number 2 box with the last cell in the range that you want calculated
Function Library
The function library is a large group of functions on the Formula Tab of the Ribbon.  These functions include:

AutoSum:  Easily calculates the sum of a range

Recently Used:  All recently used functions
Financial: Accrued interest, cash flow return rates and additional financial functions
Logical: And, If, True, False, etc.
Text: Text based functions
Date & Time: Functions calculated on date and time
Math & Trig:  Mathematical Functions

Relative, Absolute and Mixed References

Calling cells by just their column and row labels (such as "A1") is called relative referencing. When a formula
contains relative referencing and it is copied from one cell to another, Excel does not create an exact copy of the
formula. It will change cell addresses relative to the row and column they are moved to. For example, if a
simple addition formula in cell C1 "=(A1+B1)" is copied to cell C2, the formula would change to "=(A2+B2)"
to reflect the new row. To prevent this change, cells must be called by absolute referencing and this is
accomplished by placing dollar signs "$" within the cell addresses in the formula. Continuing the previous
example, the formula in cell C1 would read "=($A$1+$B$1)" if the value of cell C2 should be the sum of cells
A1 and B1. Both the column and row of both cells are absolute and will not change when copied. Mixed
referencing can also be used where only the row OR column fixed. For example, in the formula "=(A$1+
$B2)", the row of cell A1 is fixed and the column of cell B2 is fixed.

Linking Worksheets
You may want to use the value from a cell in another worksheet within the same workbook in a formula. For
example, the value of cell A1 in the current worksheet and cell A2 in the second worksheet can be added using
the format "sheetname!celladdress". The formula for this example would be "=A1+Sheet2!A2" where the value
of cell A1 in the current worksheet is added to the value of cell A2 in the worksheet named "Sheet2".
Macros are advanced features that can speed up editing or formatting you may perform often in an Excel
worksheet. They record sequences of menu selections that you choose so that a series of actions can be
completed in one step.

Recording a Macro
To record a Macro:

 Click the View tab on the Ribbon

 Click Macros
 Click Record Macro
 Enter a name (without spaces)
 Enter a Shortcut Key
 Enter a Description

 Perform the Macro

 Click Macros
 Click Stop Recording
Running a Macro
To run a Macro from the Keyboard shortcut, simply press the keys that you have programmed to run the
Macro.  Or you can view all macros and run by:

 Click Macros
 Click View Macros
 Choose the Macro and click Run

Sorting and Filtering allow you to manipulate data in a worksheet based on given set of criteria.

Basic Sorts
To execute a basic descending or ascending sort based on one column:

 Highlight the cells that will be sorted

 Click the Sort & Filter button on the Home tab
 Click the Sort Ascending (A-Z) button or Sort Descending (Z-A) button

Custom Sorts
To sort on the basis of more than one column:
  Click the Sort & Filter button on the Home tab
 Choose which column you want to sort by first
 Click Add Level
 Choose the next column you want to sort
 Click OK

Filtering
Filtering allows you to display only data that meets certain criteria. To filter:

 Click the column or columns that contain the data you wish to filter
 On the Home tab, click on Sort & Filter
 Click  Filter button
 Click the Arrow at the bottom of the first cell
 Click the Text Filter
 Click the Words you wish to Filter
 To clear the filter click the Sort & Filter button
 Click Clear