Excel Basic

Excel is a spreadsheet program that allows you to store, organize and analyze
information. Common uses for Excel include:

 Number Crunching
 Creating Charts and Tables
 Organizing Lists and Data

Learning Objectives

 Be able to navigate and manipulate Excel’s layout and user interface

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The Excel Interface

This is the Excel start screen. The start screen has buttons for:

 Creating a blank workbook

You can find more templates by scrolling down the start screen.

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The Layout

At the far top left corner of the screen is the quick access toolbar. You can
customize this toolbar to provide shortcuts to your most commonly used
commands by left clicking on the button for its drop-down menu.

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Located toward the top of the screen are the tabs, the ribbon, and the Tell me
box. The ribbon contains buttons for various Excel commands. The tabs allow you
to switch between different groups of commands. The Tell me box works like a
search bar that helps you quickly find the tool or command you want to use.

Excel is organized as a grid of rectangles called cells, each of which can hold data.
The rows are labeled in numerical order, and the columns in alphabetical order.
The green box indicates which cells are currently selected.

The name box beneath the left side of the ribbon tells you which cell is the active
one – the cell that you will enter data into if you begin typing. If you select
multiple cells, the active cell will typically be the one at the top left. Notice that
the name box gives the name of the active cell as a letter plus a number – this
tells you the column and row of the active cell. For example, the cell in the top left
corner is A1. This is known as a cell address.

To the right of the name box is the formula bar. This is mainly used for formulas
and its use will be explained in a later section.

Down at the bottom of the workbook are the worksheet and zoom control
options. Worksheets behave like pages in a notebook, and allow you to better
organize your data by placing different content on different worksheets. You can

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add a blank worksheet to your workbook by left clicking on the plus button to the
right of your list of worksheets.

If you add a worksheet, you should see two tabs at the bottom of your screen
labeled Sheet1 and Sheet2. Left clicking on a tab will switch you over to that
worksheet.

You can right click on a worksheet tab to bring up a menu that allows you to
delete, rename, move, copy, or color code worksheets. As with most computer
applications, left click is generally used to select and use tools and commands,
and right click is used to bring up contextual menus that offer additional options.

Finally, you can use the scroll bars toward the bottom right of the screen to go to
other parts of your worksheet.

Selecting Cells

Select a cell by left clicking on it, or select multiple cells by clicking a cell while
holding down the left button and dragging your cursor across the cells you wish to
select. Select an entire row or column by left clicking on the row number or
column letter. Click and drag also works for selecting multiple rows or columns.

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You can also select a range of cells by left clicking on the first cell you wish to
select, holding down the Shift key, and then clicking on the last cell you wish to
select. To select non-contiguous cells, rows, or columns, hold down the Ctrl key as
you make your selections.

Navigating and Entering Data

To enter data into Excel, select a cell and begin typing. What you type will be
stored in that cell and replace anything that was previously there. Once you are
finished typing you can finalize your entry by left clicking on another cell, pressing
Enter to move one cell down, pressing Tab to move one cell to the right, or using
the direction keys to move your active cell around the worksheet.

Note that if you wish to edit the information in a cell instead of replacing it you
have to double click the cell instead of just selecting it. Alternatively, you can
select the cell you wish to edit, click on the formula bar, and make changes
directly from there.

Undo and Redo

Some useful commands you might find yourself using often are Undo and Redo.

When you undo something, it reverses the last action you took. If you then decide
you liked things the way they were before the undo, use the redo command to
revert the changes. The undo and redo buttons can usually be found in the quick
access toolbar at the top left corner of your screen, though it’s often easier to use
their shortcuts. The shortcut for undo is Ctrl-Z and the shortcut for redo is Ctrl-Y.

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Deleting Data

To erase data from a cell, select the cells you wish to clear and press the Delete
key, or right click on the selection and left click on “Clear Contents” in the
contextual menu that appears.

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Copy, Cut, and Paste

Copying and pasting data in Excel works a lot like copying and pasting in Microsoft
Word and most other applications. To do this, select the cells you wish to copy,
right click to bring up the contextual menu and left click “Copy.” Select the cell
you wish to paste to, then right click there and left click the leftmost icon under
“Paste Options.” To save time while copying and pasting, use the shortcuts Ctrl-C
for copy and Ctrl-V for paste.

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Besides copying and pasting, you can also cut and paste to move the contents of
your selected cells to another location without leaving behind a copy. The
shortcut for the Cut command is Ctrl-X.

Alternatively, you can drag and drop cells from one place to another. To drag and
drop, hover your cursor to one of the edges of your selection. Your cursor should
transform into a four-way arrow. From here, hold down the left button and drag
the selected cells to where you want them to go.

There are multiple paste options. These options do different things and can be
used by left clicking on the appropriate icon when you go to paste something. For
example, the Transpose Paste command will convert a copied or cut selection’s
rows to columns, or vice versa.

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Modifying Columns and Rows

If the data you enter is too long for a cell, you can alter the width of the columns
or the height of the rows to accommodate the text. To change the width of a cell,
place your cursor on the division between the column letters, left click and drag
the column until the width is acceptable. Another option is to double click on the
division between the two columns. This will AutoFit the column to fit the text.

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AutoFit works for row height as well, and you can also use it for several rows or
columns at the same time. To do this, select the rows or columns you wish to
AutoFit, then select the appropriate command from the Format drop-down menu
on the Home ribbon.

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You can also modify every row and column in your spreadsheet at the same time.
To do this, left click on the Select All button just below the name box.

Then, hover your cursor over a row or column divider, and left click and drag until
your rows or columns are the desired height or width.

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Inserting, Deleting, Moving, and Hiding

You can insert or delete columns and rows from your worksheet. To insert a
column, select the column to the right of where you want your new column to
appear, then right click on the selected column and left click on “Insert” in the
contextual menu. This process works for rows as well.

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To delete a column, select the column, then right click on the column and left click
on “Delete” in the contextual menu. Adjacent cells will move into where the
deleted cells were. This process works for rows as well. You can also delete a
selection of cells instead of an entire row or column.

Sometimes you may want to move a column or row to rearrange the content of
your worksheet. To move a column, first select and cut that column.

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Then, select the column to the right of where you want to move your original
column, right click on the selection and left click on “Insert Cut Cells” in the
contextual menu. This will move the original column to the selected location and
shift the surrounding columns accordingly. This process works for rows as well.
Note that cutting and pasting a row or column does not produce the same effect.

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At times you may want to temporarily remove part of a worksheet from sight if
things become too cluttered or unwieldy. To hide one or more columns, select
those columns, right click on the selection and left click on “Hide” in the
contextual menu. A vertical line will appear between the columns to the left and
right of the hidden section to remind you that there hidden columns there.

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To unhide hidden columns, select the columns to the left and right of the hidden
section, right click the selection, and then left click on “Unhide” in the contextual
menu. This process works for rows as well.

Wrapping Text and Merging Cells

When you have too much content in a cell, you may want to wrap the text or
merge multiple cells together in order to make your worksheet more readable
without widening the columns. To wrap text, select the cells you want to alter and
left click the “Wrap Text” button on the Home ribbon.

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Merge cells together by selecting the cells you want to combine and then left
clicking on the “Merge & Center” button or one of the options in its drop-down
menu.

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Formatting Cells

Like Microsoft Word, Excel offers many ways to alter the look of your worksheets.
Features include the ability to edit font size, font color, text alignment, as well as
bold, italic, and underline. You can also use the “Fill Color” button to highlight
one or more cells, add borders to cells, or apply cell styles.

Number Formats

Excel allows you to present numerical data in a number of ways to make things
easier to read and use. To adjust the number formatting of a section of your
spreadsheet, select the cells you want to affect and use the number format
options on the Home ribbon to make changes.

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Printing Options

The Page Layout tab allows you to adjust how your spreadsheets will look when
you print them.

The Orientation drop-down menu allows you to switch between the portrait and
landscape layouts, and you can use the Margins menu to change how much white
space will appear on each side of your spreadsheet when you print it. If you want
your spreadsheet to be printed with the gridlines you see on screen, make sure to
check that box before you print.

Sometimes your worksheets may be too wide to fit all your columns on a single
page, even when you set your worksheets in landscape orientation. If this
happens, try using the scaling drop-down menu on the print preview page to
adjust the look of your spreadsheet. Note that this may shrink the size of your
spreadsheets as they are printed.

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If you have multiple worksheets in your workbook, when you print you need to
choose whether to only print the active sheet or all of them at once.

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Formulas and Functions

Open the Formula Tutorial workbook and run through the “Basics” and
“Introduction to Functions” sheets for an overview of formulas, functions, and
cell references.

On the Formulas ribbon, select a range of cells and click on the “AutoSum” button
to add the value of those cells together using that function, or select a blank cell
and click on the “Insert Function” button to use to a more complicated function.

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Autofill

Open the Welcome to Excel workbook and run through the “Fill” sheet for an
overview of autofill.

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More Resources

Library books and DVDs

GCFLearnFree.org

Lynda.com

Gale Courses

Youtube.com

Google or another search engine

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