PART 7. Getting Started with Excel

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1 PART 7 Getting ed with Excel When you start the application, Excel displays a blank workbook. A workbook is a file in which you store your data, similar to a three-ring binder. Within a workbook are worksheets, chart sheets, and macro sheets. A new workbook contains three sheets, named Sheet through Sheet. You can add sheets, up to 55 per workbook, depending on your computer s available memory. Multiple sheets help you organize, manage, and consolidate your data. For example, you might want to create a sales forecast for the first quarter of the year. Sheet, Sheet, and Sheet could contain worksheet data for January, February, and March; Sheet could be a summary for the three months of sales data; and Sheet5 could be a chart showing sales over the three-month period. A worksheet is a grid of columns and rows. The intersection of any column and row is called a cell. Each cell in a worksheet has a unique cell reference the designation formed by combining the row and column headings. For example, A8 refers to the cell at the intersection of column A and row 8. The cell pointer is a cross-shaped pointer that appears over cells in the worksheet. You use the cell pointer to select any cell in the worksheet. The selected cell is called the active cell, and you always have at least one cell selected. A range is a specified group of cells. A range can be a single cell; a column; a row; or any combination of cells, columns, and rows. Range coordinates identify a range. The first element in the range coordinates is the location of the upper-left cell in the range; the second element is the location of the lower-right cell. A colon (:) separates these two elements. The range A:C, for example, includes the cells A, A, A, B, B, B, C, C, and C.

2 Opening Excel Workbooks Displays the current folder Goes back to the previously viewed folder Goes up one folder level Displays recently saved files Displays files on the desktop Displays files in the My Documents folder Displays folders and drives on your computer Displays shared network folder and drives Worksheet tab that has been renamed and moved Worksheet tab that has been colored Displays the file name Select the file type you want to open

3 08 Entering Data PART 7 the cell to which you want to add data (for example, B), making it the active cell. Type some data (in this example, January) in the cell. As you type, the data also appears in the Edit bar. When you finish typing, press Enter. Excel makes the cell immediately below it the active cell. Type some data into a few different cells and press the arrow keys to move to the next cell (for example, enter some row headers and column headers). Data is the technical term for the text and numbers you enter into an Excel worksheet. Data in a specific cell can contain text, numbers, or any combination of both; it can even be a graphic or some other type of object you insert into the worksheet. You can enter data into a blank worksheet or add data to an existing worksheet. Correcting As You Type If you make a mistake when typing data, press the Backspace key to delete your entry and type the correct data. You can also click the red X to the left of the Edit bar to cancel your current data entry or press the Esc key. Editing Data If you pressed Enter to accept a data entry but that entry is incorrect, click the cell with the incorrect data to make it active. Then, type the correct data over the old data.

4 Entering Repeat Cell Text 09 Type some names into cells B, B, B5, and B6 (for example, Julie, Nancy, Sid, and Jasmel) and press Enter. In cell B7, type the first letter of one of the original four names for example, S. The name Sid automatically fills the cell. Press Enter to accept the entry. In cell B8, type the first letter of another name for example, J. No name automatically fills the cell because the inferred name could be either Julie or Jasmel. Type the second letter of the name for example, u. The name Julie appears. Press either the Enter or the down-arrow key to enter the name into the cell. Sometimes you ll find that you are entering the same text-based data in multiple cells in the same row or column. To save time, Excel tries to infer the data you want to enter (only for text entries, not numbers). Overriding Excel s Entry Suppose cell B contains the text paper clips, cell B contains pencils, and you want to type paper in cell B5. When you do, Excel automatically enters Paper clips in the cell. To ensure the cell holds only the data you want, simply continue to type the word paper and press the Delete key on the keyboard when you finish. The rest of the text disappears; press Enter and move on to your next cell entry. HINT

5 0 Selecting Cells PART 7 the cell you want to make active (for example, B). A thick, black border around the cell indicates it is the active cell. another cell (for example, B8) to select it as the active cell. Notice that a border no longer appears around cell B. Press the Ctrl key on the keyboard and click cell B. The active cell is B, but cell B8 now has a light blue background, indicating that both cells are selected. Excel displays numerous rows and columns that make up thousands of cells. Most likely you won t use them all, but you do need a way to select specific cells and frequently select more than one cell at a time. When you want to select an individual cell, you just click it. Unselecting Cells If you click a cell that you didn t want in the selection, your only option is to release the Ctrl key and click somewhere in the worksheet to clear the noncontiguous range. Then, start selecting the cells again more carefully. Selecting the Whole Worksheet You can select an entire worksheet by pressing Ctrl+A. This is convenient when you want to format all the cells in a worksheet the same way for example, making everything bold, blue, and 6-point font.

6 Selecting a Range of Cells Drag Drop the cell you want to be the first cell in a range of cells (for example, B). Press and hold down the left mouse button while you drag the pointer to the last cell you want to include in the range (for example, E5). When the desired range is selected, release the mouse button. Sometimes you ll want to select multiple cells that are adjacent to each other (known as a range). You will use this feature frequently when you are formatting your data and want to format multiple cells in the same manner. Range References A range of cells is indicated with a range reference. This includes the upper-leftmost cell in the selection, a colon, and the lower-rightmost cell in the selection. For example, the range reference for cells G through F9 would be G:F9. Using Shift Another way to select a range of cells is to click a cell, press the Shift key, and then click the cell at the other end of the desired range. All the cells between the two clicked cells will be selected.

7 Automatically Filling a Series of Data PART 7 Drag Drop Type the data for the first few cells in the series you want to fill. For example, type Region, Region, and Region into cells B, C, and D, respectively. Select cells B, C, and D and move the mouse pointer over the lower-right corner of the range until the pointer turns into a thin, black plus. Pressing and holding down the mouse button, drag horizontally or vertically until all the cells you want to fill are selected. Release the mouse button when you have filled the correct number of series data. If you have ever typed each and every cell of a series of data into a worksheet (for example, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and so on), the information in this task will save you a lot of time. In a couple quick steps, Excel completes all the time-consuming, repetitive data entry work for you. Be sure to check Excel s work. Using Auto Fill Options Use the Auto Fill Options dropdown list to copy the series cells (Copy Cells); fill the series as is, with formatting (Fill Series); fill only the series formatting (Fill Formatting Only); or fill the series without the formatting (Fill Without Formatting). Using Intuitive Series Excel automatically fills and repeats common series, such as days of the week, month names, and so on. To experiment, type January into a cell, and then click and drag to select the number of cells you want to fill.

8 Renaming and Coloring Worksheet Tabs Right Right Right-click the tab of the worksheet you want to rename (for example, Sheet), and select Rename from the shortcut menu. Type a new name for the worksheet and press the Enter key. Repeat this for each tab you want to rename. Right-click the tab of the worksheet you want to colorize and select Tab Color from the shortcut menu. The Format Tab Color dialog box opens; click the desired color and click OK. The worksheet tab displays the selected color. The more you work in Excel, the more you will need to organize and keep track of your worksheets and the data they contain. A quick way to maintain the worksheets within a workbook is to assign them individual names, such as RegionSales, RegionSales, and so on. In addition, if you want to indicate something specific about a worksheet (for example, if a worksheet contains information about a particular sales region that is not doing well), you can assign it a tab color. HINT Double-ing a Tab to Rename It If you prefer, you can doubleclick a worksheet tab to rename it. Simply type in the new name and continue working.

9 Inserting and Deleting Worksheets PART 7 Doubleclick Right Right Right-click the tab of the worksheet that you want a new worksheet placed in front of, and select Insert from the shortcut menu. The Insert dialog box opens. Double-click the type of worksheet you want to insert (select Worksheet). A new worksheet (the next sheet number in the sequence) appears. To delete a worksheet, right-click the worksheet tab and select Delete from the shortcut menu. The worksheet is removed from the workbook. When the default three worksheets per workbook just aren t enough, you will need to insert additional worksheets. Other times, you ll discover you no longer need a worksheet included in a workbook and need to delete it. (Just be sure when you delete worksheets that you definitely no longer need the information.) Inserting Worksheets You can also open the Insert menu and select Worksheet to automatically insert a worksheet into your workbook in front of the currently selected worksheet. If you need to rearrange the worksheets, see the next task. Workbook Buttons If the worksheet tabs aren't visible with a large number of worksheets, you can use the workbook buttons to the left of the worksheet tabs. the following buttons: > (next right) or < (next left); < (first worksheet) or > (last worksheet).

10 Moving or Copying Worksheets 5 Right Right-click the worksheet tab you want to move or copy and select Move or Copy from the shortcut menu. In the Move or Copy dialog box, click the To Book drop-down list and select the workbook to which you want to move or copy the worksheet. In the Before Sheet list, click the name of the worksheet in front of which you want the moved or copied worksheet to be placed or choose (Move to ). the Create a Copy check box to copy the worksheet instead of moving it. If you want to move the worksheet, leave it unchecked. Then, click OK. When Excel inserts a new worksheet, it always places it in front of the currently selected worksheet. If you aren t in the correct worksheet tab before you insert the worksheet, however, you can simply move the worksheet to the desired location. In addition, Excel understands that many times data in one worksheet can be used as a starting point in new worksheets and even other workbooks (or perhaps you need multiple sets of data); for this reason, it enables you to copy a worksheet. HINT Moving a Worksheet by Dragging You can click a worksheet tab and drag it in front of or behind another worksheet tab to change its location. This is a lot faster if you need to rearrange your worksheets.

11 6 Saving a Workbook PART 7 With the worksheet you want to save open in the Excel window, open the File menu and select Save As to open the Save dialog box. the My Documents icon or, if necessary, move through the folder structure to save the file where you want (My Documents is the default on most computers). In the File Name field, type a descriptive name for the file. Then, click the Save button. The Excel title bar now contains your workbook s name. Until you save the workbook in which you are working, the data in the file is not stored on disk. You should regularly save your workbooks as you work in them so you don t lose your work. Also, after you save a workbook, you can retrieve it later to work on. Using Save In Options If you don t want to save your file in the My Documents directory, you can select the Save in drop-down list box and maneuver through your folders to save the file in a different location. Using the Save Button If you have already saved and named your file, you can resave it after making additional changes by clicking the Save button on the Standard toolbar.

12 Closing a Workbook 7 the Close (x) button in the document window. If you have edited the workbook since saving it last, Excel asks whether you want to save it. the Yes button to save your changes; click Cancel to continue working in the document; or click No to close Excel without saving changes. Excel closes the workbook. When you finish working on a workbook, you can close it with or without saving changes and continue to work in the application. If you have been working in a workbook and try to close it, Excel asks you whether you want to save the workbook before it closes. Program Window Make sure you click the Close button in the document window, not the program window. Otherwise, you ll close all the open workbooks in Excel. Available Buttons When Excel has no workbooks open, only a few buttons are available on the Standard toolbar. As soon as you create a new workbook or open a workbook, the buttons become available again.

13 8 Creating a New Workbook PART 7 the New button on the Standard toolbar. Excel opens a new blank workbook. Excel presents a new blank workbook each time you start the application. You can create another new workbook at any time, however. For example, when you save and close one workbook, you might want to begin a new one. Sample Workbooks For more options, open the File menu and select New. Then, peruse the options in the New Workbook Task pane. the link of the type of new workbook or template you want to create. Understanding Default Filenames The default filename for each new workbook (Book, Book, Book, and so on) increases sequentially as you open new books. If you exit and restart Excel, the numbers begin at again.

14 Opening a Workbook 9 Doubleclick the Open button on the Standard toolbar. The Open dialog box appears. the My Documents icon on the Places bar, or use the Look in drop-down list to move through the folders to find the file you want. Double-click the file you want to open. Excel opens the workbook. You have many options from which to choose in the Open dialog box. If necessary, click the Look in drop-down arrow and select a folder from the list. To move up a folder level, click the Up One Level button on the Open dialog box s toolbar. Viewing Multiple Workbooks Instead of constantly switching between workbooks, you can simultaneously view multiple workbooks onscreen in Excel. Select Window, Arrange to open the Arrange Windows dialog box. Then, select how you want the windows arranged (for example, Horizontal) and click OK. the title bar or in the body of the workbook in which you want to work to make it the active one (the active workbook is the one that displays a darker title bar); the active cell is then visible in the active workbook. To return to viewing only one workbook, double-click its title bar.