Contents Starting Up Excel... 1 Getting to Know Excel... 2 Workbook... 2 Sheet... 2 Cell... 2 Tabs, Tools, and Uses... 3 Home Tab... 3 Conditional Formatting:... 5 Format as a Table:... 5 Insert Tab... 6 Functions... 7 Auto-Fill... 7 Equations... 8 Basic Operations... 9 ***END OF LESSON 1***... 10 Pre-set Functions... 11 Sum... 11 Average... 12 Random... 13 Regular... 13 Between... 13 IF... 14 Basic... 14 Within a Function... 14 Specific Output... 14 Chain of IFs... 15
Starting Up Excel Open up Excel from the Windows Menu From here you can start from scratch by selecting a Blank Workbook, choose from recently opened workbooks in the left-hand side bar, or from the catalogue of templates available. Note: The templates are for very specific purposes and are also quite temperamental, ensure you know some of the advanced functions being utilized before adjusting the workbook to your specifications. As with the other programs, if the file you are looking for is not in the Recent menu, you can click Open Other Documents to access the File Explorer, or even select the File Explorer right away to find your file. 1
Once your workbook is opened, it is best to save it immediately. In our class, it MUST be saved in the H Drive and be labelled LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_EXCEL. (There will be two assignments on Excel, so you will need to specify EXCEL_1 and EXCEL_2 in your file names). Getting to Know Excel Some terms we will need to know: Workbook: This is the entire file you are working with. Sheet: This is the page you are actively working on. Sheets can be added, deleted, or renamed by right-clicking on the labels on the bottom of the page. Cell: This is the individual box for inputting data, labelled by the Column Letter and their Row Number. The example below if of Cell C2. Cell sizes can be adjusted to best fit your needs. You can select a Column or Row to grow or shrink by clicking on the Letter/Number and dragging the border to your desired size. These adjustments can be made on multiple columns/rows by highlighting the desired set and adjusting one of the column/rows. This will be a uniform change to the set. 2
If you wish to make a uniform change in cell size to the whole sheet, click the top lefthand corner to Select All and make your adjustments. Tabs, Tools, and Uses Home Tab The Home Tab has many similar features as other Microsoft Office products. The font and alignment can still be adjusted as before; however, the alignment can also adjust the text vertically within a cell for top, middle, or bottom. The Home Tab also has the boarder functions, which are as customizable as the table boarder in Word, to help organize large portions of data, including the custom boarder feature. 3
Additionally, individual cells can have their colour changed, along with the text within the cell. To make text fit within a cell but not have to change the cell to be too long, the Wrap Text will allow for text to fill multiple lines and automatically grow the height of the cell as needed. Often times your data will be in a specific format, this can be maniluplated in the Number portion of the Home Tab ribbon. Here you can select a currency, percent, comma style (i.e. 10000 10,000), and adjust the number of decimal places. Number formats can be selected from the drop menu or from 4
CRTL+1 which provides a window with even more options (provides other customizations, but Number is the most practical). Cells can be formatted for colour in multiple ways. The two major ones include: Conditional Formatting: Conditional Formatting allows you to add colours or designs based upon set rules, which you can create, for values within your sheet. The possible conditions and formats are extensive so feel free to explore these. Format as a Table: If your data makes sense to be displayed as a table, you can click Format as Table to make it one with helpful colour schemes that you can adjust as you see fit. This will allow for a clearer display of your data. 5
When set as a Table, the Headings can be selected to analyze the data by reordering the data according to particular columns and/or viewing rows with specific data in a particular column Insert Tab The Insert Tab has many complex functions. Our focus will be on the Charts portion. 6
Here we can quick select our graphs based upon the data your sheet contains. You can even have recommendations that will best fit your data. Like other programs, you can format your pre-set graph to your desired design in the Format Table Tab available once the graph is selected. Functions Auto-Fill When creating/manipulating data, you may benefit from the auto-fill options. If you are beginning a sequence (i.e. counting), Excel will recognize the sequence and fill the rest for you. Select the starting few cells of your sequence and then drag the bottom corner to your desired value. If you are inputting data next to a full list, your sequence will auto-fill down to the bottom of the corresponding list by double clicking the bottom corner of the fully selected sequence. 7
If you wish to repeat a (group of) cell(s), simply copy your desired cells, highlight the cells you wish to see them reproduced in, and paste. The down fill shown above with a corresponding list will also work. Equations You can type equations into Cells or, if the equation is too long to read for one cell, in the function bar above the work space. For those extra-long equations, you may need to expand the function bar with the down arrow on the right-hand side. 8
To begin an equation, you must always start with the equals sign (=) followed by your equation. Basic Operations Use the Add (+), Subtract (-), Multiply (*), or Divide (/) operations in an equation. You can use direct values and/or values from other cells. To use the other cells, simply click on the reference cell or type in the cell coordinates (i.e. B3). When using equations, your brackets will help, but must always be closed, otherwise an error will occur. Examples: Adding tax onto a value: we have 12% tax. To do the price plus tax is 100% + 12%, or 112%. This can be written as 112% or 1.12. When multiplying your value, use *112% OR *1.12. Both will be valid but the % sign will be necessary. 9
Adding multiple values like a grocery list. ***END OF LESSON 1*** 10
Pre-set Functions Excel has several functions already build into it. If you start typing = and then the name of a function, you will see suggestions come up. When the function name is completed, open a bracket and the rules for using the function will appear in the cell you are typing (see upcoming examples for details). As there are so many functions with so many specific needs, we will focus on a select group for the next assignment. Sum This allows you to add up multiple cells without needing to pick them one at a time with an addition sign in between. You can: a) select specific cells out of a list, separated by a comma. b) selecting a group of cells with just the end points of the list, shown as FIRST:LAST. 11
Average The average is the expected middle amount in a group of data. This is normally calculated by summing up all of the data and dividing by the number of values. However, using the =AVERAGE function will automatically update any changes (inlcuding the number of values) to help reduce the potential errors. Like SUM, type in =AVERAGE( and then select all of the data you wish to find the average of, then close your bracket. 12
Random Regular The =RAND function will generate a random number between 0 and 1. This can come in handy for randomly generating the order of some data. Simply have the random number next to a corresponding value/item and then order the randomly generated numbers for a mixed order of the values/items. Between The =RANDBETWEEN function allows for a whole number to be randomly generated based upon a range determined by you. To use this function, type in =RANDBETWEEN(bottom,top). 13
IF The =IF function is incredibly versatile! You can have a value change in your cell by setting up a condition/test. Basic To use the =IF function, you need to type in =IF( logical test, true value, false value). This works like the If, then, else function from Hour of Code. Example: Use the higher of two values. So if D2 is greater than D3, then use the value in D2, otherwise use D3. In the first example, D2 (38) was greater than D3 (27), so D2 was used. In example two, D2 (31) was not greater than D3 (33) so D3 was used. Within a Function If you need to choose between different values within a function/equation, you can use the IF function inside of it. For example, getting to choose between values (say the lower one) to added with another value. Specific Output In order to have a specific word, phrase, or letter, put your output in quotation marks. 14
Example, home team wins or loses based on hockey scores. Chain of IFs Multiple IFs can be used with each other in a chain. Example, the hockey scores from above, if there is a tie, we want an output of TIE. As it was written, there would only be WIN or LOSE, the latter of which would be selected for a tie score. To fix this, we need to test multiple options. Let s test if there is a WIN, then a TIE, then LOSE is the last option. To do this, we need to see if the home team won, then we set the value for WIN otherwise we then need to test for a tie and set the value to TIE and then finally, we set the remaining statement to LOSE as it is the only remaining option available. These chains can go on indefinitely as needed! Now apply these concepts to your next assignment! 15