Microsoft®
An Introduction
Amarillo College
Revision Date: August 2, 2011
Table of Contents
WORKSHEET TERMINOLOGY .................................................................................................................................. 1
CHANGING COLUMN WIDTHS ................................................................................................................................ 1
DRAGGING THE SEPARATOR BAR.......................................................................................................................................1
Best-Fit .................................................................................................................................................................1
SELECTING CELLS ...........................................................................................................................................................2
Range of Cells .......................................................................................................................................................2
Non-Contiguous Cells ...........................................................................................................................................2
QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR ....................................................................................................................................... 2
CHANGING TOOLBAR LOCATIONS ......................................................................................................................................2
ADDING ICONS ..............................................................................................................................................................2
RESETTING THE TOOLBAR ................................................................................................................................................3
HIDING THE RIBBON .............................................................................................................................................. 3
FORMULAS ............................................................................................................................................................ 3
OPERATORS USED IN FORMULAS ......................................................................................................................................3
ORDER OF OPERATIONS ..................................................................................................................................................4
DISPLAYING FORMULAS...................................................................................................................................................4
FUNCTIONS ............................................................................................................................................................ 5
EXAMPLES OF FUNCTIONS................................................................................................................................................5
FORMATTING CELLS ............................................................................................................................................... 6
LABELS.........................................................................................................................................................................6
VALUES ........................................................................................................................................................................6
FORMATTING AS A TABLE ................................................................................................................................................7
“FORMAT PAINTER” UTILITY ............................................................................................................................................7
BORDERS ............................................................................................................................................................... 7
WORKING WITH COLUMNS/ROWS ........................................................................................................................ 8
ADDING COLUMNS/ROWS...............................................................................................................................................8
DELETING COLUMNS/ROWS ............................................................................................................................................8
HIDING COLUMNS..........................................................................................................................................................8
UNHIDING COLUMNS .....................................................................................................................................................8
INDENTING A CELL’S CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................9
WORD-WRAPPING INSIDE A CELL......................................................................................................................................9
SPLITTING THE SCREEN .......................................................................................................................................... 9
COPYING DATA .................................................................................................................................................... 10
MOVING DATA..................................................................................................................................................... 10
i
PAGE SETUP COMMANDS .................................................................................................................................... 11
SPECIFYING PAGE LENGTH .............................................................................................................................................11
CENTERING HORIZONTALLY AND/OR VERTICALLY ...............................................................................................................11
CHANGING MARGINS ...................................................................................................................................................12
PAGE ORIENTATION .....................................................................................................................................................12
MISCELLANEOUS .................................................................................................................................................. 12
UNDO........................................................................................................................................................................12
PAGE BREAK PREVIEW ..................................................................................................................................................12
INCREASE/DECREASE SCREEN MAGNIFICATION ..................................................................................................................13
PAGE ORIENTATION .....................................................................................................................................................13
AUTOFILL ...................................................................................................................................................................13
SORTING DATA ............................................................................................................................................................13
PROPERTIES ................................................................................................................................................................14
PRINTING IN EXCEL .............................................................................................................................................. 14
GRIDLINES AND ROW-COLUMN HEADINGS .......................................................................................................................14
PORTION OF A WORKSHEET ...........................................................................................................................................14
SPECIFYING A PRINT SIZE ...............................................................................................................................................15
ii
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
WORKSHEET TERMINOLOGY
Excel now consists of 16,385 columns (A-XFD) and 1,048,576 rows, which means the user has
17,180,917,760 individual cells in which to enter data.
Spreadsheet or Worksheet
The grid or working area where data is entered and calculated
Workbook
Cell Address
The file which is saved. It contains at least 3 worksheets
The name for any given cell (column letter followed by row
number). A cell is where any type of data can be stored in a
worksheet.
The rectangle that can be moved on the grid showing where data
would be entered
The cell where the cursor is resting
A mathematical statement which involves one or more cells in
some computation
A predefined formula that simplifies input of various types of
calculations
Text
Numbers
The area of the screen above the first row which displays the
contents of the active cell
A group of highlighted cells
Cursor
Active Cell
Formula
Function
Label
Value
Formula Bar
Range
CHANGING COLUMN WIDTHS
Dragging the Separator Bar
1. The separator line located between column letters can be dragged to adjust the column
width. It will not work to drag one of the gridlines. In the next illustration, Column A can
be changed by clicking-and-dragging the separator to the left or right.
Best-Fit
1. Double-click the separator (shown in the previous illustration).
Page 1
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
Selecting Cells
Range of Cells
1. Click-and-drag the mouse over the group of desired cells. The first cell in the range will
be in the selection even though it does not look like the other selected cells.
Non-Contiguous Cells
1. Click-and-drag the mouse over the first group of desired cells.
2. While holding down the CTRL key, click-and-drag the mouse over each set of cells.
QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR
Changing Toolbar Locations
1. As shown in the next illustration, click the drop-down arrow located at the right side of
the toolbar.
2. Choose the desired location option (Above or Below the Ribbon)
Adding Icons
1. Click the drop-down arrow at the right side of the toolbar.
2. Add the desired option:
a. If an option does not have a checkmark in front of it, click on it to add the icon to
the toolbar.
b. Click More Commands and then use the drop-down arrow (shown in the next
illustration) to choose how to narrow your search. For example, to display all of
the possible commands in the Home tab, click “Home Tab.”
c. Double-click any desired icon to be added to the toolbar.
Page 2
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
Resetting the Toolbar
To instantly clear the toolbar and set it to default, do the following:
1. Click the drop-down arrow at the right side of the Quick Access toolbar.
2.
3.
HIDING THE RIBBON
The regular toolbars used in previous versions of Office have been replaced with something
called the “Ribbon” which contains icons familiar icons.
1. Click the drop-down arrow at the right side of the Quick Access Toolbar.
2. Place a checkmark in front of Minimize the Ribbon. The ribbon will not be displayed on
the screen until you click on a tab.
FORMULAS
A formula is an arithmetic calculation such as addition or subtraction that is performed on
values that are in the worksheet. Formulas can only be applied to cells containing values or
other formulas.
All formulas in Excel have to being with the equal (=) sign.
Operators Used in Formulas
Exponents
^
*
/
+
-
Multiplication
Division
Addition
Subtraction
Page 3
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
Order of Operations
To calculate the answer to any formula, Excel follows these algebraic rules:
Level 1
Calculate anything inside parentheses. If the set of parentheses
are inside another set, the innermost set is calculated first
Level 2
Calculate any exponents
(example: 7^4 means 7*7*7*7)
Level 3
Multiplication or Division
Level 4
Addition or Subtraction
Other rules:
1. The innermost set of parentheses gets calculated first in nested parentheses.
2. If there are more than one set of operators at a given level (see the table above) then
the one that is first encountered, reading from left to right, is calculated first. For
example, in the formula: =5 * 4 / 2, there are two Level 3 operators. Therefore, reading
from left to right, the 5 would be multiplied by 4, and the answer would then be divided
by 2 resulting in the answer of 10.
3. If there are no parentheses, Level 1 operations are calculated before Level 2, which are
calculated before Level 3, which are calculated before Level 4.
Displaying Formulas
1. Press CTRL + ~
The ~ key is located above the TAB key on the keyboard.
2. Press the same combination of keys to get back to normal view.
Page 4
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
FUNCTIONS
Functions are utilities that help people work with data stored in worksheets. There are over
100 different functions and even a couple of new ones in Excel 2010. Some functions work with
text entries, others deal with calculations, while others work with time.
=function name(parameters)
Examples of Functions
=SUM(BB496:BB791) would add all the values between cells BB496 and BB791. Any cell not
containing a value or formula would be ignored.
=AVERAGE(A1:A148) would calculate the average of all cells between A1 and A148.
=MIN(H1:H50) would display the smallest value in that range.
=MAX(C34:C52) would display the largest value in that range.
Page 5
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
FORMATTING CELLS
Labels
1. Click-and-drag the mouse over the cells to be formatted.
2. On the Home tab, click the appropriate
icon, located on the Font ribbon.
3. Use the
icon to change the color of the font and the
background color of the cell.
icon to change the
Values
1. Click-and-drag the mouse over the cells to be formatted.
2. On the Home tab, click the drop-arrow of the Number Format field, located on the
Number ribbon.
3. Choose the type of formatting needed.
4. If a different number of places past the decimal (other than 2) are to be displayed, on
the Home tab, click the appropriate
icon to add or remove digits.
Page 6
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
Formatting as a Table
1. Click-and-drag the mouse over the range of cells to be formatted.
2. On the Home tab, click Format as Table
3. Click the template of choice.
icon, located on the Styles ribbon.
4. As shown in the previous illustration, specify whether the first row of cells that was
highlighted contained column headings or not, and then click the
5. Use the Undo button if needed and try another template.
6. To remove the drop-down arrows on the top row:
a. On the Data tab, click the Filter
button.
icon, located on the Sort & Filter ribbon.
“Format Painter” Utility
This utility copies a cell’s formatting, but not the cell’s contents.
1. Place the cursor in a cell that contains the formatting you want to copy.
2. On the Home tab, click
which is located on the Clipboard ribbon.
3. Click-and-drag the mouse over the cells to be formatted.
BORDERS
1. Click-and-drag the mouse over the desired cells.
2. On the Home tab, click the drop-down arrow on the Borders
icon, located on the
Font ribbon.
3. Choose one of the predefined borders or do the following to create a custom border:
a. Click
b. Change the style and color as needed
c.
Page 7
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
WORKING WITH COLUMNS/ROWS
Adding Columns/Rows
1. Click the row number (or column letter) where the new row or column is to be inserted.
2. On the Home tab, click the Insert
icon, located on the Cells ribbon.
Deleting Columns/Rows
1. Click the row number (or column letter) where the row or column is to be removed.
2. On the Home tab, click the Delete
icon, located on the Cells ribbon.
Hiding Columns
1. Right-click the column letter for the column to be hidden and choose Hide.
NOTE: If multiple columns are to be hidden:
1. Press down the CTRL key and click each column letter to be hidden
2. Right-click any one of the highlighted column letters,
3. Click “Hide.”
Unhiding Columns
1. Click-and-drag the mouse over the column letters to the left and to the right of the
hidden column(s).
2. Right-click any highlighted column letter and choose Unhide.
3. If column “A” is hidden, do the following:
a. Press the Function F5 key
b. Type A1 and press ENTER
c.
d.
e.
f.
On the Home tab, click the
icon, located on the Cells ribbon
Choose Column Width
Type a column width number such as 20 and press ENTER
Make further adjustments to the column width as needed
Page 8
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
Indenting a Cell’s Contents
1. Highlight the desired cells and on the Home tab, click the Increase Indent
located on the Alignment ribbon.
2. The Decrease Indent
icon will remove an indent.
icon,
Word-Wrapping inside a Cell
1. Highlight the cell(s) to be formatted.
2. On the Home tab, click
icon, located on the Alignment ribbon. The icon will
turn orange indicating that “word wrap” is activated in the range of cells.
3. If desired, click the icon again to remove the “word wrap” property.
SPLITTING THE SCREEN
1. On the worksheet, do one of the following:
a. If the screen is to be split vertically, click the column letter immediately to the
right of the column in which the split to is occur. For example, if the split is to
occur at column J, select column K.
b. If the screen is to be split horizontally, click the row number immediately below
the row in which the split is to occur. For example, if the split is to occur at row
25, select row 26.
2. On the View tab, click the Freeze Panes
icon, located on the Window ribbon.
3. Click the Freeze Panes
icon.
4. Scroll down (or across) to see if the split was added correctly.
5. To remove the split, on the View tab, click the Freeze Panes
Window ribbon.
6. Click the Unfreeze Panes
icon.
Page 9
icon, located on the
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
COPYING DATA
1. Highlight the data to be copied.
2. Right-click the highlighted data and choose Copy. (shortcut: CTRL +C )
3. Right-click the cell where the data is to be placed and choose Paste (shortcut: CTRL+V )
MOVING DATA
Method #1
1. Highlight the data to be moved.
2. Right-click the data and choose Cut. (shortcut: CTRL +X )
3. Right-click the cell where the data is to be placed and choose Paste (shortcut: CTRL+V )
Method #2
This method will overwrite any cell contents of the target range.
1. Highlight the data to be moved.
2. Click-and-drag one of the cursor’s edges (do not use the fill-handle) to another location
in the spreadsheet.
Method #3
This method does not overwrite cells in the target area. It adds empty cells if needed.
1. Highlight the data to be moved.
2. While pressing down the SHIFT key, place the mouse pointer on one of the edges of the
highlighted cells (the mouse will be a four-sided arrow) and drag the highlighted cells to
the new location.
Page 10
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
PAGE SETUP COMMANDS
Specifying Page Length
1. On the Page Layout tab, click the Page Setup Dialog Box Launcher (see illustration
below) located on the Page Setup ribbon.
2. On the Page tab, click the Fit-to
option button and then specify how
many pages wide by how many
pages tall. 1x1 will print on a single
sheet of paper.
3.
Centering Horizontally and/or Vertically
1. On the Page Layout tab, click the Margins
icon, located on the Page Setup ribbon.
2. Click the
icon.
3. In the lower left corner of the window, add checkmarks as needed to specify how to
center the material.
4.
Page 11
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
Changing Margins
1. On the Page Layout tab, click the Margins
icon, located on the Page Setup ribbon.
2. Click on of the templates, or click the
icon to make adjustments as needed.
Page Orientation
1. On the Page Layout tab, click the Orientation
the Page Setup ribbon.
2. Click the desired orientation template.
icon, located on
MISCELLANEOUS
Undo
1. Click the Undo
that was done.
button, located on the Quick Access toolbar to undo the last thing
NOTE: Unlike Word, which allows you to undo items from the current editing session,
Excel only allows you to undo the things that were done since the last auto-save.
Page Break Preview
1. On the View tab, click the Page Break Preview
the Workbook Views ribbon.
icon, located on
2.
3. To view the worksheet normally, click the Normal
the Workbook Views ribbon.
Page 12
icon, located on
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
Increase/Decrease Screen Magnification
This procedure does not change the actual font size of the data. It just increases the
magnification on screen.
1. While pressing down the CTRL key, roll the mouse wheel forward or backward to
change the zoom percentage.
Page Orientation
1. On the Page Layout tab, click the Orientation
the Page Setup ribbon.
icon, located on
2. Click the Landscape
icon or Portrait
icon. Whichever orientation icon has the
orange highlight around it is the one that is currently used.
AutoFill
1. Type the first entry and press ENTER .
2. Type the second entry.
3. Highlight the two entries. The increment (difference between the values of the two
entries) will be set.
4. Click-and-drag the Fill Handle over the desired range of cells.
Sorting Data
For this to work properly, DO NOT have any data highlighted. Otherwise, it only sorts inside the
highlighted area.
1. Decide which column of data is to be used for sorting.
2. Place the cursor in any cell in the column by which the data is to be sorted. For
example, if the data is to be sorted by “Price” place the cursor in any “Price” cell.
3. On the Home tab, click the Sort & Filter
icon, located on the Editing ribbon.
4. Choose either “sort lowest to highest” or “sort highest to lowest.”
Page 13
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
Properties
1. On the File tab, click on individual properties, located at the right side of the window.
2. Edit the properties as needed.
PRINTING IN EXCEL
Gridlines and Row-Column Headings
1. As illustrated below, on the Page Layout tab, add a checkmark to the Print box, located
in the Sheet Options ribbon.
Portion of a Worksheet
1. Click-and-drag the mouse over the range of cells to print.
2. On the File tab, click Print (located at the left side of the window) icon
(shortcut: CTRL +P )
3. As illustrated below, click the drop-down arrow for Print Active Sheets.
4. Click Print Selection.
5. At the top of the window, click the Print
Page 14
icon.
Microsoft Excel 2010
An Introduction
Specifying a Print Size
There may be times that you need to print a worksheet on a specific number of
pages.
1. Open the worksheet.
2. On the Page Layout tab, use the Width and Height fields, located on the
Scale to Fit ribbon, to specify how many pages the printed material is to
occupy.
Page 15