MS EXCEL
Excel is a spreadsheet program from Microsoft and a component of its
Office product group for business applications. Microsoft Excel enables
users to format, organize and calculate data in a spreadsheet.
Window Controls
Column Headings
Row Headings
Sheet Tabs
Excel Terminologies
Workbook
An Excel file.
Worksheet
A worksheet within an Excel file. It is where
Excel stores all your text, numbers and
formulas. Each workbook contains at least one
worksheets.
Cell
A rectangular box in a worksheet that contains
data such as text, numbers, or the result of a
formula. A cell is the basic building block of a
worksheet.
Active Cell
The active cell is the selected cell in which data
is entered when you begin typing. Only one cell
is active at a time.
Excel Terminologies
Name Box
Shows the location of the active cell.
Cell Reference
or cell address is a combination of a column
letter and a row number that identifies a cell on
a worksheet. For example, A1 refers to the cell
at the intersection of column A and row 1.
Formula
A set of instructions for Excel to carry out. It
must begin with an equal (=) sign. This could
be a mathematical equation, cell references,
functions or operator. A formula is also known
as an expression.
Formula Bar
Shows the data / formula / phrase of the active
cell.
Excel Terminologies
Functions
Functions are formulas that are pre-built into
Excel. They are designed to help simplify
potentially complex formulas in a worksheet.
Arguments
The arguments are the inputs required by the
function and are enclosed in parenthesis.
Arguments can be numbers, text, logical
values such as TRUE or FALSE, arrays, or
cell references.
Cell Range
A group of cells denoted by a colon between
the first and last cell. Example of cell range
is A1:A8 and B2:D6
Did you know?
The last cell address of a
worksheet is XFD1048576
Using calculation operators
in Excel formulas
Operators specify the type of calculation that you want
to perform on the elements of a formula.
Excel follows general mathematical rules
for calculations, which is
Parenthesis,
Exponents,
Multiplication and Division (whichever
comes first), and
Addition and Subtraction (whichever comes
first), or the acronym PEMDAS.
Using
parenthesis allows you to change that
calculation order.
Types of Operators in Excel
There are four different types of
calculation operators:
• Arithmetic Operators
• Comparison Operators
• Text Concatenation Operator
• Reference Operators
Arithmetic Operators
To perform basic mathematical
operations, such as addition,
subtraction, multiplication, or division;
combine numbers; and produce
numeric results, use the following
arithmetic operators.
Arithmetic Operator
+ (plus sign)
– (minus sign)
* (asterisk)
/ (forward slash)
% (percent sign)
^ (caret)
Meaning
Addition
Subtraction
Negation
Multiplication
Division
Percent
Exponentiation
Example
=3+3
=3–3
=-3
=3*3
=3/3
30%
=3^3
Comparison Operators
You can compare two values with the
following operators. When two values
are compared by using these
operators, the result is a logical value—
either TRUE or FALSE.
Comparison Operator
= (equal sign)
> (greater than sign)
Meaning
Example
Equal to
Greater than
=A1=B1
=A1>B1
< (less than sign)
Less than
=A1<B1
>= (greater than or
equal to sign)
Greater than or equal
to
=A1>=B1
•
<= (less than or equal Less than or equal to
to sign)
<> (not equal to sign) Not equal to
=A1<=B1
=A1<>B1
Text Concatenation Operator
Use the ampersand (&) to concatenate (join) one or
more text strings to produce a single piece of text.
Text Operator
& (ampersand)
Meaning
Connects, or
concatenates, two
values to produce
one continuous
text value
Example
="North"&"wind" results in
"Northwind".
Where A1 holds "Last name"
and B1 holds "First name",
=A1&", "&B1 results in "Last
name, First name".
Reference Operators
Combine ranges of cells for
calculations with the following
operators.
Reference Operator
: (colon)
, (comma)
(space)
Meaning
Example
Range operator, which
B5:B15
produces one reference
to all the cells between
two references, including
•
the two references.
Union operator, which
combines multiple
references into one
reference
Intersection operator,
which produces one
reference to cells
common to the two
references
=SUM(B5:B15,D5:D15)
B7:D7 C6:C8
Excel Cursor and
Mouse Pointer Shapes
Excel changes its mouse pointer shape according to its current
functionality. Here are some of important mouse pointer
shapes and its related functionality.
1. General Select
The General Select
cursor is the most
common in Excel. It is
used to select a cell or
range of cells within the
Excel worksheet.
2. Autofill
The “AutoFill” cursor does two
things: it copies and pastes the
contents of one cell to another
cell, and it fills, or completes, a
series (like dates, or days of the
week) You can only use this
cursor if you place your mouse
on the bottom right-hand corner
of an ACTIVE cell (this is called
the FILL HANDLE). To AutoFill,
click on the fill handle with the
AutoFill cursor then drag.
3. Arrow Mouse
Pointer
Normal Arrow cursor
appears when you
select menu or
commands in the
Ribbon.
4. Resizing Cursor
The “Resizing” cursor is
used to resize columns and
rows. To reveal this
cursor, move your mouse
to the border lines
separating a column or
row, then click and drag to
resize.
5. I-Beam Cursor
The “I-beam” indicates that
you may type text in this
area. To reveal this cursor,
double click on any cell. An
INSERTION POINT
INDICATOR will begin
blinking inside of the cell,
letting you know that you can
begin data entry.
6. Move Pointer
It appears when you
move the pointer to the
border of the selected
cell. When it appears,
you need to click and
drag to move the data
to another location
within worksheet.
7. Entire Row/Column
Selector
Used to select an entire
row or column when
positioned on the row
number or column
letter.