Excel Tutorial
Worksheet ........................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction................................................................................................................. 2
Insert a sheet ............................................................................................................... 2
Rename a sheet ........................................................................................................... 2
Insert a row to a worksheet ......................................................................................... 3
Insert a column to a worksheet ................................................................................... 3
Cells .................................................................................................................................... 3
Select Cells.................................................................................................................. 3
Edit Cells..................................................................................................................... 3
Copy and Paste............................................................................................................ 3
Cut and Paste............................................................................................................... 4
Format ......................................................................................................................... 4
Formulas ............................................................................................................................. 6
Introduction................................................................................................................. 6
Linking Worksheets .................................................................................................... 6
Basic Functions........................................................................................................... 7
Function Wizard.......................................................................................................... 7
Sorting................................................................................................................................. 8
Introduction................................................................................................................. 8
Sorting by one column ................................................................................................ 8
Sorting by more than one column............................................................................... 8
Chart.................................................................................................................................... 9
Introduction................................................................................................................. 9
Create the Chart ........................................................................................................ 10
Place the Chart: ......................................................................................................... 13
Modify the Chart....................................................................................................... 14
Resources .......................................................................................................................... 14
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Worksheet
Introduction
Microsoft Excel consists of worksheets. Each worksheet contains columns and rows. The
columns are lettered A to IV; the rows are numbered 1 to 65536. The combination of
column and row coordinates make up a cell address. For example, the cell located in the
upper left corner of the worksheet is cell A1, meaning column A, row 1. Cell E10 is
located under column E on row 10. You enter your data into the cells on the worksheet.
Insert a sheet
1. To insert a sheet, on the Insert menu, click Worksheet.
Rename a sheet
1. To rename the active sheet, on the Format menu, point to Sheet and then click
Rename.
2. Type the new name over the current name.
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Insert a row to a worksheet
1. To add a row to a worksheet, select Insert | Rows from the menu bar, or highlight
the row by clicking on the row label, right-click with the mouse, and choose
Insert.
Insert a column to a worksheet
1. Add a column by selecting Insert | Columns from the menu bar, or highlight the
column by click on the column label, right-click with the mouse, and choose
Insert.
Cells
Select Cells
Before a cell can be modified or formatted, it must first be selected (highlighted). Refer
to the table below for selecting groups of cells.
To select a single cell
To select a range of cells
To select a range of cells using the
keyboard
To select non-adjacent cells
To select the entire worksheet
To select an entire row or column
To select cells using the Name box
Click in that cell
Click in the first cell, drag the mouse to the last
cell or Click the first cell, press and hold shift,
click the last cell in the selection (Shift-clicking) or
Hold shift and double click the border of the active
cell
Move to the first cell, hold SHIFT and use the
arrow keys
Select cells, hold Ctrl, click on cells, rows or
columns
Ctrl + A or click the empty cell between Column
A and Row 1
Click row or column header
Click in the Name box and type the cell reference
Edit Cells
There are four ways to edit data. If the word or number is small, simply retyping the
word is easier (use Backspace or Delete). However, if the word or number is larger, you
can use the Formula bar for editing. You can also double-click on the cell or press the F2
key while in the cell.
Copy and Paste
There are five ways to copy information from cell to cell in Excel. Remember to first
select the information you want to copy.
To copy from one area of the
spreadsheet to another
Choose the Edit menu, then copy
Press Ctrl + C, move to the cell of the new location
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To copy cells using Drag and Drop
To copy to another location using
the mouse
and press Enter or choose Edit, then Paste or Ctrl +
V
Press and hold the Ctrl key, click and hold
anywhere on the edge of the selected cell and drag
the cell to a new location
Click with the right mouse button anywhere in the
selection, choose Copy, move to new location and
press Enter or click with the right mouse button
and choose Paste
Cut and Paste
To move from one area of the
spreadsheet to another
To move cells using Drag and Drop
(move)
To move to another location using
mouse
1. Choose Edit menu, then cut
2. Press Ctrl X, move to the first cell of the
new location and press Enter or choose
Edit, Paste
Click and hold anywhere on the bottom or top
edge of the selection box, drag to a new location
Click the right button anywhere in the selection,
choose Cut, move to new location and press Enter
or click with the right mouse button and choose
Paste
The move command is similar to the copy command except that the move command
physically moves the information from one cell to another. There are 3 ways to move
information. You must first select the information you would like to move.
Format
The format of the worksheet goes a long way in readability and ease in understanding.
When more than one person will be reading a worksheet, everyone should try to make the
worksheet as easy to understand and read as possible.
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Colors, text font, and text size can be used in a variety of ways to enhance a worksheet.
Sections of the worksheet can be different colors to specify different things. The
following image shows a simple use of colors that makes the worksheet more readable. It
also uses Comments (the red triangle in the top right corner of a cell, when the triangle is
clicked it will display the message. Messages are currently in displayed mode.).
Comments can be added to any cell by choosing Edit/Comments after clicking the cell to
comment.
Changing the alignment of cells can also change the look of a worksheet. The usual
right align, left align, and center can be used for any cell. Another type of alignment
would apply to column titles, it is called orientation. The titles can be changed to
vertical if desired, this is particularly helpful if the cell contents are small and the title is
large. See Format/Cells/Alignment to change the orientation.
Row Height and Column Width can be changed as desired by "grabbing" the column or
row dividing line and moving the cursor to the desired width or height. Double clicking
the column dividing lines causes the column width to automatically adjust to the size to
accommodate all entries.
Numbers are formatted for a different reason. Selecting Format/Cells/Numbers will
allow you to select the type of number to be used and to change the number of decimal
places. The number of decimal places can also be changed with the decrease or increase
decimal places buttons on the toolbar (if the button is not on the toolbar, check the more
buttons button). Remember, Excel does not forget the other decimal places and they are
used in computations, but they just do not show.
Notice Column 1 in the image above. The title seems to go over several cells. This is
accomplished by using the Merge and Center button on the format toolbar. To use it,
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select the cells over which you wish to center text, then click the Merge and Center
button, the text will be centered over the selected number of cells.
Once a format has been decided upon, the format painter button will allow you to use that
format in other ranges in the worksheet. Simply click on the cell with the desired
format, click the format painter button, and then select the range you want to "paint".
The format will be changed to the desired format. This is very powerful!
Formulas
Introduction
Formulas are entered in the worksheet cell and must begin with an equal sign "=". The
formula then includes the addresses of the cells whose values will be manipulated with
appropriate operands placed in between. After the formula is typed into the cell, the
calculation executes immediately and the formula itself is visible in the formula bar. See
the example below to view the formula for calculating the sub total for a number of
textbooks. The formula multiplies the quantity and price of each textbook and adds the
subtotal for each book.
Linking Worksheets
You may want to use the value from a cell in another worksheet within the same
workbook in a formula. For example, the value of cell A1 in the current worksheet and
cell A2 in the second worksheet can be added using the format "sheetname!celladdress".
The formula for this example would be "=A1+Sheet2!A2" where the value of cell A1 in
the current worksheet is added to the value of cell A2 in the worksheet named "Sheet2".
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Relative, Absolute, and Mixed Referencing
Calling cells by just their column and row labels (such as "A1") is called relative
referencing. When a formula contains relative referencing and it is copied from one cell
to another, Excel does not create an exact copy of the formula. It will change cell
addresses relative to the row and column they are moved to. For example, if a simple
addition formula in cell C1 "=(A1+B1)" is copied to cell C2, the formula would change
to "=(A2+B2)" to reflect the new row. To prevent this change, cells must be called by
absolute referencing and this is accomplished by placing dollar signs "$" within the cell
addresses in the formula. Continuing the previous example, the formula in cell C1 would
read "=($A$1+$B$1)" if the value of cell C2 should be the sum of cells A1 and B1. Both
the column and row of both cells are absolute and will not change when copied. Mixed
referencing can also be used where only the row OR column fixed. For example, in the
formula "=(A$1+$B2)", the row of cell A1 is fixed and the column of cell B2 is fixed.
Basic Functions
Functions can be a more efficient way of performing mathematical operations than
formulas. For example, if you wanted to add the values of cells D1 through D10, you
would type the formula "=D1+D2+D3+D4+D5+D6+D7+D8+D9+D10". A shorter way
would be to use the SUM function and simply type "=SUM(D1:D10)". Several other
functions and examples are given in the table below:
Function
Example
SUM
=SUM(A1:100)
AVERAGE =AVERAGE(B1:B10)
MAX
MIN
SQRT
TODAY
COUNTIF
IF
Description
finds the sum of cells A1 through A100
finds the average of cells B1 through B10
Returns the highest number from cells C1
=MAX(C1:C100)
through C100
Returns the lowest number from cells D1
=MIN(D1:D100)
through D100
=SQRT(D10)
finds the square root of the value in cell D10
Returns the current date (leave the
=TODAY()
parentheses empty)
=COUNTIF(B5:B25,"test" Counts the number of cells in the range B5
)
through B25 that contain the text "test".
If the value in cell A10 is 100, then the total
=IF(A10=100,SUM(B5:B1
value for the range B5:B15 is calculated.
5),"")
Otherwise, empty text ("") is returned
Function Wizard
Excel has a variety of built-in functions that can be accessed through using the Function
Wizard, simply click the function wizard button and the following dialog box will appear.
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Sorting
Introduction
You can rearrange the rows or columns of a list based on the values in the list by sorting.
When you sort, Excel rearranges rows, columns, or individual cells by using the sort
order that you specify. You can sort lists in ascending (1 to 9, A to Z) or descending (9 to
1, Z to A) order, and sort based on the contents of one or more columns.
Excel sorts lists alphabetically by default. If you need to sort months and weekdays
according to their calendar order instead of their alphabetic order, use a custom sort
order. You can also rearrange lists in a specific order by creating custom sort orders. For
example, if you have a list that contains the entry "Low," "Medium," or "High" in a
column, you can create a sort order that arranges rows that contain "Low" first, rows that
contain "Medium" next, and rows with "High" last.
Sorting by one column
1
2
Click a cell in the column you would like to sort by.
Click Sort Ascending or Descending.
Sorting by more than one column
1
2
Click a cell in the list you want to sort.
On the Data menu, click Sort.
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3
In the Sort by and Then by boxes, click the columns you want to sort.
If you need to sort by more than three columns, sort by the least important columns first.
For example, if your list contains employee information and you need to organise it by
Department, Title, Last Name, and First Name, sort the list twice. First, click First Name
in the Sort by box and sort the list. Second, click Department in the Sort by box, click
Title in the first Then by box, and click Last Name in the second Then by box, and sort
the list.
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Select any other sort options you want, and then click OK.
Chart
Introduction
Charts allow you to present data entered into the worksheet in a visual format using a
variety of graph types. Before you can make a chart you must first enter data into a
worksheet. This page explains how you can create simple charts from the data.
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Create the Chart
To create a chart you first need to select the data you want to include in your chart. Click
on cell A1 and drag your cursor to the last cell in which you entered data and one row
down (F2), then let go. In the following picture we see that the first two rows, Date and
Percentage, are the only data cells highlighted. The data cells you highlight will
automatically be placed into your chart. We only want a chart that shows how the
percentage of responses has changed over the dates the data was collected.
There are two ways that you can create a chart using Excel's Chart Wizard feature. First,
you may go to the Insert menu and select Chart (Insert > Chart). You may also click
on the Chart Wizard icon in the menu bar. This opens up the first step of the Chart
Wizard.
Chart Wizard Step 1 of 4:
If not already selected, click the Standard Types tab to bring it to the front. Select Line
for the chart type. Under the chart subtype highlight the chart with markers displayed at
each data value. Then click the Next button to go to the next step.
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Chart Wizard Step 2 of 4:
The Chart Wizard will now ask you to select the data you want to include in the chart.
Since you have already selected these cells before opening the Chart Wizard, you only
need to click the Next button to move to the next step.
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If for some reason during this step you need to change the selected cells in your chart,
click the Cancel button, select the cells of the spreadsheet, and then restart the Chart
Wizard.
Chart Wizard Step 3 of 4:
Now we are going to enter titles for the chart, x-axis, and y-axis. Click on the Titles tab to
bring it to the front. Now you can enter the following information in the appropriate text
fields for chart title, category (X) axis and value (Y) axis.
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Chart Wizard Step 4 of 4:
In step 4 the options should be automatically set to place your chart in the spreadsheet
next to your data (the As object in selection). If this isn't selected, click on the button to
the right of the words As object in. (These small buttons are known as radio buttons). To
the right of this radio button a drop-down menu bar should be highlighted with the words
Sheet 1. If all looks well, click the Finish button.
Place the Chart:
Now that your chart is on the same worksheet as your spreadsheet data, you may place it
exactly where you want it. With the black squares highlighted, you can click on the chart
and drag it to any place on your spreadsheet. The best placement is directly below your
spreadsheet data. This will make is easier to print out your data and chart at the same
time.
You may also make the chart larger or smaller by resizing the chart. To do this, simply
click and drag the black square in the bottom right corner of the chart box and then let go
when you have reached the size you want. The chart will now stay this size, unless you
change it again later. When the chart is where you want it, and the appropriate size, click
outside the chart on any cell in the spreadsheet to deselect it.
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Modify the Chart
If you create your chart, remember at this time to save all your work so that what you
have done to this point will not be lost. You are now ready to modify some of the
elements of your chart. To do so, simply right click the chart, and chose the Chart
Options or click the menu Chart | Chart Options.
Resources
Microsoft Excel Help
http://www.fgcu.edu/support/office2000/excel/
http://www.aspire.cs.uah.edu/aspire/sc01/excel_tutorial/exceltutorial_TOC.html
http://lacher.com/toc.htm (advanced user)
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