Excel

A Brief Overview

What is a Spreadsheet?
A spreadsheet is a document that is
entirely made up of rows and columns.
It is used to list and analyze data.
Editing and formatting Excel works much
like the tables in MS Word

Creating Charts and Graphs You can create

colorful charts and graphs from the data in
your worksheet. Excel will automatically update
the chart to display any changes you make in
your data.

Formulas and functions Excel

allows you to perform calculations
and analyze data. Common
calculations include: finding the
sum, average or total number of
items in a list
=sum(B6:B23)

10

=AVERAGE(F4:F8)

8
6
4

=count(B2:B25)

2
0
Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

The Excel Window

Active
Cell
F3

Fill handle

Menu bar
Tool bar
Formula Bar
Column
labels
ROW 3

Row labels

COLUMN

gridlines

Worksheet
tabs

The Active Cell

The worksheet is a grid of columns (designated by letters) and rows (designated by
numbers). The letters and numbers of the columns and rows (called labels) are
displayed in gray buttons across the top and left side of the worksheet. The
intersection of a column and a row is called a cell. Each cell on the spreadsheet has a
cell address that is the column letter and the row number. Cells can contain either
text, numbers, or mathematical formulas.

The active cell is indicated by a dark outline,

and the column letter and row number in the headers are raised.

Entering Data
When you enter data, the characters appear simultaneously in the Formula
Bar and cell. The characters do not actually go into the cell until you press
Enter or Tab.

When working
with cells,
your mouse
pointer
becomes a
plus icon

To enter data into a cell, first click the cell in which you
want to enter your information. Then type the data in either
the cell or Formula Bar and press Enter or Tab.
Pressing Enter moves you to the next cell down, while
pressing Tab moves you to the next cell to the right.

Resize a Column
In a cell, text can be any combination of
numbers, spaces, and non-numeric
characters.
If the entered text exceeds the column
width it will overlap the boundary into the
next column when that column is blank. If
the next column already contains data, text
that does not fit in the cell is hidden.
Clicking the cell, however, reveals its entire
contents in the Formula Bar.

To increase column width, drag the right

side of the column header with the doubleheaded pointer.
To make the column width fit the contents
of its widest cell, double-click the boundary
on the right side of the column

Insert/delete a row or column

To insert:
Select a column to the right of where you
want to insert a new one.
Or select a row beneath where you want
to insert a new one.
From the INSERT menu choose row or
column. If you want to insert more than
one, select more than one column or row.

To delete:
Select either the row or column
you wish to delete and press the
del key or choose delete from
the EDIT menu.

You can also access

all of these
commands from the
context menu -RIGHT
CLICK!!

Move or Copy Data

Drag and drop to move selected data

Grab any edge

with your cursor
and drag

You can copy and paste by selecting cells right click to cut or copy
Select either the exact number of cells to paste into or just the very first
one
right click to paste

Format Your Worksheet

Formatting your spreadsheet is very similar to formatting in Word.
Many of the same commands work in both.
Remember that before you do any formatting, you must SELECT (highlight) the items to be
formatted.
To select individual cells, just click on them
To select adjacent cells. Click and drag to include them
To select several cells which are not adjacent, hold down the Ctrl key and click on each
cell to include.

Select a
column

Select a
row

To select the entire

worksheet click upper
left corner

Formatting Dialog Box

This dialog box is
very similar to what
you learned about
in MS Word. You
should be able to
experiment with the
tools found on each
of the tabs.

Change Number Format

One of the tabs in the format dialog

box is new. It is the FORMAT
NUMBER tab.
Because Excel is all about numbers
and calculations, this section makes
it easy to use the right type of
number for the job!
Remember to select the cells,
columns, rows or entire spreadsheet
before you choose the format for you
numbers or dates.

Clearing Cells

Cells can be cleared of just the contents or just the formatting or

both.

Choose
Edit Clear

If you select a cell and press the delete key, the

contents only will be deleted.

Fill down, across, series

ACTIVE CELL

In the lower right hand corner of the active cell is Excels fill handle.
When you hold your mouse over the top of it, your cursor will turn to a
crosshair.
If you have just one cell selected, if you click and drag to fill down a
column or across a row, it will copy that number or text to each of the
other cells.
If you have two cells selected, Excel will fill in a SERIES. It will complete
the pattern. For example, if you

FILL HANDLE

Put 4 and 8 in two cells

Select them
Click and drag the fill handle
Excel will continue the pattern with 12,16,20.etc.

Excel can also auto- fill series of dates, times, days of the week, months

Formulas
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.

Formula Operators
There are four basic Mathematical Operators when writing a formula. These operators
are used to tell the formula what action to perform. The following table lists the
operators, its symbol.
Symbo
Operation
Symbol Name
l
Addition

Plus Sign

Subtraction

Dash or hyphen

Multiplication

Asterisk

Division

Forward slash

The next table lists the order of operation for each mathematical operator. As you begin
to write your formulas, keep in mind that information in parenthesis ( ) is always
performed first while everything outside the parenthesis is performed left to right.
Operator
AND, OR, NOT
+ or ^
* or /
+&
=
<>
<=
>=

Operation
Logic Test: AND, OR, NOT
Positive or Negative Value
Exponentiation
Multiplication or Division
Addition or Subtraction
Text Concatenation
Logic Test
Equal to
Not Equal To
Less than or Equal to
Greater than or Equal to

Order of Calculation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
7
7
7
7

Functions

Built-in Excel Functions can be a faster way of doing mathematical operations

than formulas.

Example- if you wanted to add the values of cells D1 through D10, you could
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)".
Function

Example

Description

SUM

=SUM(A1:A100)

finds the sum of cells A1 through A100

AVERAGE

=AVERAGE(B1:B10)

finds the average of cells B1 through B10

MAX

=MAX(C1:C100)

returns the highest number from cells C1 through C100

MIN

=MIN(D1:D100)

returns the lowest number from cells D1 through D100

SQRT

=SQRT(D10)

finds the square root of the value in cell D10

TODAY

=TODAY()

returns the current date (leave the parentheses empty)

SUM( ) function
The SUM( ) function is probably the most common function in Excel. It adds a range of numbers. To
build a SUM( ) function, begin by typing the = sign; all functions begin with the = sign. Next type
the word SUM followed by an open parenthesis. You must now tell Excel which cells to sum. Using
the mouse, click and drag over the range of cells you wish to add. A dotted outline will appear
around the cells and the cell range will be displayed in the formula bar. When you have the correct
cells selected, release the mouse button, type a closing parenthesis and press the <Enter> key.
If you do not want to use the mouse, type in the references of the cells you want to sum. For
example, to add cells B3 through B5, type =SUM(B3:B5). Excel interprets B3:B5 as the range of
cells from B3 to B5.

Insert Function
Excel has hundreds of prewritten formulas which make it easy to do
complex procedures with numbers, dates, times, text, and more.

Type a brief description of what you want to

do in the Search for a function box. In this
example, you could type "mortgage
payment" or some other keywords.

Click Go.

Tips
You can also select a function category in the
Or select a category box. This action will
display a list of related functions, which you
can then browse through.

Click the Insert Function button on the formula bar.

The Insert Function dialog box opens
In the Search for a function box, type a
description of what you want to do.

If you'd like help on how to enter the

arguments, you could type the function name
in the Search for a function box and click
OK.

AutoSum
AutoSum button
In Excel, the standard toolbar has a button that simplifies adding a column or row of
numbers. The AutoSum button, which resembles the Greek letter Sigma (shown above),
automatically creates a SUM( ) function. When you click the AutoSum button Excel
creates a sum function for the column of numbers directly above or the row of numbers
to the left. Excel pastes the SUM( ) function and the range to sum into the formula bar. If
the range is not correct, simply select the proper range with your mouse on the
worksheet. When you have the correct range entered, press the <Enter> key to complete
the function.

Autofilling Functions
Autofill can also be used to copy functions. In the example below, column A and column B each
contain lists of numbers and column C contains the sums of columns A and B for each row. The
function in cell C2 would be "=SUM(A2:B2)". This function can then be copied to the remaining
cells of column C by activating cell C2 and dragging the handle down to fill in the remaining
cells. The autofill feature will automatically update the row numbers as shown below if the cells
are reference relatively

Cell Reference
There are two basic types of cell references in Excel: relative and absolute. The
difference between absolute and relative cell references becomes apparent when you
copy formulas from one cell to another. When you copy a formula containing relative
references, the references are adjusted to reflect the new location. Absolute references
always refer to the same cell, regardless of where the formula is copied. Relative
references are the default.
To create an absolute reference, type $ before each part of the cell address.

Relative / Absolute

Relative

Absolute
This shows the formulas used
to create the order form
below.
We used the fill handle
which usually gives us the
relative reference.
For the sales tax
calculation we needed to
use the absolute reference
in cell C9

To toggle between seeing the

formulas and seeing the results, hold
down the Ctrl key and press the tilde
~

Merge cells
A shortcut to merge cells and center data is the icon on the formatting toolbar.

Select the cells you want to merge and click the icon on the toolbar

The Auto Calculate Space

Select any cells with numbers in

them, the sum of those numbers
automatically display in the auto
Calc space.

Printing Tips
To only print a small part of your
spreadsheet

Highlight the area you want to print

From the FILE menu
choose PRINT AREA
Set print area

Page Set Up Tips

Two handy items in the PAGE SETUP dialog box (under the FILE menu)

Fit to ___ pages

Excel will fit your document into the number of pages
you specify. If you are working on a chart or diagram that
is just a bit over the size for a page, checking the fit to
button will shrink your document proportionally to fit.

Print your document without those pesky grey

gridlines by unchecking the button on the Sheet
tab of the page setup dialog box.

Charts
A chart is a graphic representation of data. Charts are often used to make large quantities of data
more easily understandable, and recognizable on first view. Charts represent data in different ways
depending on the type of data that is presented.

Buffalo Seminary / School Districts

70

60

50

Buffalo Seminary / School Districts

40

70

30

60

20

50

10

40

0
Amherst

Buffalo
Clarence
Aurora
Kenton
Orchard Park
Buffalo
Seminary
/ East
School
Districts

Williamsville

other
30

70

20

60

10

50

0
Amherst

Buffalo

Clarence

East Aurora

Kenton

Orchard Park

Williamsville

other

Buffalo Seminary / School Districts

40

30

Amherst

20

Buffalo
10

0
Amherst

Clarence
East Aurora
Buffalo

Clarence

East Aurora

Kenton

Orchard Park

Williamsville

other

Kenton
Orchard Park
Williamsville
other

Sem girls come from all over

Western New York

Chart Wizard
Select all the cells containing the data you want to chart.

Click the Chart Wizard button on the Standard toolbar.

The Chart Wizard will present a

selection of chart types, each of
which includes several subtypes. If
none of these options suits your
needs, you can click the Custom
Types tab to access a list of
specialized chart types.

Click Next, and the Chart Wizard will

present a screen verifying the range
of data you want to include in your
chart. You can change the range if
necessaryjust click in your
worksheet and drag to select the
appropriate cells.

Click Next again, and the Chart

Wizard will present options that
govern which elements are included
in your chart. For instance, you can
click the Titles tab and enter a title
for the chart and for the chart axes.

Click Next once more to advance

to the Chart Wizards final screen.
Here you can specify whether to
insert the chart on its own chart
sheet or embed it on a
worksheet. If you select the first
option, type a new sheet name in
the As New Sheet: text box. If you
select the second option, just use
the As Object In: drop-down list to
choose the sheet where you want
the chart to appear. (The current
sheet is the default.) After you
make a selection, click Finish.
Excel will create your new chart.

Average Temperatures
90

80

70

farenheit

60

Buffalo
New York City

50

40

30

20

10

0
Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun
month

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

After youve created a chart, you can still modify any specification made while running the
Chart Wizard. The Chart menu and the Chart toolbar, which appear whenever a chart or
chart sheet is selected, include options that correspond to the choices the Wizard offers.
You can also click the Chart Wizard button to run the wizard again and revise their
original choices.

Average Temperatures
90

You can right click to

format any item on
your chart. The
format dialog box
should be familiar to
you by now!

80

70

farenheit

60

Buffalo
New York City

50

40

30

20

10

0
Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun
month

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec