Unit 2
Formatting and Basic Formulas
Other Formatting Options in Excel
Cell Protection
• Excel allows you to lock or hide cells to prevent accidental editing.
• By default, all cells are “locked”, but this only works when you protect
the sheet.
• Steps:
• Select the cell → Right-click → Format Cells → Protection tab.
• Choose Locked (prevents editing) or Hidden (hides formulas).
• Then, protect the sheet (Review → Protect Sheet).
Example: If you have formulas in a grade sheet, you can lock them so
students only enter marks but cannot change the formulas.
Format Painter
A quick way to copy formatting from one cell to another. Found on the
Home tab (paintbrush icon).
• Steps:
• Select the cell with the formatting you like.
• Click Format Painter.
• Click or drag over the target cell(s).
Example: If one cell has bold, red text with yellow background, you
can apply the exact same style to other cells using Format Painter.
Styles
• Styles in Excel are predefined sets of formatting options (like font,
size, color, borders, number formats, fill colors) that you can apply to
cells for a consistent and professional look.
• They help save time and keep the worksheet neat.
Cell Styles
Found in Home → Styles group → Cell Styles.
Built-in styles include:
• Title, Heading 1, Heading 2 – For headings.
• Good, Bad, Neutral – For marking values.
• Input – For data entry cells.
• Output, Calculation, Check Cell – For results or formulas.
• Normal – Default style.
You can also create custom styles with your own font, border,
number format, and fill color.
Table Styles
When you convert a range into a table (Ctrl + T), Excel applies a style
automatically.
Table Styles include:
• Banded rows (alternate row colours).
• Header row formatting (bold with filter buttons).
• Total row style (for sum/average etc.).
• Different colour themes (light, medium, dark).
Common Shortcuts in Excel
1. Basic Shortcuts
• Ctrl + N → New workbook
• Ctrl + O → Open workbook
• Ctrl + S → Save workbook
• F12 → Save As
• Ctrl + P → Print
• Ctrl + Z → Undo
Ctrl + Y → Redo
Ctrl + C → Copy
Ctrl + X → Cut
Ctrl + V → Paste
Ctrl + A → Select all
Ctrl + F → Find
Ctrl + H → Replace
2. Navigation
• Arrow Keys → Move one cell
• Ctrl + Arrow Key → Jump to last filled cell in that direction
• Home → Go to beginning of row
• Ctrl + Home → Go to cell A1
• Ctrl + End → Go to last used cell
• Page Up / Page Down → Move up/down one screen
Delete → Clear cell contents
Ctrl + D → Fill down
Ctrl + R → Fill right
Formatting
• Ctrl + 1 → Format Cells dialog box
• Ctrl + B → Bold
• Ctrl + I → Italic
• Ctrl + U → Underline
• Alt + H + H → Fill colour
• Alt + H + F + C → Font colour
• Ctrl + Shift + $ → Apply currency format
• Ctrl + Shift + % → Apply percentage format
• Ctrl + Shift + # → Date format
Working with Rows/Columns
• Ctrl + Space → Select entire column
• Shift + Space → Select entire row
• Ctrl + Shift + "+" → Insert row/column
• Ctrl + "-" → Delete row/column
• Ctrl + 9 → Hide row
• Ctrl + Shift + 9 → Unhide row
• Ctrl + 0 → Hide column
• Ctrl + Shift + 0 → Unhide column
Special
Alt + = → AutoSum
F4 → Toggle absolute/relative references ($A$1 → A1)
Ctrl + T → Create a table
Ctrl + Shift + L → Add/remove filters
F7 → Spell check
Alt + F1 → Create a chart in the same sheet
F11 → Create a chart in a new sheet
Spreadsheet Functions
Math & Statistical Functions
• SUM Function: The SUM function adds a range of numbers. For
example, you can use it to calculate the total sales for a month by
adding the daily sales figures.
• AVERAGE Function: AVERAGE calculates the average of a range of
numbers. It’s useful for determining the average test scores in a class
or the mean of a dataset.
• COUNT Function: COUNT counts the number of cells in a range that
contain numbers. This function is useful for keeping track of how
many items are in a list.
• MAX and MIN Functions: MAX returns the highest value in a range,
while MIN returns the lowest value. You can use these functions to
find the highest and lowest temperatures in a set of data, for
example.
• COUNTBLANK- Counts blank cells
Excel Statistical Functions
• MEDIAN – Finds the middle value in a dataset.
• MODE.SNGL – Returns the most frequent value.
• STDEV.S – Standard deviation (sample). Or STDEV
• VAR.S – Variance (sample).
• CORREL – Pearson correlation coefficient.
• FORECAST – Predicts a future value (linear trend).
--- Syntax =FORECAST(x, Y_range, X_range)
Excel Mathematical Functions (Function & Description)
1.SUM – Adds all values in a range
2.PRODUCT – Multiplies all values
3.ABS – Returns absolute value
4.ROUND – Rounds to specific decimal places
5.MOD – Returns remainder
6.POWER – Raises a number to a power
7.SQRT – Square root
8.LOG – Logarithm with base
9.PI – Returns π (pi)
10.RAND – Random decimal (0–1)
11.RANDBETWEEN – Random integer between values
Date Functions
TODAY() → Current date (updates automatically).
DATE(year, month, day) → Creates a date from year/month/day.
DAY(date) → Extracts the day (1-31).
MONTH(date) → Extracts the month (1-12).
YEAR(date) → Extracts the year.
DAYS(end, start) → Total days between two dates.
NETWORKDAYS(start, end) → Counts workdays (excludes weekends).
Time Functions
• NOW() → Current date + time (updates automatically).
• TIME(hour, minute, second) → Creates a time value.
• HOUR(time) → Extracts the hour (0-23).
• MINUTE(time) → Extracts the minute (0-59).
• SECOND(time) → Extracts the second (0-59).
• Time difference: =TEXT(B1-A1, "h:mm")
Financial Functions
PMT(rate, nper, pv, [fv], [type])
• Calculates loan payments (e.g., EMI of car loans).
• Example: =PMT(5%/12, 5*12, 20000) → Monthly payment for a ₹20k
loan at 5% over 5 years
FV(rate, nper, pmt, [pv], [type])
• Predicts the future value of an investment (e.g., savings).
• Example: =FV(10%/12, 12*10, -1000) → Value after 10 years of saving
₹ 1000/month at 10% annual interest.
RATE(nper, pmt, pv, [fv], [type], [guess])
• Finds the interest rate for a loan or investment.
• Example: =RATE(60, -400, 20000) → Rate for a 20k loan with 400
monthly payments over 5 years.
NPER(rate, pmt, pv, [fv], [type])
• Determines the number of periods for a loan/investment.
• Example: =NPER(6%/12, -200, 10000) → Months to pay off 10k at
6200/month.
Relative and absolute reference
In Excel, relative reference and absolute reference are two ways of
referring to cell addresses in formulas.
Relative Reference:
A cell reference in Excel that changes automatically when the formula is
copied or moved to another cell.
Absolute Reference:
• A cell reference in Excel that remains constant (fixed) even when the
formula is copied or moved to another cell.
• For absolute reference use $ sign before column and row: $A$2