Excel 2013 Quick Start Guide The Excel Window File Tab: Click to access actions like Print, Save As, etc. Also to set Excel options. Ribbon: Logically organizes actions onto Tabs, Groups, and Buttons to facilitate finding commands. Quick Access Toolbar: Add your mostused tool buttons to this customizable toolbar to make it your own. On-Demand Tabs: These tabs are only displayed when an object on the worksheet is selected, such as a graphic or picture. Hide Ribbon Button: Hide Ribbon button to make more room on the display area. Name Box: Displays the name or reference of the selected cell or cells. Cell: The intersection of a Row and Column is a cell. Formula or Text Box: Displays the contents of the selected cell and allows inserting or editing content. Work Sheet Navigation: Use the Scroll Bars and Buttons to navigate down or across in a worksheet. Worksheet Tabs: Select between multiple worksheets in the workbook. New Worksheet Button: Click to insert a new, blank worksheet. Status Bar: Right click on the Status Bar to add or remove features. Worksheet View Buttons: Switch between Normal, Page Layout, and Page Break views. Zoom Controls: Use to zoom the view in or out of the worksheet. The Ribbon The Ribbon facilitates creating effective and efficient worksheets by organizing tools you need in a logical system of Tabs, Groups, and Tool Buttons. Also On-Demand Tabs only appear on the Ribbon when you select an object on a worksheet. For example, click on a picture and a Picture Tools tab appears providing picture tools (See above). You can also customize the Ribbon to meet your personal needs. Change existing Tabs or create your own tabs and groups populate them with the tools you want. Keyboard Shortcuts Description Shortcut Keys Description Shortcut Keys Navigate the Ribbon Ctrl + Right or Left Arrow Return to Cell A1 (Home) Ctrl + Home New Worksheet Shift + F11 Move to last Cell and Column Ctrl + End Navigate Between Cells Cursor Arrow Keys Select entire workbook Ctrl + A Go to Col. A of current Row Press Home Close the Workbook Window Ctrl + W Scroll up or down 1 page Press Page Up or Down Extend range of selected cells Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Key Scroll left or right 1 page Alt + Page Up or Down Extend selection of cells by 1 Shift + Arrow Key Select Entire Row Shift + Spacebar Select Entire Column Ctrl + Spacebar
Making the Ribbon Your Own (New) Increase your efficiency by personalizing the Ribbon with your most frequently used commands. Add your own tab(s), add your own groups to your tabs, and add favorite command buttons to the groups. You can also export and import customizations to share with others. To customize the Ribbon: 1. File tab. 2. Under Help, click Options. 3. Click Customize the Ribbon. 4. The Customize Ribbon window opens. The left pane contains a list of commands you can add to a group. Click Add to add a selected button from the left list or Remove to remove the selected button from the right list. Click New Tab to add a tab. The word (Custom) appears after the tab name. The right pane contains a list of current tabs, groups, and commands you can change, move, or remove. Click New Group to add a group to a tab. The new group appears under the selected tab. 5. Click OK when finished to save your customization. Expand tabs and groups to view the commands they contain. Arrows to move selected items. Click Rename to name a new or existing tab or group. Click Reset to return to the default Ribbon settings. Use Import/Export to share your ribbon with others. Personalizing Your Quick Access Toolbar Also increase your efficiency by personalizing the Quick Access Toolbar with your most frequently used tool buttons. Add your buttons, arrange them by category, and then separate them with vertical bars called separators. To personalize the Quick Access Toolbar: 1. File tab. 2. Under Help, click Options. 3. Click Quick Access Toolbar. 4. The Customize the Quick Access Toolbar window opens. The left pane contains a list of command buttons you can add to the toolbar. Click Add to add a selected button in the left list to the right list or Remove to remove the selected button from the right list. The right pane contains a list of current command buttons and their order on the toolbar. Click Modify to change the icon or name for the selected button. 5. Click OK when finished to save your customization. List arrow to see more button choices. Arrows to reorder selected items. Click Reset to return to the default Ribbon settings. Click Import/Export to share your ribbon with others. The Bottom of the Excel Window The bottom of Excel s window provides features and options that will make you more productive and make Excel easier to use. There are two parts, the Tab Bar and the Status Bar. Tab Bar Status Bar Tab Navigation Buttons used to navigate through many tabs on the bar. Worksheet Tabs: Click a Tab to select a worksheet. Right click on a tab to access a menu for the tab and the worksheet. New Tab: Click this button to create a new worksheet in the workbook. Right Click on the status bar to access the Customize Status Bar menu. Click a View button to choose Normal, Page Layout or Page Break Preview views. Use the Zoom Slider to zoom in or out on the worksheet. Click the plus or minus buttons to zoom in or out in 10% increments. Zoom button to access the Zoom dialog box.
Using Worksheets Excel worksheets are multifunction tools. Create lists such as inventories or contact information, use them for accounting and analysis, or create a form to collect data. The possibilities are many and varied. Working with Cells A cell is where a worksheet row and column intersect. When you click in a cell it becomes active, ready to accept content such as text, numbers, formulas, etc. Viewing a cell and its contents: The Name Box displays the name or reference of the selected cell or cells. The Formula Box displays the contents of the active cell; a formula, text, numbers, etc. The Active Cell is identified by a darker border. Click in a cell to make it active. Once it is active, you can change its formatting, add data, etc. Selecting a Range of Cells: Clicking and dragging with your mouse pointer selects more than one cell called a range of cells. Formatting options can then be done on multiple cells at once. To select a range of cells: 1. Select the cell that will be the upper left corner of the range. 2. Holding the left mouse button down, drag mouse pointer to the bottom right corner of the range. 3. Release the mouse button and the range of cells will be indicated by a dark border and highlighting. 3 ways to access the Format Cells dialog box: 1. Right click in a selected cell and select Format Cells from the right-click menu. 2. From the Home tab, Cells group, click Format and then Format Cells from the menu. 3. On the Home tab, click the Dialog Box Launcher button on the Font, Alignment, or Number groups. The Format Cells Dialog Box: The Format Cells dialog box contains most of the cell formatting options. With it you can: Set the cell s specific content type. Adjust alignment of cell contents. Change font and font styles. Add borders. Choose a fill color. Protect the cell from changes. Using AutoFill Features: You can quickly create lists of numbers, dates, etc. using AutoFill. This feature creates a repeating or consecutive list by simply clicking and dragging, down or sideways, with your mouse. Drag the drag handle down or sideways. Hold the Ctrl key and drag to continue a numeric list. Using the New Flash Fill Feature Options box that appears to select a copy option. Live Preview will show you what the next number, date, etc. will be. New with Excel 2013 is Flash Fill. Use Flash Fill to fill out data based on an example. Flash Fill typically starts working when it recognizes a pattern in your data and completes it for you. For example, to separate a full name into First, Middle Initial, and Last Name:
Working with Rows and Columns To adjust a row s height or a column s width: In the row or column header, hover the mouse pointer over the boundary between rows or columns. The mouse pointer changes to pointer. Now click and drag the boundary to resize. As you resize, a box will appear to indicate size. To select an entire row or column: Move the pointer into the row or column s header. The pointer changes to a bold arrow. Click to select the entire row or column. Tip: You can click and drag to select multiple rows and columns. To select the entire work sheet: Click on the button in the upper left corner of the header rows. Or, press the Ctrl key and A key (Ctrl + A). Formulas Formulas and functions are the real power of Excel. Use it to calculate values, reduce workload, and ensure accuracy. Writing formulas the basics: 1. Select the cell that will contain the formula. 2. Enter an equal sign (=). This begins any formula. 3. Enter the formula using the following guidelines: The main types of operators are; Add (+), Subtract (-), Multiply (*), and Divide (/). Reference cells by their cell number (i.e. A1, C5, etc.). Constants (numbers) can also be used in formulas (i.e. 3, 4.5, 14, etc.). Follow math formula rules (See Order of Mathematical Operations below). For example, in the formula =4*(2+7), 2 is added to 7, then the sum multiplied by 4. 4. Press Enter to save the formula in the cell. Order of Mathematical Operations If more than one operator is used in a formula, Excel will follow a specific order to perform these operations. The order of operations can be changed by adding parenthesis to the formula. An easy way to remember the order of operations is to use the acronym PEDMAS. The Order of Operations is: 1. Parenthesis 2. Exponents 3. Division 4. Multiplication 5. Addition 6. Subtraction Inserting a Function Select the cell that will contain the function. Insert Function button on the formula bar or click the Insert Function button on the Formulas tab, Function Library group. This opens the Insert Function dialog box. Do one of the following: A. Search for a Function by entering a name or description and click Go or, B. Select a Category in the Select a category field C. Then select a function from the Select a function list. In the Function Aguments dialog box, enter the arguments for the formula. Arguments are the values that a function uses to perform a calculation or operation. Optional: To select a cell or a range of cells as an argument, click the Collapse Dialog button, select the cells on the worksheet, and press the Expand Dialog button to return to the dialog box. Click OK when you are finished. Using the Function Library To display the Function Library group, Click on the Formulas tab. Click a category button in the Function Library group and select the functions from the resulting menus. Using the Sum Button With the Sum button you can quickly add a list of numbers. You can also evaluate Average, the Number of numbers, the Maximum or Minimum number, or access the Insert Function dialog box. 1. Click a cell below or to the right of the row of numbers you want to evaluate. 2. On the Home tab, Editing group or on the Formulas tab, Function Library group, click the arrow on the Sum button. 3. Select a function or More Functions
Understanding Functions in Formulas Functions perform calculations using values you specify. A formula begins the equal sign then the function name, an open parenthesis, arguments separated by commas, and a closing parenthesis. Equal sign begins a formula. Function Name Commas separate each argument =SUM(A1,B3:B5,2) Arguments Parenthesis enclose arguments and indicate order of calculation All Function options can be accessed from the Formulas tab, Function Library group. Practicing Formulas Using the table on the right, check out the formulas below to see how formulas work. Formula Description Result =SUM(A1, B2:B4, Total values in A1, B2 through B4, 2) add 2 11 =AVERAGE(A1:D1) Add values in A1, B1, C1, and D1 and divide by 4. 2.5 =B1+10*D4 Multiply 10 by the value in D4, add value in B1. 32 =A4/C4+33 Divide value in A4 by value in C4, add 33. 35 =(C2+(B3-2))*D4 Subtract 2 from value in B3, add value in C2, and multiply value in D4. 18