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Lesson 1: Getting Started with Excel 2010

Overview
Welcome to Microsoft Excel 2010!
Microsoft Excel 2010 is a popular electronic Spreadsheet application. It is a part of
Microsoft suite of applications. A Spreadsheet is a program that allows you to enter data
and information in a conventional table like format made up of a grid of rows and
columns. Using various tools available in the Excel application you can then perform a
variety of tasks on the entered data. You can represent the data as graphs or charts,
and also can perform a variety of database management tasks.
Excel 2010 has grown in its versatility from version to version. In spite of all its
sophisticated and powerful features, Excel 2010 application continues to be very easy
to learn and use. It has a simple and user friendly interface. With very little practice you
will be able to create and work with the spreadsheet like a professional in a very short
time.
This lesson gets you started with Excel 2010. You will get acquainted with its interface
and how to interact with its various elements. You will familiarize yourself with Excels
working environment.
Skills you will learn in this lesson
1. Starting Microsoft Excel 2010 Application
2. Exploring Excel 2010 Application Interface
o Logo, Title bar and Control Buttons
o Quick Access Toolbar
o Ribbon Interface
o Status Bar
o Worksheet Window
o Scroll Bars
o Navigator Buttons
o Page View Buttons
o Rulers
o Microsoft Office Backstage View
o Pointers and Cursor Shapes
Introduction
Microsoft Excel 2010 is actually an application consisting of 3 modules - Worksheet,
Charts and Database.
Worksheet is the main part. It is the place where you enter data and information.
As a Worksheet manager, Excel allows you to enter, modify, manipulate,
calculate, analyze and display your information in a table like grid.
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As a Chart manager, it allows you to display worksheet data in a wide variety of


charts and graphs to visually interpret the information.
As a database manager it allows you to store your data as records in Worksheet.
You can then perform various database management tasks such as sorting,
filtering, etc on your data. You can also create queries and reports of just the
information you want.

All these three modules have been integrated seamlessly into a single powerful
application.
You can work with Excel 2010 in Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating
systems. However for the present Excel lessons it is presumed that you are working
with Windows 7 Operating system.
Starting Microsoft Excel 2010
You can start Microsoft Excel 2010 in many ways. Lets however start the application in
the conventional method.
Excel 2010 is a part of MS Office 2010 Suite of applications. When MS Office 2010 is
installed in your computer, it creates a separate folder as Microsoft Office and installs
all its suite of applications in this folder.
1. Switch on your computer if it is not on. The Windows Desktop appears.
2. Click on the Start button appearing in the lower left end of the Taskbar. Start
menu appears.
3. Position your mouse pointer on All Programs option. A list of application folders
and programs appears.
4. Locate the Microsoft Office folder and click on it.
5. Microsoft Office opens listing all its applications.
6. Click on Microsoft Excel 2010 application
Excel 2010 aplication gets
loaded
into
your
computers memory and
shortly thereafter displays
its opening window as
shown in the screen shot.
This is a typical Excel 2010
opening window interface.
You use this window for
creating your spreadsheets
as well as to interact with
the various features of
Excel 2010.

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If the Excel Window does not completely cover the desktop, click on its Maximize tool
appearing at its top right corner to maximize it.
If your copy of Excel 2010 window interface looks slightly different from the one
shown here, dont worry. Excel 2010 is highly customizable and you will learn all the
customization tricks in subsequent lessons.
Note that In Office 2010, how a window appears depends on many factors such as
the size of application window, the size as well as the resolution of your monitor. If
your monitor has been set for a high resolution, you will be able to see more
informaiton on your screen, text and images will be sharper, but the size of text as
well as images would be smaller. On the other hand, if you are using low resolution
monitor, then you will probably view less contents on your screen, but the text and
image size would be larger. Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 Operating
systems have settings which allow you to configure the various features of your
monitor display such as resolution, color and style of your window interface.
Exploring Excel 2010 Application Interface
Figure shows the Microsoft Excel 2010 application interfacing window. If this is the first
time you are using Excel, you might be overawed by what you are seeing on the screen.
But once you get acquainted with this interface you will start liking it. If you have used
Excel 2007, then you will be familiar with this interface. If you have however worked with
the earlier versions of MS Excel application such as Excel XP or Excel 2003, you will
soon realize that this interface is radically different from the earlier ones. A number of
features have been changed. One immediate change you will observe is that the
familiar toolbar interface has been replaced by what is termed as the Ribbon
interface.
The opening screen presented by Excel is known as a Spreadsheet or a Worksheet. It
is also often termed simply as a Sheet. Microsoft Excel 2010 opens with three such
worksheets initially. These three worksheets together form a file known as an Excel
Workbook. Think Excel Workbook as a box file consisting of three sheets of paper
initially.
As you can see Excel 2010 has an easy to use interface. The Worksheet consists of a
grid of Columns and Rows. The intersection of a column and a row creates a
rectangular box known as a Cell. You can type data or whatever you want into these
cells, including graphics and pictures. You can then manipulate, analyse and perform a
wide variety of operations on the data stored in these cells.
Lets explore the Excel 2010 user interface.

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Excel Quick Access


Logo Toolbar

Title Bar
Formula bar

Control Buttons
Ribbon

Columns

Scroll bars

Worksheet Working Area


Rows
Worksheets & Navigation bar

Fig.

Status Bar

Elements of Excel 2010 Application User Interface

Excel 2010s Logo


At the extreme top left of the application window is the
Excel 2010s logo which appears in the form of an
uppercase letter X. This logo also acts as a control menu
for Excel application. If you click on this logo, a menu
appears listing various options that allow you to Move,
Size, Minimize, Maximize and Close the application
window.

The Quick Access Toolbar


The Excel logo is followed by a new feature known as Quick Access Toolbar. Quick
Access Toolbar allows you to place frequently used Excel commands in the toolbar for
single click access. This is an important toolbar and we will be discussing this in detail
later in this lesson.

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The Title Bar


The Title bar stretches right across the remaining width at the top of the window. The
name of the Workbook on which you are currently working is displayed at the middle of
the Title bar. By default, when you open a New Workbook, Excel 2010 names it as
Book 1. When you save the Workbook, the saved name of the Workbook appears
here.

Title bar

Name of Current Workbook

Control Buttons

The Control buttons


At the extreme right of the Title bar you will observe a set of three buttons. These are
Excel 2010 applications Control buttons. When you first open the Excel application, it
opens in its own default size. This is known as its normal size. You can use the Control
buttons to Minimize, Restore/Maximize and Close the Excel application window. The
first button is the Minimize button. It is a toggle. If you press this button once, the Excel
application gets minimized as a button in the taskbar. If you click on the minimized
button in the taskbar again, the Excel application window gets restored to its earlier
size. The next button is the Restore/Maximize button. When you click on this button,
the Excel window gets maximized and covers the entire Desktop except the Taskbar.
The Control button now appears as an overlapping double windows icon. Clicking on
the Control button again restores
Excel window to its normal
Minimize
Maximize
window size or to the size it was
when you maximized it. The last
button is the Close button. When
you click on this button, Excel
Restore
Close
application gets closed and is
removed from your computers
memory.
Excel application shows two Windows the Excel Application Window and the
Worksheet Window. The Application window acts as a container for the Worksheet
window and is made up of the Quick Access Toolbar, Title bar, Ribbon and the Status
bar. The Worksheet window is made up of Scroll bars, Sheet tabs, and the actual
Excel Application
Control Buttons

Excel Worksheet
Control Buttons
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worksheet working area. Worksheet controls also work exactly similar to Excel
Application controls. Using Worksheet buttons you can Minimize, Maximize/Restore and
Close the Worksheet window.
The screen shot shows the main Excel application window and within it, the Excel
Worksheet window.
The Ribbon Interface
The Ribbon interface is the panel that appears at the top of the window, just below the
Quick Access toolbar and the Title bar. The Ribbon is also known as Microsoft Office
Fluent User Interface. You use the Ribbon to issue commands. It replaces the Toolbars
of Excel XP and earlier Excel versions. The Ribbon is the single most visible and
important change you will find in practically every Microsoft Office 2010 application.
Actually the Ribbon made its debut in MS Office 2007 and was hugely appreciated by
the users. It has been improved in Office 2010 to include some new tools and provide
more flexibility. The Ribbon simplifies the way you find and work with tools and options
in Office. With a simple, easy-to-understand layout for your commands, the Ribbon
helps you find the tools you need.
Ribbon Tabs

Dialog Box Launcher

Groups
Ribbon Interface

The Ribbon interface is made up of the following elements:


Ribbon Tabs: At the top of the Ribbon Interface is a set of Tabs. Each tab
provides a set of tools related to an overall task you are likely to be performing in
a specific application.
Ribbon Groups: Within each tab are groups that help organize common related
commands to help you quickly find what you need for performing a specific task.
Galleries: A small diagonal arrow appears at the bottom right corner of some
groups. This is known as Dialog Box Launcher. Clicking this arrow displays a
drop down menu or a gallery of options you can select.
When you hover your mouse pointer over the various tools in the ribbon, a
ScreenTip appears informing not only the name of the tool but also some
information about that button. (In earlier versions of Excel, ScreenTip just
contained the tool name. In 2010 it also shows a brief description).
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ScreenTip shows the


name and a brief
description of the tool

The Ribbon interface in every Microsoft Office 2010 application has the same look and
feel. So if you get acquainted with the Ribbon Interface in any of Office 2010 suite of
applications, you can easily work with ribbons in all other applications.
You can hide the Ribbon so that you
can have more room to work onscreen by clicking on the Minimize the
Ribbon button appearing just below
the applications control buttons. When
you hide the Ribbon, only the Ribbon
tabs will be displayed. Clicking on
Expand the Ribbon button again
brings back the Ribbon.
The keyboard shortcut for toggling Ribbon on and off is Ctrl+F1.
You can also customize the Ribbon to create your own tabs and tool groups specific to
your needs. The Ribbon is so important for you to get acquainted with, that we will be
exploring this fascinating and new feature in greater detail in the next lesson.
The Formula Bar
Formula bar appears below the Ribbon Interface. It is used to enter and edit formulas.
Formulas are algebraic expressions which perform certain mathematical and other
operations on values stored in a specified range of cells. Formulas are the lifelines of
Excel worksheet. The usefulness of Excel lies in the proper use of formulas. We will be
discussing Formulas in greater detail in subsequent lessons.
Formula bar consists of a Name box at its left, an Edit formula area marked as fx and a
long Contents box (also known as Edit box).
The Name box displays the cell address of the current active cell. Later we will see how
we can navigate to any part of the worksheet using the down arrow associated with this
Name box.

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Name Box

Edit Formula
Box

Contents
Box

Currently the Edit formula box is blank. When you start entering data in any of the
cells, the typed characters appear in the Contents box. At the same time a cross and a
check mark appear in this area. Clicking the check mark confirms and saves the data
entered in the active cell while clicking the cross mark cancels the data currently
entered in the active cell.

Fig. Microsoft Excel Formula bar

The symbol fx appearing in the Edit formula box is the Paste Function button. Clicking
on this symbol displays an Insert Function dialog box. An equals (=) symbol appears
in the contents area as well as in the current active cell. You can select a function from
the Insert Function dialog box or directly type it. Functions are the most important
elements of the Excel application and we will be discussing these in greater detail in
subsequent lessons. Clicking on the displayed link Help on this function opens Excel
Help window offering help on this function, if you so desire.
The Contents box displays the data or the formula you are typing in a cell. You can
also directly type or edit the data of the displayed active cell in this box.

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Function

Paste Function

Insert Function
Dialog box

The Worksheet Workspace


The large grid like area between the Formula bar and the horizontal scroll bar is the
Excel Worksheet working area. This is the area where you will be entering, editing,
manipulating, and formatting your data. You will also be creating your Charts here. The
working area is actually a matrix of columns and rows. Note the following:
The work area is bounded by Column headings at top, by Row numbers on left,
by vertical scroll bar on the right and by horizontal scroll bar and a set of sheet
tab indicators at the bottom.
The Column headings are labeled alphabetically starting with A to B, AA to AZ,
ZA to ZZ, AAA to AAZ and ending with ZFD for a total of 16,384 columns.
The Rows are numbered starting with 1 and ending with 1,048,576.
The intersection of a Row with a Column is known as a Cell. In these cells, you
can enter and store data such as text, numbers and even pictures. Thus, the
worksheet is a huge electronic grid consisting of 16384 x 1048576 cells. This
works out to more than 17 billion cells! (17,179,869,184 cells to be exact).
Each cell has a Cell Address which is made up of the intersecting Column
letter and the Row number. Cell address begins with an alphabetic letter to
indicate the column, followed by a number to indicate the row. Thus, A1 is the
address of the cell formed by the intersection of Column A with Row 1. Note that
the Column name comes first and then the row number. A1 is correct while 1A is
not.
The active cell is also known as the Cell Pointer. You can recognize it by the
heavy border around it. The address of the active cell is also displayed in the
Name box appearing at the upper left-corner of the Formula bar.
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You can make any cell active by just clicking in it or by moving the Cell Pointer to
it with the help of direction arrow keys.
Note that the column and row headings of the current active cell are shown in a
different color to easily identify the Cell address.

Cell Address
or Name box

Row Numbers

Column Labels
Cell Pointer

Worksheet Working
Area
Sheet Tabs

Fig. Worksheet Workspace

The Sheet Tabs and Sheet Tab Scroll Buttons


When you create a new workbook, by default Excel opens it with three worksheets.
These are named as Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3. These are displayed as tabs at the
bottom left of the Excel screen. When you open Excel for the first time, Sheet1 will be
the active worksheet. You can recognize this easily as it will be displayed in bold letters
in open background. The other two are inactive sheets. You can however make any of
these worksheets as active just by clicking on it.
Sheet tab Scroll
Buttons
Worksheet Tabs

Fig. Sheet tab Scroll buttons


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Insert Worksheet

You are not limited to only three worksheets per workbook. You can add additional
worksheets by clicking on Insert Worksheet button. The number of new worksheets
you can add is limited only by the memory of your computer. You can also delete any
unwanted worksheet, or rename any worksheet. You will learn about these in a
subsequent lesson.
Sheet Tab scroll buttons
The Sheet tab scroll buttons allow you to scroll the worksheet tabs either to the left or to
the right. These scrolling keys will come in handy if you have a large number of
worksheets in your workbook and the additional sheet tabs are not visible. Clicking on
the scroll keys enable you to scroll the sheet tabs to make them visible.

Click Last sheet tab to move to the last worksheet of the


workbook
Click on Next sheet tab to move to the next worksheet
Click Previous sheet tab to move to the previous
worksheet backwards
Click First sheet tab to move to the first worksheet of the
workbook
Fig. Sheet tab scroll buttons

Note that Scroll buttons only allow you to navigate among the worksheets. It will not
open or display the worksheet contents. To display the contents, you must activate the
worksheet by clicking on the associated Sheet tab.
The Scroll Bars
Excel worksheet is a huge electronic sheet. Since your monitor size is limited, you will
be able to view only a part of this sheet at any given time. When newly opened, Excel
displays about 12 columns (A to L) and 21 rows (1 to 21) only on a standard sized
monitor. If Ribbon is hidden, you may be able to view 25 rows. The number of columns
and rows that are displayed in a screen page depends on the size of your monitor as
well as the resolution of your monitor. You can however, move the worksheet either
vertically or horizontally to view more of the worksheet area. The Vertical scroll bar
appearing to the right of the worksheet area allows you to move the screen up or down.
This movement is known as scrolling. The horizontal scroll bar appearing at the bottom
of the working area allows you to move the screen to the Left or Right. This movement
is known as panning.
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The scroll bars comprises of


arrowheads, located at either end of the scroll bar, and
a scroll box, located between these arrowheads.
Vertical Scroll bar
The vertical scroll bar graphically represents the total length of the current worksheet.
The scroll box in the vertical scroll bar indicates which part of the worksheet is currently
on screen. Clicking the various parts of the scroll bar allows you to scroll the sheet up or
down.
Clicking on the up arrow and down arrow at the ends of the scroll bar, moves the
worksheet up or down by one row.
Clicking on either side of the scroll box, moves the screen up or down by one
page.
Clicking the vertical scroll box button and dragging it up or down while keeping
the mouse button pressed, moves the screen up or down continuously. As
screen scrolls, Excel displays the current top row number.
Horizontal scroll bar
The Horizontal scroll bar covers the right-half of the bar at the bottom of the screen. Its
function is similar to that of Vertical scroll bar except that the screen pans to left or right,
in the horizontal direction. A new feature of Horizontal bar in Excel 2010 is that it can
be resized.
To resize the horizontal bar, click
the handle and drag to left or right

The Status Bar


Status bar is the bottom most horizontal bar of the Excels application window. In Excel
2010, the Status bar has been completely overhauled. By default it shows the following
tools.
Cell Mode
indicator

Worksheet Zoom Zoom


Page views button slider

Cell Mode Indicator at the left end of the status bar. By default, when you open
a new worksheet or when Excel is not doing anything, this mode indicator shows
Ready. While working on Excel worksheet, keep a watch on this cell mode
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indicator. You will find various mode indicators appear here to indicate the
current ongoing action in the worksheet.
A set of Worksheet Page Views that allows you to display your Worksheet in
different ways.
A Zoom button that shows the current Zoom level. This is followed by a Zoom
Slider control which allows you to zoom out or zoom in the worksheet contents
within a wide range of 10% to 400%. The default is 100%. Try the slider and see
how the display changes. You can also click on +
and buttons on either side of the slider to
change the display in steps of 10%. Verify this
yourself.
You can also manually set the zoom level.
o Click on the Zoom button.
o A Zoom dialog box appears as shown in
the screen shot.
o You can set the Zoom level to one of the
preset levels or you can set your own
required zoom level by entering the
percentage of zooming required in the
Custom text box. You can also Zoom to
Fit selection.

Customizing Status bar


You can also customize the Status bar to show additional information. To do this:
Right click anywhere on the Status bar.
A context shortcut menu appears as shown, listing various features and
information that can be displayed on the Status bar. The current settings are also
shown against some of these items.
The Items that
have
been
checked are those
currently
displayed on the
Status bar.
These options are
toggles. To show
any of these items
on the Status bar,
just click on that
item. Clicking on
that item again
hides it from the
Status bar.

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The Window Splitters


Your screen can only show a small part of the
worksheet at a time. When you are working on a
large worksheet, you may wish to view two different
areas of the same worksheet at the same time, say,
one for the reference and the other for working. You
can do this by splitting the worksheet working
window into two panes using Splitters. You can
split either horizontally or vertically.

Window Splitters

Splitting the Worksheet Horizontally


1. Position the pointer on the small bar just
above the Scroll Up arrow. The pointer turns
into a double headed arrow with a split.
Fig.1.22 Window splitters
2. Holding down the left mouse button, drag the
pointer downwards. When you release the button, the Worksheet window will be
divided into two panes, each pane with a copy of the same worksheet.
3. You can now work on either of these window panes in the usual way.
4. To remove the split, click on Window option in the Main menu, and click on
Remove Split sub-option, or alternately, double click on the dividing bar between
windows.
You can also divide the Worksheet window into two equal horizontal split windows, by
double clicking on the Splitter.
The screen shot shows a worksheet split horizontally into two halves.

Fig: Horizontally
split worksheet
windows.

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Splitting the Worksheet Vertically


You can also split the window vertically into two halves.
1. Position the pointer on the small bar at the right end of the horizontal scroll bar.
The pointer turns into a double headed arrow with a split.
2. Holding down the left mouse button, drag the pointer towards left. When you
release the button, your window will have two panes, each pane with a copy of
the same worksheet.
5. You can now work on either of these window panes in the usual way.
6. To remove the split, click on Window option in the Main menu, and click on
Remove Split sub-option, or double click on the dividing bar between windows.

Fig: Vertically
split worksheet
windows.

You can also divide the Worksheet window into two equal Vertical split windows, by
double clicking on the Splitter appearing in the right end of the Horizontal scroll bar.
You can split the screen both
horizontally as well as vertically
into 4 quarters as shown by
double clicking on both the
splitters separately.

Fig: Worksheet
split horizontally as
well as vertically

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The Pointer and Cursor Shapes


When you open a new worksheet, you will find that the
cell A1 appears with a dark border. This is the Cell
Pointer which highlights the active cell of your
worksheet. You can select any cell by clicking on that
cell. The cell pointer appears there.
The mouse cursor appears as a Thick White Cross
when you are in the worksheet area. The cursor takes
different shapes when you move it to other places in the
worksheet.

Cell Pointer

The cursor appears as a left oriented White arrow when you move the cursor over the
Ribbon area and the scroll bars.
When you position the cursor over the edges of the active cell or selected cells, the
cursor changes to a white arrow accompanied by a double headed arrow. It indicates
that you can drag the contents of the cell or cells to another location on the worksheet.
The cursor changes into an I-Beam when you move the mouse pointer to the contents
box. The I-Beam is the text cursor, also known as insertion point. It appears in the
contents box on the Formula bar, or in a cell when you are entering or editing data. You
can use it to select text, or to position the cursor in a text entry cell or box.
Observe that a small black square box appears at the lower right corner of the active
cell. This is known as the Fill Handle. When you position your mouse pointer, the
pointer turns into a plus mark. You use it to Auto-fill a block of cells with the current cell
data values, or a sequence of data values. We will learn about this feature, in a
subsequent lesson.

Recap
Microsoft Excel 2010 is a powerful Spreadsheet application. It has a friendly and simple
to use interface. In this lesson you got acquainted with the various elements of Excel
applications Window interface. You will get more familiar with these as you learn these
lessons.
Before we conclude take a look at how a wider monitor displays the Excels interface.
You have more number of columns and rows displayed. The table shows comparative
features between the latest Excel 2010 version and the earlier Excel 2003 version.
Excel 2007 version has similar features as that of Excel 2010, with a few exceptions.

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Salient features of Excel 2010


Feature
Number of Rows
Number of Columns
Number of Cells
Number of default sheets
Max number of Characters
displayed in a cell
Max number of characters
in a formula
Number of levels of sorting
Number of nesting in
formulas
Max number of function
arguments
Number of colors
Number of
Conditional
formats per cell

Excel 2010
1,048,576 (1 to 1048576)
16,384 (A to IXFD)
17,179,869,184
3
32,000

Excel 2003
65,536 (1 to 65536)
256 (A to IV)
16,777,216
3
1,000

8,000

1,000

64
64

3
7

255

30

4.3 billion
Unlimited

56
3

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Lesson 2: Exploring Ribbon Interface in Excel 2010


Overview
Ribbon Interface in Excel 2010 is a part of the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface. It is the
single most visible and important change you will find in practically every Microsoft Office 2010
application. First introduced in Excel 2007, it replaces the menu and Toolbars interface of
Excel XP and earlier Excel versions. It is actually a strip of buttons and icons displayed at the
top of the screen. The Ribbon interface in every Office 2010 application has the same look and
feel. So if you get acquainted with ribbon in any of these included applications, you can easily
work with ribbons in all other applications. Lets get familiar with the Ribbon Interface of Excel
2010.
Skills

you will learn in this lesson


Exploring the Ribbon Interface
Elements of Ribbon Interface
Contextual Tabs
Hiding and displaying the Ribbon
Customizing the Ribbon
o Adding a New Tab to the Ribbon
o Adding tools to the New Group
o Re-positioning the Custom Tab in Ribbon Interface
o Re-positioning of Command tools in a Group
o Hiding the Custom and Default Tabs
o Removing a Command from a Group
o Removing a Custom Group
o Removing the Custom Tab
o Restoring the Tabs
Accessing Ribbon with Keyboard

Exploring the Ribbon Interface


The Ribbon interface is a panel that stretches across the top of the window, just below the
Quick Access toolbar and the Title bar. The Ribbon provides you with all the tools you need to
perform all your required tasks in Excel 2010. The Ribbon includes tabs that reflect the various
tasks you perform within each of these applications. Each tab contains tool groups offering the
tools you need as you work with files you create.
You can use the Minimize the Ribbon button to hide the Ribbon so that you have more room
to work on-screen. You can also customize the Ribbon to create your own tabs and tool
groups specific to your needs.
Elements of Ribbon Interface
You will be spending a lot of time with Ribbon interface in Excel 2010. So lets get familiar with
the various features of the Ribbon interface.
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The Ribbon panel of Excel 2010 is made up of various elements. The main elements are:
1. Ribbon Tabs
2. Ribbon Groups showing various Tools, and
3. Ribbon Galleries showing additional tools and other features
Ribbon Tabs

Ribbon Groups
Dialog Box Launcher

Fig: Ribbon Interface on a wider monitor

Ribbon Tabs: At the top, the Ribbon interface displays a set of tabs. Tabs are similar to Main
menu options of earlier Excel versions. The tabs show the most common features of the
displayed Office application, and as such they are slightly different for each Office 2010
application. Excel 2010 shows a set of 8 tabs - File, Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas,
Data, Review and View.

At the right end of this bar are a few icons the first one is a
toggle button to hide or show the ribbon. Clicking the button once
hides the ribbon and clicking it again re-displays the ribbon.
Hiding of ribbon provides more working space for you to work with. Note that when the ribbon
is hidden, only the tab names are displayed. Click on the button and verify this for yourself.

Only tabs are displayed


when Ribbon is hidden

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The button that appears as a question mark is the Microsoft Excel Help button. Clicking on this
button displays an Excel Help dialog box which provides you with help on various features of
Excel 2010.
Next three buttons are the Excel windows
control buttons. These buttons works similar
to that of Excel Application Control buttons,
but works only with the active Excel window.
Groups: Clicking a Ribbon Tab displays
several related command Groups which
appear at the bottom of the Ribbon. Each
Group is a logical collection of several
related commands meant to perform specific
tasks in Excel. Commonly used tools or
commands are displayed in these groups on
the Ribbon.
Galleries: Some of these groups display a
small button with a diagonal arrow at their
bottom right corner. These buttons are
known as Dialog box launchers. When you
point to this arrow of any group, a thumbnail
view of the associated Dialog box appears. When you click on this arrow, the associated dialog
box itself gets displayed giving access to additional tools and features.

Groups

Font dialog box

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Each one of these Ribbon tabs contains a set of various associated Groups.
The first item File though appears as a tab, works different than others. It does not present any
Groups but takes you to Microsoft Office Backstage View, which provides a central place to
work with the files you create in Office 2010 applications. We will be discussing Microsoft
Office Backstage view later in this lesson. Note that the color of the File tab in each of the MS
Office 2010 applications has a different color. In Excel 2010 it appears in green color while in
Word 2010 it will be blue.
Home Tab contains the following groups - Clipboard, Font, Alignment, Number, Styles, Cells
and Editing. The first four groups display Dialog box Launchers. Clipboard dialog box launcher
when clicked displays a Clipboard task pane, while Font, Alignment and Number dialog box
launchers display the associated dialog boxes when clicked.

Insert Tab contains the following groups - Tables, Illustrations, Charts, Filter, Links, Text and
Symbols. Only Charts group has a dialog box.

Page Layout Tab contains the following groups - Themes, Page Setup, Scale to Fit, Sheet
Options, and Arrange. All groups except Themes and Arrange have dialog boxes.

Formulas Tab contains the following groups Function Library, Defined names, Formula
Auditing and Calculation. None of these groups has a dialog box.

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Data Tab has the following groups Connections, Sort & Filter, Data Tools and Outline. Only
the Outline group has a dialog box.

Review Tab has tools for proofreading of your Spreadsheets. It contains the following groups Proofing, Language, Comments, and Changes. None of these groups have dialog boxes.

View Tab contains the following groups - Workbook Views, Zoom, Window, and Macros. None
of these groups have dialog boxes.

Dialog Box Launchers


Tabs in the ribbon represent different categories of tasks you generally perform in Excel 2010.
Each tab in the Ribbon has been designed to provide access to most of the frequently used
tools for performing a particular task in that category. However, for some groups it may not be
possible to display all associated tools in that group on the Ribbon. For such groups, these
additional tools and commands are made available in dialog boxes, also known as galleries.
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Groups having such dialog boxes display a small red colored diagonal pointing arrow in the
lower right corner, known as Dialog box launcher. Clicking on this button displays the
associated dialog box. Lets look at a typical group displaying the dialog box launcher.
As many as four groups in the Home tab display Dialog box launchers. Lets look at the Font
group. As you can see, you can perform most of the Font related tasks from this group of tools,
such as changing font faces, applying font styles, font attributes, changing font size and so on.
But it does not provide a tool for applying Font effects. So if you want to apply any font effects
to your data in Worksheet, then you need to invoke the dialog box. Just click on the Dialog box
launcher button in its right bottom corner. The familiar Format Cells dialog box appears from
which you can make your font and its attribute selections.

Font Dialog Box


Launcher

Task Panes
Task panes are rectangular windows similar to Dialog boxes except that that they are docked
to either left or right edge of the window or can be kept floating. Main difference between the
dialog box and task pane is that a Task pane need not be closed while working on your
Spreadsheets or documents. Infact, task panes are designed to be kept open so that you can
access its contents as you work on your spreadsheet/document. The Clipboard group is a
typical example of a Task Pane.
The Home tab displays the Clipboard group at its extreme left. Clipboard is an important
feature in all Office applications. It is actually a memory buffer in your computer where Office
application saves all copied items (by default upto 24 items) temporarily and allows you to
paste them later in whichever document you choose.
When you move your mouse pointer on the little arrow that
appears in the lower right corner of the Clipboard group, a
ghost of a thumbnail view of the associated dialog box with
a message Show the Office Clipboard Task Pane
appears. When you click on the arrow, the actual clipboard
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Clipboard Dialog
Box Launcher

Task Pane gets displayed with any text or images that you might have copied to the clipboard.
You can now choose to paste any or all copied items, clear them all or close the Clipboard
Task Pane by clicking on the X button appearing in its top right corner.

Clipboard
Dialog box

Clipboard
Task Pane

Contextual Tabs
In addition to the tabs displayed by Excel 2010 by default, there are additional tabs that get
displayed depending on the task you are performing. Such context sensitive tabs are known as
Contextual tabs. Follow these steps to display one such contextual tab.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Click on Insert tab. The associated groups of Insert tab option get displayed.
Click on Charts group. A menu in the form of icons of charts appear.
Click on Column tool in the Charts group.
A drop down menu appears listing various types of Columns charts that you can create.
Click on any of the displayed Chart icons.
A Blank Chart area appears in the Worksheet. At the same time, a Chart Tools option
appears with its own set of tabs. Each tab of the Chart tools has its own set of Groups
with each group having its own associated tools.

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Contextual tab and its


associated Groups and tools

Similarly when you insert a picture into


your document, a Picture Tools
Format contextual tab appears with its
own groups and tools.

Hiding and displaying the Ribbon


The Ribbon interface occupies considerable space on your monitor, particularly if you are
using a standard sized monitor. You can hide the ribbon and re-display it whenever you want
either using mouse or the keyboard.
Keeping the Ribbon Minimized always
Using Mouse:
1. Click on the Minimize the Ribbon button appearing at the right end of the Ribbon to
hide the Ribbon. The Ribbon collapses into a single line showing just the Tabs.

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The Ribbon is
minimized to a set of
tabs

2. Click on the Expand the Ribbon button to redisplay the Ribbon.


Alternatively:
1. Right click anywhere on the Ribbon.
2. In the displayed short cut menu, click on Minimize the Ribbon option. A check mark
appears to the left of the option to indicate the Ribbon is minimized.
3. The Ribbon interface gets hidden.
4. To re-display the Ribbon, again right click on the Ribbon and remove the check mark
against the option Minimize the Ribbon.

Note that when you have minimized the Ribbon, it is still available to you whenever you want it.
1. Click on the Tab you want to use. The Ribbon reappears.
2. Click on the Group and the Command tool you want to use.
3. When your work with the selected Command tool is over, the Ribbon automatically gets
minimized.
Try this:
1. Open any worksheet containing data values.
2. Minimize the Ribbon as above.
3. Select some data in the cells of the worksheet.
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4. Click on Home tab. The Ribbon appears.


5. Click on Bold attribute. The selected data values become bold.
6. The Ribbon gets automatically minimized.
Using Keyboard:
1. Press Ctrl+F1 key combination to hide the Ribbon.
2. Press Ctrl+F1 key combination once again to re-display the Ribbon.
You can also temporarily hide the Ribbon interface by double clicking on the current Tab. To
re-display it again temporarily, just click on any tab. The Minimize Ribbon button appears as a
pin button. The Ribbon will automatically hide when you are done using it. To re-display the
ribbon permanently, double click on any tab.
Size of the Ribbon
The Ribbon interface has been designed as a flexible strip. Most of the tools of Ribbon
appear with icons as well as text. When you narrow the Microsoft Excel interface, the
display of the contents of the Ribbon also may change. Some groups may just display
the icon without its text. The arrangement of icons in the group may change. How
exactly your ribbon appears and how much of its contents are visible to you depends on
the size of the Microsoft Excel interface. Following screen shots illustrates the
difference.

The first screen shot shows the Ribbon interface as it appears in 20 wide monitor. You
will find that most of the tools have been identified with icon as well its text. Observe in
particular the Styles and Editing groups.

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The second screen shot shows the Ribbon interface as it appears in normal sized
monitors. Observe that size of some groups have been narrowed resulting in just the
display of tools with icons only without text. Observe in particular the Styles group.
The third screen shot shows the narrowed Ribbon interface. Observe how the sizes of
most of the groups have been narrowed and only the group name is displayed without
their subgroup icons or text.
Whatever may be the size of the Ribbon, you have access to all its tools. All you have to
do is to click on the associated down arrow. When you do so, a horizontal drop down
menu appears displaying all the associated tools of that group. The screen shots below
shows the tools of Alignment and Styles groups.

Microsoft Backstage View in Excel 2010


One of the biggest changes you will observe in all Microsoft Office 2010 applications is
the introduction of the Backstage View. The Backstage view is displayed when you click
on the File tab of the Ribbon interface. You will notice that the Backstage view in each
application uses a different color scheme to easily enable you to identify the
applications you are using. In Microsoft Excel the color scheme is green.
Backstage view has been designed as a central location from where you can perform a
number of tasks.
1. You can perform various File related tasks such as Saving, Opening, and Closing
of documents or Workbooks.
2. You can preview and print worksheets, Charts, etc.
3. You can configure Excel 2010 to work the way you want.
4. You can look at the various properties of Excel 2010.
5. You can get set User permissions for opening, copying and saving of
worksheets.
6. You can set up Sharing of your work with other users.
7. You can manage the auto saved copies of your work.

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If you have currently working on a worksheet, the Backstage view shows all the
associated information you need about the file, as indicated by the heading itself in the
middle pane. The third pane shows all the properties and other information such as file
size, dates of creation, modification, etc. You can also assign titles, file tags and other
attributes to the file if you want.
Customizing the Ribbon
You can personalize the Ribbon Interface by customizing it the way you want it. You
can create your own custom tabs and custom groups to contain your frequently used
commands.
Although you can add commands to custom groups, you cannot change the default tabs
and groups that are built-into Microsoft Office 2010.
Note that Ribbon customization is specific to the Microsoft Office program you are
working on at the time. Ribbon customization does not apply across the Office
programs.
Lets customize the Ribbon by adding a new custom tab and a couple of custom
Groups. We will then add a couple of tools to one of the groups.
1. Click on the File tab of the Ribbon. This displays the MS Office Backstage View.
2. Click on Options in the left pane.
3. In the displayed Excel Options window, click on the Customize Ribbon option.
4. Customize the Ribbon options appear in the right pane as shown.

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5. The Right pane shows two sections. In the left


section, the Choose commands from list box
shows various categories of tools available in
Excel 2010. The list box below it shows a list of
all available command tools available for that
category. By default the displayed category is
Popular Commands and includes practically all
available commands in Excel 2010.
6. The right section shows a list of commands already available in the Ribbon. The
Customize Ribbon list box shows the tab categories and the list box below it
shows the command tools for that tab category. The displayed category is Main
tabs. Note that these are command tools included by default and can not be
removed or changed.
Adding a New Tab to the Ribbon
Lets add a new tab to the ribbon and name it as Personal.
1. Click on the main tab below which you want to insert your new Custom tab, say
Home tab.
2. Click on the New Tab button appearing below the right list box.
3. A New Tab (Custom) and under it a New Group (Custom) gets inserted in the
list of tabs. A collapse button for this new tab also appears to the left of the
inserted Tab.

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4. By default the New Group (Custom) is highlighted. If not select it.


5. Click on the Rename button. A Rename
dialog box appears displaying a number
of symbols. Choose an appropriate
symbol to assign for the new group
(custom).
6. In the Display name text box, enter a
new name for this new custom group,
say as My Excel Group.
7. Now select the New Tab (Custom) and
click on Rename button.
8. A Rename dialog box appears with
Display name as New Tab. Overwrite
this with a new name, say Personal.
9. Click OK.
10. Observe that the Ribbon now has a new
tab by the name of Personal.
11. Click on Personal Tab. My Tools Group gets displayed. It is currently blank
since we are yet to add our
required tools for this Group.
12. Observe that while both the new
tab as well the new Group are
displayed with (Custom) in the
Customize Ribbon window, on the Ribbon the word Custom does not appear.

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Similarly, you
can add any
number
of
Custom tabs
to the Ribbon.

Newly created Tab


Newly created Group

Adding tools to the New Group


Now that we have created New Custom Tab and a New Custom Group, lets populate
the custom group with our own specific command tools. Note that you can only add
commands to a custom group under a custom tab, and not to the default group.
1. Display the Customize the Ribbon window options.
2. Since we have added out new tab under Main Tabs, make sure Main Tabs is
selected in the Customize the Ribbon list. In the Main Tabs list of tabs, click on
the group to which you want to add commands. In this case select My Excel
Group under Personal tab.
3. In the Choose commands from list box, select the list you want to add
commands from; for example, Popular Commands or All Commands.
4. Select the command tool you want to add, say Conditional Formatting. Click on
the Add button. The selected tool now appears below the My Excel Group.
5. Similarly add a few more required Command tools to the My Excel Group. The
screen shot shows the newly added tools.
6. Click OK.

7. In the Ribbon interface, click on Personal tab. My Excel Group now displays the
Command tools that you have added.

Page 32

Re-positioning the Custom Tab in Ribbon Interface


Observe that the newly added Personal Custom Tab appears next to the Home tab of
the Ribbon. You can re-position it in any other position if you so desire. Here are the
steps:
1. Display the Customize the Ribbon Excel options window.
2. Under the Customize the Ribbon list, click on tab which you want to reposition,
in this instance, the Personal tab item.
3. Click the Up direction arrow one or more times to move the selected tab item
upwards (in Ribbon interface it will move towards left) or, one or more times on
Down direction arrow to move the selected item downwards (in Ribbon interface
it will move towards right).
4. When you are satisfied with its relocated position, click OK.

5. Observe
that
in
the
Ribbon
interface, the Personal Custom tab has now been re-positioned.
Re-positioning of Command tools in a Group
You can also change the order of Command tools in your newly created Custom Group.
Here are the steps.
1. Display the Customize the Ribbon Excel options window.
2. Under the Customize the Ribbon list, click on the plus icon of the My Group
item whose tools you want to reposition. The list of included tools appears.
3. Click on the tool you want to re-position, say Calculate Now tool.
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4. Click the Up direction arrow one or more times to move the selected tool item
upwards (in Ribbon interface it will move towards left) or one or more times on
Down direction arrow to move the selected item downwards (in Ribbon interface
it will move towards right).
5. When you are satisfied with its relocated position, click OK.
6. Observe that in the Ribbon interface, the Command tool has now been repositioned in the Group.

Repositioned

Original position

Hiding the Custom and Default Tabs


Sometimes you may wish to hide your custom created tabs so that other users wont
use them. You can also hide unwanted default tab if it is distracting you. Here are the
steps to hide the tabs.
1. Display the Customize the Ribbon Excel options window.
2. In the Customize the Ribbon list, remove the check mark of the Custom Tab
you want to hide, say Personal tab.
3. Also remove the check mark of the default Review tab
4. Click OK.
Observe that the Ribbon interface now does not display the Personal and Review
tabs.
Personal and Review Tabs
are hidden
Page 34

To re-display the hidden Tabs, enable their check boxes in the Customize the Ribbon
list.
Note that you cant hide either the individual Groups or the individual tools in the
Groups.
Removing a Command from a Group
You can remove no-longer required command tools from your Custom Groups. Here
are the steps:
1. Right click anywhere on the Ribbon interface. From the displayed short cut
menu, click on Customize the Ribbon option.
2. Customize the Ribbon Excel options window appears.
3. In the Customize the Ribbon list, expand the Custom Tab to display its Groups.
4. Click on the Group name to display its associated Command tools.
5. Click on the Command tool you want to remove, say
Calculate Now.
6. Click on << Remove button.
7. Click OK.
8. Verify that the selected Custom Command tool has
now been removed from the specified Custom Group.
Note that you cant remove any default Command tool from any of the default Groups.
Removing a Custom Group
You can remove a Custom Group when it is no longer required by you. Lets remove My
Excel Group custom group from the Ribbon. Here are the steps.
1. Display the Customize the Ribbon Excel options window.
2. In the Customize the Ribbon list, expand the Custom Tab to display its Groups,
say Personal.
3. Click on the Group name you want to remove, say My Excel Group.
4. Click on Remove button.
5. Click OK.
Observe that in the Ribbon, the selected Custom Group My Excel Group has been
removed.
Note that you can also remove any unwanted Command tool from the default Group as
well.
Removing the Custom Tab
You can remove any of your Custom created tabs from the Ribbon. You cant however
remove any default tab.

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1. Display the Customize the Ribbon Excel options window.


2. In the Customize the Ribbon list, click on the Custom Tab you want to remove,
say Personal.
3. Click on Remove button.
4. Click OK.
Observe that the Custom created Personal tab has now been removed from the Ribbon.
Restoring the Tabs
If you have made changes to the Ribbon by way of
adding Custom tabs, Custom Groups and
Command buttons, you can restore the Ribbon
to its default condition. If you have made any
changes to the default tabs such as adding custom
groups and command tools, you can also restore
them. Note that you can only restore default tabs to
original settings.

back

their

To Restore only the Selected Tab:


1. Display the Customize the Ribbon
Excel options window.
2. In the Customize the Ribbon list, click on the default Tab you want to
restore.
3. Click on down arrow of the Reset button.
4. Click on Reset only Selected tabs
5. Click OK.
To Restore the Ribbon to its default settings
1. Display the Customize the Ribbon Excel options window.
2. In the Customize the Ribbon list, click on down arrow of the Reset button.
3. Click on Reset all customizations
4. Click OK.
Note that when you reset the Ribbon to its original default settings, Quick Access
Toolbar is also reset to its original default settings.
Accessing Ribbon with Keyboard
While mouse is the preferred tool to work with the Ribbon interface, there are occasions
where you may find the use of Keyboard very useful. MS Office 2010 provides various
keyboard shortcuts that enable you to work quickly with the Ribbon. You can get to the
most Commands of Ribbon just by using two to four keystrokes.
1. Press Alt key and release it.
2. Observe the small numbers and letters that appear just below the tool names in
the Quick Access Toolbar as well as the Tool names in the Ribbon. These are
known as KeyTips.
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3. The numeric keyTips identify the Command tools in the Quick Access Toolbar
while the Character KeyTips mark the Tab names. These are similar to shortcut
keys of the Main Menu options of earlier Excel versions.

4. When you press the associated KeyTip of any active tab name, you will be
shown additional KeyTips for the associated Group Command Tools. For
example, click on Home tab to make it active and press letter H. You will find the
Group names and Command tools in each group of Home tab identified with their
KeyTips. Observe that KeyTips are in numbers, as well as in letters. Some rarely
used KeyTips have two letters.

5. Press the number or the letter of the KeyTip of the required tool to perform the
required task.
A brief illustration makes the use of Keyboard shortcuts clear.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Open a document that contains some text.


Click anywhere in the text to select it.
Lets display the selected text in italics.
Press Alt key. KeyTips appear in the Ribbon.
Make sure the Home tab is active and press H which is the keyTip for activating
Home tab contents.
6. The various Groups and their associated Command tools appear. Observe that
these are accompanied by their associated KeyTips.
7. Press 2 which is the KeyTip for Italics tool in Font Group.
8. The selected number now appears in italics and the KeyTips disappear.

Page 37

The table below shows various keyboard shortcuts for use with Ribbon Interface

To do this
Press
Select the active tab of the Ribbon ALT or F10. Press either of these keys again
and activate the access keys.
to move back to the document and cancel
the access keys.
Move to another tab of the
ALT or F10 to select the active tab, and then
Ribbon.
LEFT ARROW or RIGHT ARROW
Move to another Group on the
ALT or F10 to select the active tab, and then
active tab.
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to
move between groups.
Minimize or restore the Ribbon.
CTRL+F1
Display the shortcut menu for the
SHIFT+F10
selected command.
Move the focus to select the
F6
following areas of the window:
Active tab of the Ribbon
View status bar at the bottom of
the window
Your document
Move the focus to each command ALT or F10, and then TAB or SHIFT+TAB
in the Ribbon, forward or
backward.
Move down, up, left, or right
DOWN ARROW, UP ARROW, LEFT
among the items in the Ribbon.
ARROW, or RIGHT ARROW

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Activate the selected command or


control in the Ribbon.
Open the selected menu or gallery
in the Ribbon.
Activate a command or control in
the Ribbon so that you can modify
a value.
Finish modifying a value in a
control in the Ribbon, and move
focus back to the document.
Get help on the selected
command or control in the Ribbon.
(If no Help topic is associated with
the selected command, the Help
table of contents for that program
is shown instead.)

SPACE BAR or ENTER


SPACE BAR or ENTER
Enter

Enter

F1

Recap
Ribbon is a part of the Microsoft Fluent Interface. Ribbon provides all necessary tools
for performing most of the frequently used tasks in Excel 2010. Any other tool required
is just at a mouse click away. In this lesson you got acquainted with the Ribbon
interface and its various components. You also learnt how to customize the Ribbon
interface by way of adding new custom tabs, custom groups and tools.

Page 39

Lesson 3: Exploring Quick Access Toolbar in Excel 2010


Overview
Quick Access Toolbar feature provides a single access toolbar for your most frequently
used tools while working on your Excel 2010 Worksheets. Quick Access Toolbar was
first introduced in Excel 2007, and has been retained in Excel 2010 as well with
considerable enhancements. You can also customize Quick Access Toolbar as per your
needs. In this lesson you will explore Quick Access Toolbar and the role it is meant to
play while working with your documents. You will explore the default settings for various
features of Excel 2010 and how you can change them to suit your requirement.
Skills you will learn in this lesson
Getting to know Quick Access Toolbar
Customizing Quick Access Toolbar
o Adding a new Command button to Quick Access Toolbar
o Changing the order of Command buttons in Quick Access Toolbar
o Grouping the Command buttons by using a Separator
o Changing the location of Quick Access Toolbar
o Restoring Quick Access Toolbar to its Default Settings
Customizing Excel 2010
Getting to know Quick Access Toolbar
Quick Access Toolbar is a feature introduced in Excel 2007 and retained in Excel 2010.
It appears to the right of Excel logo in the Title bar. Quick Access Toolbar is a
customizable toolbar that provides you with quick access to commands you frequently
use. These commands are independent of the
Save
Customize
commands displayed in the tabs of the Ribbon. By
Undo
QAT
default, Quick Access Toolbar displays Save, Undo and
Redo
Redo tools. You can however add any number of
frequently needed tools to this toolbar or delete unwanted
tools from this toolbar.
The advantage of having Quick Access Toolbar always available to you is enormous.
When you want more space in your document window for working, you need to hide the
Ribbon interface. But every time you need a command, such as say inserting a page
break, or inserting clipart etc you will have to redisplay the Ribbon. This could be quite
frustrating. Quick Access Toolbar is meant to help you in such situations. It is always
available to you even when the Ribbon interface is hidden. This means that you can add
such frequently required commands to the Quick Access Toolbar and use them any
time you want independent of the Ribbon. You can add any number of commands to
Quick Access Toolbar. There are a number of tools which are available in Excel but are
not displayed in the Ribbon. Data Entry Form tool for instance is one such tool you
might find useful when your main work is data entry into Excel database. You can add
such commands to the Quick Access Toolbar for ready access.
Page 40

When the added commands are no longer required, you can easily remove them.
Customizing Quick Access Toolbar
Quick Access Toolbar works as a substitute for the Toolbars of the earlier versions of
Excel. You can customize the Quick Access Toolbar by placing frequently required tools
on this toolbar for easy access and remove them when no longer required.
However, there are certain things that you cant customize in Quick Access Toolbar.
You cannot increase the size of the command buttons displayed on the Quick
Access Toolbar.
You cannot display the Quick Access Toolbar on multiple lines. All command
buttons are required to be placed in a single line toolbar.
Only command buttons can be added to the Quick Access Toolbar. You cant
add other elements of Ribbon such as individual styles, indent and spacing
values, etc.
Adding a new Command button to Quick Access Toolbar
1. Click on the Customize Quick Access Toolbar button that appears at the end of
the Quick Access Toolbar.
2. A drop down list appears listing a number of frequently used commands. The
commands which have check marks against them are currently shown on the
Quick Access Toolbar.
3. To add any of the unchecked
displayed commands to the
Quick Access Toolbar, just click
the check box to the left of the
command.
4. To remove any of the displayed
tool on the Quick Access
Toolbar, remove the checkmark
against its name in the drop
down list.
5. If the tool button you want to add
is not listed in this menu, click on
More Commands option. An
Excel Options dialog box
appears, with Customize Quick
Access Toolbar option displayed.
6. Observe that the window shows
two panes the left pane shows
a list of all available commands
that can be displayed in Quick Access Toolbar. The Right pane shows the
command buttons currently displayed in Quick Access Toolbar.

Page 41

7. To add a new command button, select the command button you want to add in
the left pane of the Commands list. In the screen shot, Conditional Formatting
tool has been selected.
8. Click on Add >> button. The selected command button now appears in the right
pane.

Currently
displayed tools in
QAT

9. Similarly add any other command buttons that you want to access from Quick
Access Toolbar.
Added tools
10. To remove any unwanted command button
from
Quick Access Toolbar,
select the button to be
removed in the right
pane and click on <<
Remove button.
11. Click OK to close the
dialog box.
12. Observe that the Quick
Access Toolbar now
reflects
whatever
changes you have made.

Page 42

Accessing the Quick Access Toolbar from File tab


You can also customize the Quick Access Toolbar from the File tab.
1. Click on File tab.
2. Excel displays the Microsoft Office Backstage View.
3. Under Help, click on Options in the left pane of the view.
4. Click on Quick Access Toolbar option.
5. Quick Access Toolbar dialog box appears.
Changing the order of Command buttons in Quick Access Toolbar
You can change the order of appearance of command buttons on the Quick Access
Toolbar.
1. Click on the Customize Quick Access Toolbar button that appears at the end of
the Quick Access Toolbar.
2. In the displayed drop down list, click on More Commands option. An Excel
Options dialog box appears, with Customize Quick Access Toolbar options
displayed.
3. The right panel shows the currently available Command buttons in the Quick
Access Toolbar.
4. Click on the Command button you want to move, say Print Preview. Click on
Move Up or Move Down button depending on which way you want to move the
button. Each time you click, the selected command button moves up or moves
down by one location. In the Quick Access Toolbar, the command button moves
either to left or right by one button location.
5. Click OK.
6. Observe that the position order of the Print review Command button has now
been changed.

Shifted
location

Grouping the Command


buttons by using a Separator
When you add commands to the Quick Access Toolbar, they are added in the sequence
in which you add. Sometimes however, you may want to segregate them as groups of
related Command buttons for easy access. You can insert a Separator tool in Quick
Access Toolbar for this purpose.
Page 43

1. Right click on Quick Access Toolbar and choose Customize the Quick Access
Toolbar option in the shortcut menu.
2. In the displayed Customize Quick Access Toolbar options, make sure that the
Choose command from list box is showing Popular Commands option.
3. Click on <Separator> item in the displayed list of commands to select it.
4. Click Add >>. The <Separator> item now appears in the right pane of selected
commands list.
5. Click on Move Up button number of times necessary to place the <Separator> in
the required location in the Quick Access Toolbar.
6. Click OK.
7. Observe that now a Separator bar appears separating the default Quick Access
Toolbar commands and the newly added commands.

Changing
location of
Quick
Access
Toolbar

Inserted Separator
tool

the

By default the Quick Access Toolbar appears above the Ribbon to the left of the Title
bar. You may however place it below the Ribbon also. To change the location of Quick
Access Toolbar, follow these steps:
1. Click on the Customize Quick Access Toolbar button to display the drop down
list.
2. Click on the option Show below the ribbon.
3. The Quick Access Toolbar now appears below the ribbon as shown.

Relocating the Quick Access Toolbar at the


bottom of the Ribbon Interface

Page 44

Restoring Quick Access Toolbar to its Default Settings


If you have made changes to the Quick Access Toolbar, but want to revert back to the
original default settings, you can easily do so.
1. Right click anywhere on Quick Access Toolbar. In the displayed menu, click on
Customize Quick Access Toolbar option.
2. In the Customize Quick Access Toolbar window, click on Reset arrow button
appearing in front of Customizations:. In the drop down menu, click on Reset
only Quick Access Toolbar option.

3. In the displayed Reset Customizations confirmation dialog box, click on Yes.


4. Quick Access Toolbar resets to show only the default Command buttons.
Customizing Excel 2010
In the pre-versions of Excel 2007, the various customization dialog boxes were
scattered all over the Excel applications. Since Excel 2007 onwards a systematic effort
is being made to bring all these customization tools under one window. In Excel 2010
you can access this window from the Microsoft Backstage View of File tab.
1. Click on File tab in the Ribbon Interface.
2. In the displayed Microsoft Backstage view, click on the Options in the left pane
of the view.
3. Excel Options window appears. The various options of Excel are grouped
under different tabs. These are General, Formulas, Proofing, Save, Language,
Advanced, Customize Ribbon, Quick Access Toolbar, Add-Ins and Trust Center.
4. Observe that a small blue circle with an inscribed i appears against some
options. This indicates that some information about that option will be displayed if
you point to that symbol.

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General Options:
Mini toolbar: Mini toolbar appears when you right click on any selection. If
this is distracting to you, you can suppress this by disabling this option.
Live Preview: One of the exciting features of Excel 2010 is the Live Preview
it presents when you are performing certain tasks such as applying styles,
etc. If you dont like this feature, you may suppress this by disabling Live
Preview option.
Color Scheme: You can choose one of the three color schemes for the Excel
interface. Choices are Blue, Silver and Black. Blue is the default.
ScreenTip style. You have the options of displaying
o ScreenTip with feature descriptions. This is the default.
o ScreenTip without feature descriptions
o Suppressing ScreenTips altogether.

Next couple of options defines the Type of Font as Body Font, Font Size as
11 and default view of the Worksheets as Normal view.
Include this many Sheets: When you open a new Workbook, it opens with 3
Worksheets by default. You may change this by specifying the number of
Worksheets you want to open with in this option.
User Name: You can personalize the copy of Workbook by entering an
appropriate name as user name.

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Functions options:
Functions are the backbones of Excel applications. But for the Functions, Excel would
be just a glorified calculator.
1. Calculation options: The default mode of calculations in Excel is Automatic. This
means that every time any of the referenced cell containing data values in
formulas and functions is changed, Excel immediately recalculates and shows
the results before you make any other change. In smaller worksheets this
happens so fast that you will not even notice the time taken to update the results,
but in a large and complex worksheet, such immediate recalculations after each
change may take some noticeable time. Under such circumstances, you can
speed up the calculations by suppressing Automatic calculations temporarily and
by choosing either of the following options:
o Automatic except for data tables: Excel recalculates all dependent
formulas except Data Tables whenever you make a change in the data
value of the referred cells in the formula.
o Manual: If you choose this option, you can choose when you want to
Recalculate workbook. You can do so by pressing the F9 key or by using
the Calculate Now command.
To manually recalculate all open worksheets, including data tables, and
update all open chart sheets, click Calculate Now command in the
Calculation group of Formulas tab in the ribbon.
To manually recalculate the active worksheet and any charts and
chartsheets linked to this worksheet, click Calculate Sheet tool the
Calculation group of Formulas tab in the ribbon.
If Recalculate Workbook before Saving option is enabled, Excel
automatically recalculates all the worksheets of the workbook when you
save it. The option is enabled by default, when you select Manual option.
Using Keyboard shortcuts to Recalculate a Worksheet or a Workbook
Press
F9

Shift+F9

Ctrl+Shift+F9

To
Recalculate formulas that have changed since the last
calculation, and formulas dependent on them, in all open
workbooks. If a workbook is set for automatic recalculation,
you do not need to press F9 for recalculation.
Recalculate formulas that have changed since the last
calculation, and formulas dependent on them, in the active
worksheet.
Recalculate all formulas in all open workbooks, regardless of
whether they have changed since the last recalculation.

2. Enable Iterative Calculation: Iteration means repeated recalculations. Excel


cannot automatically calculate a formula that refers to the cell that contains the
formula. This is called a Circular reference. If a formula refers back to one of its
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own cells, you must determine how many times the formula should recalculate.
Circular references can iterate indefinitely, which means that your Excel stops
any other work. You may need to restart Excel loosing the unsaved work you
might have done so far.
To avoid such an eventuality you can specify the maximum number of iterations
Excel should perform in Maximum Iterations control box. The default is 100
iterations, after which Excel stops recalculating. Greater the number of iterations,
more will be the time consumed.
You can also specify the amount of acceptable change between recalculations
results in Maximum Change control box. The default is 0.001. Smaller the value
greater will be the number of iterations.
Working with Formulas
R1C1 reference Style: This option enables referring of cells by Row number
and Column number instead of by Column letter and Row numbers. By default,
Excel uses A1 reference style which refers the cell using column letters and row
numbers. Sometimes, particularly when you are working with Macros, you may
want to change to R1C1 reference style, in which the cells are referenced by its
row and column numbers. The default is A1 reference style.
Formula AutoComplete: This is a very useful feature that shows a list of
relevant functions and helps you when you are entering formulas in cells. This is
enabled by default. Here is how it works:
o When you start entering a formula with an equals sign in a cell, and then
type a letter, say a, a list of available functions beginning with that letter
appears. A ScreenTip with a brief description of the selected function also
appears.
o Double clicking on the required function name, automatically enters that
function with an opening parenthesis in the cell. The AutoComplete
feature then shows the list of arguments required to complete that
function.
o After you enter the required arguments and press the Enter key, the
AutoComplete feature automatically enters the closing parenthesis to
complete the function, evaluates and returns the result in the cell.

AutoComplete shows the


required arguments
AutoComplete feature displays
a List of functions beginning
with the letter you type
AutoComplete completes
the function and returns
the result

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Use Table names in formulas option if enabled allows you to refer to table
names in your formulas. Table is a new feature in Excel 2010 and references to
tables in formulas and functions is of considerable help. The option is enabled by
default.
Use PivotData functions for PivotTable references option is enabled by
default.

Error Checking

Enable Background Error checking option is enabled by default. This option


ensures that Excel keeps a watch on the syntax of the formulas and functions
you enter. By default, Excel 2010 indicates the errors in green color, but you can
choose any other color you want from the Color option palette.
Error Checking Rules
How Excel checks for errors is defined by a set of rules. These rules are listed
under Error Checking Rules option and are shown in the screen shot. You can
view the associated information about each of these rules by pointing to the
encircle i symbol.

Proofing Options
Proofing options allows you to customize how Excel corrects and formats your text in
worksheets. Some of these options are AutoCorrect Options which sets rules for
automatically correcting certain words, how Excel corrects spelling mistakes, and so on.
Most of these options are self-explanatory.

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Save Options
Save options allows you to customize how your workbooks are saved.

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1. Save files in this format suggests Excel Workbook as


the default format for saving your Workbooks. This
format saves your workbook in a new format known as
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) format. This
format assigns an extension of .XLSX to the saved
workbooks.
You can also save in the earlier .XLS format. Click on
the drop down arrow of the option to display a list of
formats in which you can save your Workbook. To save
in .XLS format, choose the option Excel 97-2003
format.
2. It is important while you are working on your computer
whether it is a document or a spreadsheet or for that
matter anything that you save your work regularly.
Excel 2010 has a built in Save feature which takes care
of automatically saving your work every 10 minutes.
You may increase or decrease this time by entering the time in Save
AutoRecover information every option. You can also suppress this feature by
removing the check mark against this option, though it is recommended.
3. Excel also keeps a backup of the Auto recovered files. In case you were unable
to save your workbook, say because of power failure, next time you open Excel
application, Excel gives you an opportunity to recover your previously unsaved
workbook and continue to work with it. For this you need to enable the option
Keep the last Auto Recovered file if I close without saving. The option is
enabled by default.
4. AutoRecover file location option shows the default folder where Excel saves its
auto recovered files. You may change this location if you want.
5. Default file location option shows the folder where Excel saves your
Workbooks. This is by default the Documents folder of your computer. You may
change this to any other folder you want.
6. AutoRecover Exceptions option allows you to suppress auto recover feature for
any specific workbook. By default this feature is turned off.
7. When a Workbook created in Excel 2010 is opened in previous versions of Excel,
all colors used in this workbook including gridlines and comment indicators, will
be mapped to their nearest matches within this color palette. You can choose
Standard colors as well as Chart fill and Chart lines colors.
Advanced Options
Advanced Options are anything but advanced! Infact this set of options contains some
of the most important customizable options. Following are some of these.

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By default, when you type a value in a cell and press Enter key, the cell pointer
moves down. You can change this movement either to Right, Up or Left, using
the option After pressing Enter, move selection to option.

By default the Fill handle and


cell drag-and-drop features have been enabled. While performing these tasks, if
the destination cells have already some data values, Excel by default asks your
permission before overwriting. You may disable these options if you want.
By default,
o Excel allows editing directly in cells.
o Extends data range formats and formulas
o Enables automatic percent entry
o Enables AutoComplete for cell values

While performing Cut, Copy and Paste tasks, by default


o Excel shows Paste Options button when content is pasted
o Excel show Insert Options buttons
o Excel cuts, copies and sorts inserted objects with their parent cells.

While working on charts, by default,


o Excel displays chart elements when you hover pointer over them
o Excel shows data point values when you hover pointer over them

While working on documents, by default


o Excel shows up to 20 recently opened documents. You can increase or
decrease this number.
o Excel shows ruler units in default units. You can instead show units in
Inches, Millimeters or Centimeters.
o Excel shows all opened windows in the Taskbar.
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o Excel shows Formula bar


o Excel shows Function ScreenTips.

For cells with comments, by default


o Excel shows just the indicators, but when you place your pointer on the
cell, it shows the comments. You can change this either to display both
indicators as well as comments, or suppress both of them.

Display options for the Workbook and Worksheet. By default, Excel


o Shows horizontal and vertical scroll bars
o Shows sheet tabs
o Groups dates in the AutoFilter menu.
o Shows row and column headers
o Shows formulas in cells instead of their calculated results
o Shows a zero in cells that have zero value
o Shows outline symbols if an Outline is applied
o Shows grid lines in black color. You can choose any other color for the
grid lines from the Gridline Color list box.

Other important customizable options are:


o Scale contents for A4 or 8.5 x 11 paper sizes
o Edit Custom lists created for use in Sorts and fill Sequences.

Most of these options are toggles. You may disable any of these just by removing the
check mark against the respective options.

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Recap
Quick Access Toolbar provides a single toolbar access to your more frequently used
commands while working in Excel 2010 Worksheets. Since it is always displayed, by
placing your frequently required commands and tool buttons on Quick Access Toolbar,
you can save yourself the extra work of searching for those commands in the Ribbon
interface or the Dialog boxes. In this lesson you got acquainted with and explored the
Quick Access Toolbar. You also learnt how to customize Quick Access Toolbar as per
your requirements.
Excel comes with a number of customizable options. All these options have been
centralized in Excel Options window. Most of these options have been setup
satisfactorily and normally does not require any change. In case you do need to change
them you can head to Excel Options window and make the changes.

Page 54

Lesson 4: Getting Around in Excel 2010


Overview
Microsoft Excel 2010 worksheet is very huge. It is made up of a grid of 16384 columns
and 1048576 rows. The intersection of a row and a column creates a cell. So, a simple
calculation tells us that there are more than 17 billion (17,179,869,184 cells to be exact)
cells in a worksheet! You can work anywhere within this huge working space. You will
never use all these cells but your work may spread to other areas of the worksheet
beyond the visible area on your screen. On the screen you see small part of this large
worksheet. To display and work with other cells, you will have to scroll up or down, pan
left or right. Excel 2010 gives you a number of useful methods to move directly to the
area of your interest. You can do so either using the ever present mouse or the old
faithful keyboard. In this lesson you will learn how to navigate within your worksheet and
workbook with the help of your keyboard as well as the mouse.
Skills you will learn in this lesson

How to Navigate in the Worksheet using keyboard


How to Use Go To Function
How to navigate using scroll bars
How to navigate among sheet tabs
How to Reference cells in the same worksheet, same workbook and another
workbook.

Navigating in the Worksheet


Navigating among the cells of a worksheet is a basic requirement when you are working
in Microsoft Excel. For navigating within a Worksheet, you can use either the keys of
your keyboard or the Mouse or a combination of both. Mouse is a convenient tool for
most operations, but there are times when you can work quickly with the keyboard.
MS Excel provides intuitive methods for navigating in the Worksheet. Still you need to
learn some tricks for efficient and quick navigations. Lets open a new Excel Workbook
and explore all about navigating in the Worksheets.
1. Start Microsoft Excel 2010 application by any convenient method.
2. Excel opens with a new Workbook as Book1.
3. By default, it contains three worksheets - Sheet1, Sheet2 and Sheet3. Sheet1
will be your default worksheet.
Cell Address
As you know, a Worksheet is a grid of Columns
and Rows. The cell address is the location of the
cell formed by the intersection of a column and a
row. When you start Excel, A1 will be the cell
address of the cell pointer. It is formed by the
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Cell Address or the


Name Box

Home of Cell
Pointer

intersection of column A and row 1. Observe that the Column label and the Row number
of the current cell are displayed in a different color for easy identification. The cell
address of the current active cell gets displayed in the Name box of the worksheet. Only
one cell of the worksheet can be active at a time. This will be indicated by a heavy
border around that cell.
Cell A1 is also known as the Home of the cell pointer. If you press Ctrl+Home key
combination from anywhere within the worksheet, the Cell pointer moves to the cell A1.
Navigating in a Worksheet using Keyboard

Navigating one cell at a time


You can use the arrow keys of the keyboard to navigate one cell at a time in the
worksheet. Lets try out the following key sequence to navigate among the cells.
1. Make sure that A1 is your current active cell.
2. Press right-arrow () key of your keyboard. Observe the changes that take
place.
The cell pointer moves towards right by one cell, that is, to the next column
B1.
The highlight from cell A1 is removed and cell B1 gets highlighted indicating
that this is now the current or active cell.
The cell address B1 now appears in the Name box.
3. Press down-arrow () key. The cell pointer moves down by one row to cell B2.
B2 is now the current active cell as indicated by the dark border around B2. B2 is
now displayed in the Name box.
4. Press left-arrow () key. The cell pointer moves towards left by one cell
(column) to A2. The current cell address will now be A2.
5. Press up-arrow () key. The cell pointer moves up by one cell (row) to A1. The
address of the cell pointer now is A1 as indicated by the Name box.
Note: You can also use Tab key to move cell pointer towards right by one column and
Shift+Tab key combination to move cell pointer towards left.

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You
should

practice moving the cell pointer to the various parts of the visible screen and observe
the Name box in the formula bar indicating the current cell addresses.

Navigating One Screen Page at a time


Moving cell by cell could be a laborious work when you want to move to different parts
of your worksheet. Instead of one cell at a time, you can use PgUp and PgDn keys to
scroll vertically the whole screen page view of worksheet at a time. Likewise you can
use Alt+PgUp and Alt+PgDn keys to pan horizontally whole screen page view of
worksheet at a time. A screen page refers to the visual contents of the screen, which is
normally 12 columns by 21 rows, but this may change depending on the screen
resolution.
Practical demonstration
1. Make sure that the cell pointer is at A1. If
not press Ctrl+Home.
2. Press PgDn key. Observe what happens.
The screen moves down by one screen
page.
The cell pointer does not move. Instead
only the row numbers move up. How
many rows have moved up depends on
the resolution of the display monitor. In
the monitor with normal resolution, it
will be 21 rows. Yours may be less or
Page 57

more.
Cell A21 will be the current cell address, as indicated by the Name box.
3. Now press Alt+PgDn. Note that you must use the gray colored PgDn key in
combination with the Alt key. Observe what happens.
Now the cell pointer moves across the screen towards right by one screenwidth.
The cell pointer does not move. Only
the columns have moved. The column
M will be the current column. Again, the
number of columns moved depends on
the resolution of your display monitor.
In the monitor with SVGA resolution,
the screen width is 12 columns. Yours may be different.
The current cell address (M21) will be displayed in the Name box.
4. Press PgUp. Observe what happens.
The screen moves up by one screen
page.
The current active cell will be M1. (Your
column label may be different, but row
must be 1).
5. Press Alt+PgUp. Observe what happens.
The screen moves to left by one screen page width.
The current active cell will be A1.
Note: You must use the gray colored PgDn and PgUp keys when used in combination
with the Alt key.

Navigating to the Extents of the blank worksheet


The worksheet is enormously large. Remember it has 16384 columns and 1048576
rows. The four corners that define the extremes of a worksheet are A1 at the left top
corner, XFD is the right top corner, A1048576 is the bottom left corner and
XFD1048576 is the bottom right corner. In real world applications, you are seldom
required to navigate to the extreme ends of the worksheet. But, Excel does provide
keyboard shortcuts to access even these remote corners, using a combination of Ctrl
and arrow keys. Lets try them.
Practical demonstration
1. Make sure the current cell address is A1. If not
press Ctrl+Home.

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2. Press Ctrl+Down () arrow key. The cell pointer moves to the last row of the first
column of the worksheet. The cell address will be A1048576.
3. Press Ctrl+Right () arrow key. The cell pointer
moves to last column of the last row of the
worksheet. The cell address will be XFD1048576.
4. Press Ctrl+Up () arrow key. The cell pointer
moves to the last column of the first row of the
worksheet. The cell address will be XFD1
5. Press Ctrl+Left () arrow key. The cell pointer
moves to the first column of the first row (Home) of
the worksheet. The cell address will be A1.

Navigating to the Extents of Data in the Worksheet


If there is data in the worksheet, as is normally the case when you are navigating, the
combination of Ctrl and arrow keys behaves differently as compared to when there is
no data in the worksheet. Lets experiment with the Ctrl and arrow keys on a worksheet
having some random data as shown on your screen. The active worksheet data area is
from cell A1 to cell G12.

Page 59

Practical demonstration
1. Press Ctrl+Home. The cell pointer jumps back to its Home, A1.
2. Press Ctrl+Right arrow. The cell pointer jumps to F1. This is the last cell having
data towards right in the active worksheet area.
3. Press Ctrl+Down arrow. The cell pointer jumps to F6. This is the last cell in the
column F before a break occurs in the data (note that cell F7 is blank).
4. Press Ctrl+Left arrow. The cell pointer moves to C6. This is the first cell containing
data encountered while moving in the left direction.
5. Again press Ctrl+Left arrow. The cell pointer moves to A6.
6. Press Ctrl+Up arrow. The cell pointer moves to A1.
7. Press Ctrl+End. The cell pointer jumps to G12.
8. Press Home. The cell pointer jumps to A12.
You can use either the navigator arrow keys or the arrow keys in the Number pad. If you
are using the arrow keys in the Number pad, make sure that NumLock is off.
All the above movements can also be obtained using combination of End key and
direction arrows keys, except for End+Home and End+End.
Selecting the complete Worksheet
You rarely need to select the whole worksheet, unless you want to format the worksheet
completely. To select the compete worksheet, click in the left most blank cell formed at
the intersection of the row and column labels. The whole worksheet gets selected.

Click here to select


the whole worksheet

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Click anywhere on the worksheet to de-select the worksheet.


The Table summarizes all the keys and key combinations used for navigating within a
worksheet. Practice with these keys to get familiar with them
Summery of Navigation Keys
To move
Press
Cell pointer towards right by one cell
Right Arrow or Tab
Cell pointer towards left by one cell
Left Arrow or Shift+Tab
Cell pointer Up by one cell
Up Arrow
Cell pointer down by one cell
Down Arrow or Enter
Cell pointer to the beginning of current row
Home
Screen down by one Window-Height
PgDn
Screen up by one Window-Height
PgUp
Screen right by one Window-Width
Alt+Page Down
Screen left by one Window-Width
Alt+Page Up
Cell pointer to the farthest cell of the
Ctrl + Right Arrow
consecutively occupied cells on right
End + Right Arrow
Cell pointer to the farthest cell of the
Ctrl + Left Arrow
consecutively occupied cells on left
End + Left Arrow
Cell pointer to the farthest cell of the
Ctrl + Down Arrow
consecutively occupied cells in the column
End + Down Arrow
downwards
Cell pointer to the farthest cell of the
Ctrl + Up Arrow
consecutively occupied cells in the column
End + Up Arrow
upwards
Cell pointer to A1 from anywhere in worksheet
Ctrl + Home
Cell pointer to the lowest and rightmost
Ctrl + End
occupied cell
End + Home
Sheet down by one sheet
Ctrl + PgDn
Sheet Up by one sheet
Ctrl + PgUp
Navigating Using Go To Function key F5 (or Using Ctrl+G)
In such a huge Excel worksheet, to go to a particular cell just by using the navigating
keys is somewhat tedious. Excel provides a useful Go To facility in the form of the
Function key F5 or Ctrl+G shortcut key for such situations. Lets try this in our
worksheet.
Practical demonstration
1. Press Ctrl+Home to move the Cell pointer to A1
2. Press F5 function key. A Go To dialog box pops up.
3. In the Reference text box, enter the cell address to where you want to move the
cell pointer, say C12. Click on OK.
4. The Cell pointer moves to the specified cell.

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Note that Go To dialog box also saves and displays previously accessed (referenced)
cell addresses in the Go To list box. To again move to any of the displayed cell
addresses, just click on it in this list box.
Note that you can also activate the Go To dialog box by pressing Ctrl+G key
combination.
Moving to cells with Special Characteristics
In addition to moving to a particular cell by specifying the cell address in the reference
box of the Go To dialog box, you can also move to cells having some special
characteristics such as having comments, constants, formulas, etc. We will be
discussing this in one of the subsequent lessons.
Navigating in the Worksheet Using Mouse
In Window based applications, the use of mouse for working is almost second nature.
Microsoft Excel 2010 is no exception. You can use mouse to go to any visible cell on
the worksheet by just clicking on it. For example, if you click on cell G8, the cell pointer
moves to G8 instantaneously, and the cell address will be G8.
You can also use mouse and the scroll bars to move the worksheet in vertical and
horizontal directions. The vertical scroll bar appearing to the right of the worksheet area
allows you to move the screen up or down. This movement is known as scrolling. The
horizontal scroll bar appearing at the bottom of the working area allows you to move the
screen to the Left or Right. This movement is known as panning.

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The scroll bars comprises of


arrowheads, located at either end of the scroll bar, and
a scroll box, located between these arrowheads.
Scrolling using Vertical Scroll bar
The vertical scroll bar graphically represents the total length of the current worksheet. The scroll
box in the vertical scroll bar indicates which part of the worksheet is currently on screen.
Clicking the various parts of the scroll bar allows you to scroll the sheet up or down.
Click the up arrow and down arrow at the ends of the scroll bar, to move the worksheet
up or down by one row.
Click on either side of the scroll box, to move the screen up or down by one page.
Click the vertical scroll box button and keep the mouse button pressed to move the screen
up or down continuously. As screen scrolls, Excel displays the current row number.
Lets experiment with the vertical scroll bar.
Practical demonstration
1. Make sure the current cell address is A1. If not, press Ctrl+Home. The cell pointer
moves to A1.
2. Click the down arrow on the vertical scroll bar once. The worksheet moves
down by one row. Verify this by looking at the row numbers. Row 1 has
disappeared and row 2 is the topmost row now.
3. Click the up arrow in the vertical scroll bar once. The worksheet moves up by
one row. Verify that row 1 comes back into view.
4. Click the space in the scroll bar below the scroll box. The worksheet moves down
by one screen page. Verify that the row number has changed. Now the top most
row number should be 21 but the actual row number depends on the worksheet
window size and your screen resolution.
5. Click the space above the scroll box. The worksheet moves up by one screen
page. You should be back to row 1.
6. To move the worksheet screen Up or Down continuously, click on the Up or
Down arrow in the vertical scroll bar and hold down the mouse button. The
worksheet area continuously moves up or down. Release the button when your
required worksheet area is visible to you.
7. Now, click on scroll box and holding down the left mouse button, drag the box
downwards. As you drag, the worksheet moves down continuously with the
Scroll box. When you release the mouse button, the Excel displays the part of
the worksheet starting from that row number. Note that the scroll box moves only
to the extent of the worksheet that is having data (and visible on screen).

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Click here to scroll Up


by one Row

Click here to scroll


Up by one Screen

Click scroll box and


drag up or down to
scroll continuously
Click here to scroll
Down by one Screen

Click here to scroll


Down by one Row

Scrolling Horizontally
The Horizontal scroll bar covers the right-half of the bar at the bottom of the screen. Its
function is similar to that of Vertical scroll bar except that the screen pans to left or right,
in the horizontal direction. If you pan and release the mouse button, the Excel displays
the portion of worksheet currently on view. You can resize the Horizontal bar by clicking
on the resizing buttons on either side of the horizontal bar and dragging to either left or
right.

Horizontal
scrollbar

Page 64

Navigating Among Worksheets


The Sheet tabs section of the workbook can only display a limited number of worksheet
tabs. If you have more number of worksheets in your workbook, then you will be
required to navigate among the various worksheets. You can do this easily by either of
the following ways.
Using Sheet tab scroll buttons
The Sheet tab scroll buttons allow you to scroll the worksheet tabs either to the left or
right. These scrolling keys will be useful if you have more number of worksheets in your
workbook and the additional sheet tabs are not visible. Clicking on the scroll keys
enable you to scroll the sheet tabs to make them visible.
Note Scroll buttons allow you to navigate among the worksheets. But it will
display the worksheet contents. To display the contents, you must activate
worksheet by clicking on the concerned Sheet tab.

Click Last sheet tab to move to the last worksheet of the


workbook
Click on Next sheet tab to move to the next worksheet
Click Previous sheet tab to move to the previous
worksheet backwards
Click First sheet tab to move to the first worksheet of the
workbook
Alternate method
Right click on any Navigator
scroll
button.
A
list
of
Worksheets pops up with the
current active sheet marked
with a check mark. Click on the
sheet you want to make current.

Page 65

not
the

Using Ctrl+PgDn and Ctrl+PgUp key combinations


You can use Ctrl+PgDn and Ctrl+PgUp key combinations to move across sheet tabs.
Each successive press of Ctrl+PgDn moves the selection towards right (forwards) by
one sheet (from Sheet1 to Sheet2 to Sheet3 and so on), while Ctrl+PgUp moves left
(backwards) by one sheet (Sheet3 to Sheet2 to Sheet1 and so on).

Referencing a cell
You can refer to a cell either in the same worksheet, or in another worksheet of the
same workbook, or in worksheet of different workbook.
If you are referring to a cell in the same worksheet then use the cell address by
its Column and row combination. For example A5 refers to the cell in the current
worksheet.
If you want to refer to a cell in another worksheet of the same workbook, prefix
the destination sheet name followed by an exclamation mark and the cell
address. For example, if you are currently in Sheet1 and want to refer to a cell,
say A8 in Sheet2, then you need to refer to it as Sheet2!A8. Note the
exclamation mark used to separate the worksheets.
If you want to refer to a cell in another workbook, prefix the destination Workbook
name in square brackets and the destination sheet name followed by an
exclamation mark and the cell address. For example, if you are currently in
Sheet1 and want to refer to a cell, say B15 in Sheet2 of another workbook say
Marks, then you need to refer to it as [Marks]Sheet2!B15. Note that both
workbooks must be open for this purpose.
Recap
Microsoft Excel is a huge worksheet. Since you can work anywhere within this large
worksheet, you must be able to move to those cells almost immediately. In this lesson
you explored the various ways of navigating within this large worksheet.
You learnt how
to navigate using the keyboard from cell to cell
to navigate to any cell using the Go To function key F5
to navigate using the PgUp and PgDn keys among screen pages
to navigate using scroll bars
to navigate among sheet tabs
to refer to cells in the same worksheet, same workbook and another workbook.

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Lesson 5: Organizing Worksheets in Excel 2010


Overview
Organizing worksheets of your Excel Workbook is the technique of managing your
worksheets of your Workbook in convenient ways. You can think of your Excel
workbook as a ring binder with some sheets in it. In a ring binder, you can add new
sheets, remove unwanted ones, interchange the position of sheets, etc. In Microsoft
Excel 2010 you work similarly. By default, when you open a new Workbook, Excel 2010
gives you three worksheets. You can however organize your work by adding new
sheets or removing unwanted sheets whenever you want. You can also rename them
and rearrange them the way you want. You can copy and move sheets containing data
from one location to another within the worksheet or from one workbook to another.
Excel gives you all these facilities. In this lesson you will learn how to manage your
workbook.
Skills

you will learn in this lesson


Working with Worksheets
Activating, Renaming, Inserting and Deleting worksheets
Configuring Excel to Open Workbook with more than 3 worksheets
Copying and Moving Worksheets
Color coding Sheet tabs

Working with worksheets in a workbook


Lets open a new workbook to learn the various management skills.
If
the
Microsoft
Excel
application is currently running,
close any opened workbook by
clicking on the Close window
button of the application.
Click on File tab in the Ribbon.
Microsoft
Backstage
View
window is displayed. Click on
New option.
In the displayed Available
Templates pane, click on
Blank Workbook. Then click
on Create icon. A New
Workbook appears with Sheet1
as the active worksheet.
Note that if Excel application is already
running, you can also create a new workbook by pressing Ctrl+N from the keyboard.

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Observe that when you open a new Microsoft Excel 2010 Workbook, it contains just
three Worksheets. These are named
as Sheet1, Sheet2 and Sheet3.
These are displayed as tabs at the
bottom of the Excel screen to the left
of the horizontal scroll bar.
You can work on these Sheets in a
number of ways.

Sheet tab Scroll buttons

Worksheet Tabs

Activating other Sheets


When you create a new Workbook or open an existing workbook, Sheet1 or the first
sheet tab will be the default opening sheet and will be the current active worksheet. This
is indicated by highlighting the word Sheet1 as well as displaying it in an open
background.
Note that you can have only one worksheet as active at any given time. You can make
any of the other sheets as current active sheet just by clicking on that sheet tab. Just
follow these steps.
1. Make sure the current sheet is Sheet1 and the cell pointer is in cell A1.
2. Observe that Sheet1 tab is highlighted indicating that this is the current sheet.
3. Now click on the sheet tag Sheet2. A blank new worksheet Sheet2 is displayed.
By default, the cell pointer appears in cell A1.
4. Observe now that the highlighting has shifted to Sheet2 indicating that to be the
current active sheet,
5. Now click on the sheet tag Sheet3. A blank new worksheet Sheet3 is displayed.
By default, the cell pointer appears in cell A1.
6. Now tab Sheet3 gets highlighted indicating that to be the active sheet.
Activating sheets using Keyboard
You can also use keyboard shortcuts for selecting the sheets.
Press Ctrl+PgDn to activate the next sheet.
Press Ctrl+PgUp to activate the previous sheet.
Renaming the Worksheets
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Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3, etc are the generic names assigned by Excel 2010 to the
worksheets when you open a new workbook. These names dont convey what each
worksheet contains. Renaming a worksheet by a suitable and appropriate name helps
you in identifying the worksheet as containing a particular type of information. For
example, lets say you have created Budget statements using a separate worksheet for
each year. At a glance you will not be able to say which sheet contains which years
statement. Can you? On the other hand, if you name the sheets as Budget2006,
Budget2007, Budget2008, etc. you will know immediately which sheet contains which
data, and you can directly open it by clicking on that name. Lets rename the above
sheets using various options.
Sheet names can be upto 31 characters long. It can contain any characters except
colon (;), slash (/), Backslash (\), Question mark (?) and Asterisk (*). Names may
contain spaces. Infact Excel does not allow you to enter invalid characters. Try
renaming a worksheet as Budget? Or Budget*. You cant. Budget 2010 is valid.
Renaming worksheet (using Sheet tag)
1. Right click on the tag Sheet1 which is to be renamed. A shortcut menu appears.
2. Click on the option Rename. The name Sheet1 gets highlighted.
3. Overwrite the existing Sheet1 name with the new name, say Badget2006.
Observe that as you type the sheet tab expands to accommodate the complete
name.
4. Press Enter key or click anywhere on the screen. The sheet gets renamed.

Sheet1 renamed as
Budget2006

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Renaming using menu options


You can also rename the current worksheet using menu options.
1. Click on Sheet2 to make it active.
2. Click on the Format option in Cells group of Home tab. In the Format drop down
menu, click on Rename Sheet option under Organize Sheets section.
3. The name of the selected sheet in the sheet tab gets highlighted.
4. Type the new name as Budget2007 and click anywhere on the screen.
5. The Sheet tab gets renamed.

Sheet2 renamed as
Budget2007

Renaming Worksheet by Double Clicking on Sheet tag


An easier method for renaming a worksheet is by double clicking.
1. Double Click on Sheet3 to make it active.
2. The name of the sheet in the sheet tab gets highlighted.

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3. Overwrite the existing name by new name as Budget2008 and click anywhere on
the screen.

Double click on Sheet3


to select it.

Sheet3 renamed as
Budget2008

Inserting a new worksheet


When you open a new workbook, Excel provides you with three blank worksheets. In a
real world application, three sheets may not be sufficient. You may require additional
worksheets. Microsoft Excel 2010 allows you to insert any number of worksheets to
your workbook. The number of worksheets you use in a particular workbook depends
on your needs and the memory of your computer. There are several ways you can
insert a new sheet into your workbook.
Practical demonstration
Inserting a new worksheet using Insert Menu option
1. Select the sheet tab before which a new worksheet is to be inserted. For
example, to insert a worksheet between Budget2007 and Budget2008, you must
select Budget2008 as the current worksheet.
2. Click on Insert menu option. Insert drop down menu appears.
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3. Click on Worksheet option. Excel inserts a new worksheet to the left of the
current worksheet.
4. Observe that the newly inserted sheet is renamed as Sheet1. This is because
you had earlier renamed the sheets. If you had not renamed the sheets, Excel
2010 would have automatically assigned the name of Sheet4.

Newly inserted sheet

Note that when you insert a new sheet, it always gets inserted to the left of the active
worksheet tab.
Inserting a worksheet using Shortcut menu
1. Right click on the Sheet before which a new worksheet is to be inserted, say
Budget2008. A shortcut menu pops up.
2. Click on the Insert option.
3. An Insert dialog box
appears. The General tab
displays many types of
sheets and objects that
can be inserted in your
Workbook. By default the
Blank Worksheet icon is
selected.
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4. Click OK.
5. A new worksheet Sheet2 gets inserted.

Newly inserted sheet

Inserting a worksheet using Insert Worksheet tab


The easiest way of inserting a worksheet is to click on the Insert Worksheet tab
appearing at the end of the Sheet tabs. When you do so, a worksheet gets added as the
last worksheet in the workbook.
Click on this tab to
insert a new worksheet

New worksheet
added

Inserting a sheet using Keyboard


You can also insert a new sheet by pressing the Shift+F11 key combination. The new
sheet will be inserted before the active sheet.
Inserting Multiple Worksheets
You can also insert multiple worksheets in one operation.
1. Hold down the Shift key and select the number of worksheet tabs you want to
insert. For example, if you want to insert three new worksheets, select three
worksheet tabs.
2. Right click on the selected worksheets. From the displayed shortcut menu, click
on Insert option.
3. Excel inserts that many new worksheets before the selected tab.

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Setting up Excel to Open Workbook with more than 3 worksheets


Instead of adding additional worksheets to the opened workbook, you can also setup
Excel to open with more than 3 worksheets each time you create a new workbook.
You can open any number of additional worksheets as long as your computers
memory can permit. But too many worksheets in a workbook could put enormous
strain on your computers memory besides being impracticable.
Suppose you always want to open a new Excel workbook with say 5 worksheets.
Practical demonstration
Start a new workbook. Excels opening screen appears.
Click on File tab. Microsoft Backstage View appears.
Click on Options. An Excel Options window appears.
Make sure you are viewing the General options.
Observe that the
option Include this
many sheets is
showing 3. Change
this to 5 or any
suitable number as
per
your
requirement.
Click OK.

Next time you open the Excel workbook, it opens with the specified number of
worksheets as indicated by the sheet tabs.
Deleting a worksheet
Deleting a worksheet is a very simple process. But the consequences could be
disastrous. When you delete a worksheet and subsequently save the workbook, all the
data in your worksheet is irretrievably lost. So make sure you really dont need data in
that worksheet before you delete it.

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Practical demonstration
Lets delete our newly inserted worksheet, Sheet2.
1. Right click on the newly inserted Sheet2. A shortcut menu pops up.
2. Click on the Delete option.
3. If there is data in the worksheet, Excel displays a warning message.

4. If you are sure about deleting, click on Delete option.


5. The worksheet gets deleted.
Note that if the selected worksheet is blank, Excel deletes the worksheet without
displaying any warning message.
Deleting a worksheet using Delete option in Ribbon
You can also delete a worksheet using Delete option in Cells group of Home tab.
1. Select sheet to be deleted say, Sheet1.
2. Click on Delete option in the Cells group of the Home tab.
3. Delete drop down menu appears.
4. Click on Delete Sheet option.
5. If a warning message appears, click on Delete to confirm deletion.
6. The selected sheet1 gets deleted.

Deleting

Multiple sheets
You can also delete more than one sheet at the same time.

To delete a group of contiguous sheets, hold down the Ctrl key while you click on
sheet tabs to select them. Press Delete key to delete all the selected sheets.
To delete a group of non-contiguous sheets, hold down the Shift key while you
click on sheet tabs to select them. Press Delete key to delete all the selected
sheets.
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Copying a worksheet
Suppose you have painstakingly created a worksheet, say Budget statement for a
particular year. For the next year probably you will have to redo it all over again in a
separate worksheet. If that is so, you can save yourself considerable time and workload,
by just copying the worksheet, make necessary modifications to the data and save it as
a separate worksheet. There are several ways you can copy or move the sheets.
Practical demonstration
Lets copy Budget2007 worksheet as Budget2009 and save it.
1. Right click the worksheet to be copied, say Budget2007. A short cut menu
appears.
2. Click on Move or Copy option. A Move or Copy dialog box pops up.
3. A list of existing sheets will be displayed in the Before sheet list box.
If you dont specify the location, by default the sheet will be copied before
the first worksheet.
If you want the copied sheet to appear at the end of the existing sheets,
click on (move to end) option.
If you want to insert the copied worksheet somewhere in between the
existing worksheets, click on the name of the sheet before which the
copied worksheet should appear.
4. Lets insert the worksheet as the last sheet. Click on (move to end) option.
5. Since you want to copy the worksheet, click the check box appearing against the
option Create a copy.
6. Click OK. Excel copies the selected worksheet to the location you have indicated
and names it by its original name with a suffix as Budget2007(2) to indicate that
it is a copy. You can rename this worksheet suitably, say as Budget2007Copy.

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Copied worksheet.
Rename this suitably, say
as Budget2007Copy.

Moving a worksheet
You can rearrange the sheets by moving the sheet tabs as per your requirement. This
may be necessary if you want a particular worksheet of your workbook to be displayed
when you open that workbook.
Moving a worksheet is similar to copying a worksheet except that the Create a copy
option in the Move or Copy dialog box should not be selected. Note that when you
move a worksheet, its original location will be lost. Lets move the recently copied
Budget2007Copy sheet to the location after Budget2007 sheet.
1. Right click on Budget2007Copy sheet tab. A shortcut menu pops up.
2. Click Move or Copy option. A Move or Copy dialog box appears.
3. Click on Budget2008 to indicate that the selected sheet should be moved just
before this sheet.
4. Click OK. The selected sheet gets moved to its new location.

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Select the sheet to


be moved

Moved worksheet

Copying and Moving Sheet tags by Drag and Drop


If you are adept in handling of mouse then the easiest way of copying or moving the
sheet tags is by drag and drop.
To copy a sheet, say Budget2006:
1. Point in the space either to the left or to the right side of the sheet tag
Budget2006 and click and hold down the left mouse button. A small page icon
appears. A small black arrow also appears.
Click at either of
these blank places

2. Hold down the Ctrl key and drag the sheet to the destination. As you drag, the
page icon with a plus sign moves with the pointer. A small inverted solid black
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arrow block appears to indicate where the sheet tab will appear when you drop
the tag. Drop it after Budget2007Copy tag as shown.
Inverted solid triangle
indicates the copied
position of sheet tag

Copied Budget2006
sheet

To Move a sheet, say Sheet2007:


1. Point in the space either to the left or to the right side of the sheet tag
Budget2007 and click and hold down the left mouse button. A small page icon
appears.
2. Drag the sheet to the destination. As you drag, the page icon moves with the
pointer. A small inverted solid black arrow block appears to indicate where the
sheet tab will appear when you drop the tag. Drop it after Budget2006 tag as
shown. The Budget2007 sheet tag moves to the new location.
Before moving the
sheet

After moving the


sheet

Press Ctrl+Z to undo the previous action. Also delete the copied sheet tag
Budget2006(2).
Color coding Sheet tabs
You can apply some cosmetic appearance to the sheet tabs by coloring them. The
default color of worksheet tabs is grey. Changing the color of sheet tabs to different
colors will help you in identifying and distinguishing one tab from the other. Lets color
code our sheet tabs.
Practical demonstration
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Lets color code Budget2006 worksheet with Blue color.


1. Right click on the worksheet tab to be colored, say Budget2006. A shortcut menu
pops up.
2. Click on Tab Color option. A Color palette appears.
3. Select the color of your choice from the displayed palette, say Blue.
4. Click OK. The color of the selected sheet tab changes. To view the sheet tab in
full color, click on any other tab.

Sheet tab Color coded


in Blue color

You can also change tab color using Format option


1. Select the worksheet tab to be color coded, say Budget2007.
2. Click on Format option in Cells group of Home tab. In the drop down menu, click
on Tab Color option. A color palette appears.
3. Select the color of your choice from the displayed palette, say Dark Red. Click
OK.
4. The color of the selected tab changes.

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Likewise you can color code all the sheet tabs of your Workbook. A typical color coded
sheet tabs is shown in the figure.
Color coded
Sheet tabs

Listing all sheets of your Workbook


As you go on adding new worksheets to your Workbook, after a while Excel may not be
able to display the tabs of all the sheets, and some tabs may get hidden. You can
however view names of all the worksheets by right clicking on the sheet tab navigator
controls. A list showing the names of all worksheets of that Workbook pops up. The
current worksheet
is
indicated by a
List of sheet tabs
check
mark
against it. You can
activate any other
displayed
sheet
by
clicking on that
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sheet name in the list.


Recap
Every Workbook you open in MS Excel opens with three worksheets. One of these will
be the active one. In this lesson you learnt how to manage and organize these
worksheets. You learnt how to rename, insert, and delete the worksheets by various
alternate methods. You learnt how to rearrange the worksheets by using various copy
and move methods. You also learnt how to configure Excel to open with more or less
number of worksheets. Finally you learnt how to color code the worksheet tabs to easily
identify them and to display them as a list.

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Lesson 6: Entering Data in Worksheets of Excel 2010


Overview
Creating a worksheet in Excel 2010 is a simple process. There is no
programming involved. All you have to do is to select a cell and enter data. But
before you do so, you should know the different types of data that can be entered
in a worksheet. You should also know how Excel understands the data entered
by you, how it stores the data and how it displays the data. In this lesson you will
learn all about entering data into your worksheets. You will also get acquainted
with different types of data that can be entered in a worksheet.
Skills you will learn in this lesson

Data and Data Types


Entering Labels, Values and Formulas
Entering Dates and Times
Entering Comments
Saving your Workbook.

What is data?
Data is a just piece of information. When you put together some related data then
it becomes meaningful information. For instance consider your address. Your
address is information since it informs where you live. It consists of various
pieces of data, such as your first name, surname, address, city, pincode, etc.
Data comes in various forms. For instance, your name is made up of alphabetical
characters. Your age is expressed in numbers. For counting we use whole
numbers. For specifying distance, weight etc we use numbers with fractions.
Your date of birth is expressed in terms of date, month and year. If you have an
appointment, it will be expressed in hours, minutes and seconds. As you can
see, each of these data types has its own characteristics and significance.
Creating a worksheet in Excel 2010 is simply the process of entering different
types of data into the various cells of the worksheet. Before we actually create a
worksheet lets learn how Excel interprets the various types of data entered by
you.

Excel Data types


Basically you can enter two types of data in any cell of your Excel worksheet
Labels and Values.
Labels: Labels are descriptive type of information, such as the name of a
person, city, or just about anything required to identify an object. Label
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data type is also known as Text or Character type since it is generally


made up of alphabetical characters. A characteristic of Label type of data
is that you cannot perform any arithmetical calculations with it. Excel 2010
does not assign any numerical significance to such data.
Sometimes data expressed in numbers needs to be treated as labels. For
example, your city pincode, your phone or mobile number, etc. Though you
can perform calculations with such numbers, it is of no practical use.

Values: Values are Numeric type of data. Values are used for performing
calculations. Excel has been designed to work with numbers. Dates and
times are also a type of Value data, since Excel converts these values into
serial numbers and stores them as such. In subsequent lessons we will be
discussing how we can perform arithmetic using date and time values
such as adding and subtracting.

In addition to above types of data, you can also enter Formulas, Functions
and Comments in any cell of your worksheet.

Formulas: Formulas are algebraic expressions. They are used to perform


calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc on
numeric data values stored in various cells of your worksheet. Formulas
use arithmetical operators to give you the result.

Functions: Functions are built-in Formulas used for performing various


types of calculations and comparisons using data in specified cells. Excel
has a large number of in-built Functions catering to a wide variety of tasks
such as mathematical, Statistical, logical, etc. Functions are the life lines
of Excel worksheet.

Comments: Comments can be entered in any cell of the worksheet. They


are often used as notes to remind you or the user of your worksheet about
the significance of the data in that cell such as say the data needs to be
checked or modified, etc. You can think of comments as yellow colored
post-it or stick-it notes that you normally use to remind you of something.

How Excel understands your data?


You create your worksheet using the above two types of data, that is Labels and
Values. Then you use formulas and functions to perform various types of
calculations using the cells in which data has been entered. When you enter data
into a cell, Excel looks at the first character you type to decide whether it is a
label or a value data, and displays it accordingly.
First we need to open a new workbook to enter data and to understand how
Excel accepts, stores and displays the entered data.
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Opening a New Workbook


If you have not opened Excel workbook as yet, lets do it now.
1. Start the Computer if you have not done so far. Windows Desktop
appears.
2. Click on Start button. Start menu appears.
3. Point to Programs menu option. Programs sub menu slides out.
4. Click on Microsoft Office folder
5. In the displayed list of Programs, look for the Microsoft Excel program
and click on it.
6. Microsoft Excel 2010 opens a new workbook.
If you have already opened an Excel workbook,
1. Close any currently opened workbook by clicking on the Close window
button at the top right corner of the workbook window.
2. Click on File menu option. Microsoft Backstage View appears.
3. Click on New sub option. In the displayed Available Templates, click on
Blank Workbook option.
4. Click on Create button in the right panel.
5. Microsoft Excel opens a new workbook.
Observe that the title bar shows the
name of book as Book1 and in the
sheet tabs at the bottom, Sheet1 is
highlighted. The cell pointer will be
located at A1. The mouse pointer
appears as an open square.
Basic steps in entering data into a cell
of the worksheet are:
Selecting the cell in which data
is to be entered.
Typing-in the data.
Confirming the data entry.

Selecting the cell


A cell must be active to receive data. To make a cell active you must select it.
Selecting a cell is very simple. If the cell in which you want to enter the data is
visible on your screen, just click on the cell. If the cell is not visible, use the
vertical scroll bar to scroll the screen up or down to display the cell and then just
click on the cell. You can also move the cell pointer to the required cell using
Page 85

arrow keys or use PgUp or PgDn keys to scroll up or down the screen to make
the required cell visible. For present, lets select the cell C4 by clicking on it.
Entering the Data
Once you have selected the cell you can start typing-in the data. Note that
for label type of data, Excel is case sensitive, that is, it accepts and stores
the label type of data the way you enter. If you type the data in uppercase,
the data will be stored and displayed in Uppercase.
Note: There are two ways you can enter alphabetical letters in uppercase
using the CapsLock key or the Shift key.
i.

Pressing the CapsLock key activates the uppercase mode. It allows


you to type letters continuously in uppercase. Pressing it again deactivates the uppercase mode and allows you to enter text in
lowercase letters. It is a toggle key.
ii. If you want only a letter or two in uppercase, just keep the Shift key
pressed down as you type the letter.
Confirming the data entry
After entering the data into the cell, you can confirm the entry by any of the
following actions:
Press Enter key. Excel accepts the data in that cell and moves the
pointer down one cell, OR
Press Tab key. Excel accepts the data in that cell and moves the
pointer to the next cell on the right, OR
Press one of the direction arrow keys ( ). Excel accepts the
data in that cell and moves the pointer one cell in the direction of the
arrow pressed, OR
Click the Check mark () in the Formula bar. Excel accepts the data in
that cell but does not move the pointer
Lets now try out entering data in various cells and learn how Excel accepts and
displays it.

Entering Label (Text) Data


Excel treats any data which starts with an alphabetic character (A to Z) either in
uppercase or in lowercase, as a Label type of data. Any data, which has no
computational value, such as phone numbers, PINCODE numbers, etc can be
entered as text.
Practical demonstration

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1. Click cell B2. B2 is now the current cell. You can get the confirmation for
this by looking at the Name Box.
2. Lets type Hello in this cell. Hold down the Shift key and type the first
letter H of the word. Observe what happens:
The typed character H appears in the cell B2 as well as in the
Formula bar.
A cross (X), a check mark ()and a symbol fx tools appear in the
Formula bar
The cursor changes to a flashing I-beam insertion point shape and
appear only in the cell in which data is being entered.
The mode indicator in the left end of the status bar now displays
Enter.

Current
Active Cell

Mode
Indicator

3. Complete the entry by typing Hello. Press Enter key. Observe that:
Hello appears in cell B2. The Formula bar is now blank.
The typed entry Hello is left aligned.
The cell pointer moves down by one cell to B3
The mode indicator changes to Ready mode.

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4. The cell pointer should be in B3 now. Type Hello Friends. Observe that
the typed entry extends over to the next column (C3) also.
If you make any spelling mistakes while entering, use Backspace key to erase
the typed characters and retype. If you observe the mistake after pressing the
arrow key, let it be there; you will learn how to correct it in subsequent lessons.

5. Press Tab or Right arrow key. Observe that,


The cell pointer moves to next cell on right, that is, to C3. C3 becomes
the current active cell.
Though this cell is displaying some part of data that has spilled over
from the data in B3, the formula bar is blank. This indicates that the cell
C3 actually does not contain any data.

6. Type Welcome to Excel 2010 in cell C3 and press Enter key.


Observe that the spilled over data in cell C3 disappears and data in
cell B3 appears truncated. Instead the currently entered data fills the
cell C3.

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What happened to data in B3? Did it actually get truncated? Nothing has really
happened. The cell B3 is unable to display the full data as the column width is
insufficient. You can verify this by moving the cell pointer back to B3 and you
should see the full data stored in that cell as displayed in the Formula bar. You
can also increase the column width to show the complete data. We will learn how
to do this later.
Lets summarize what we have learnt about Label type of data
Label data is always used for Text and Character type of information.
By default, the text is always left aligned in the cell.
You can also type the data into the formula bar instead of into the cell. The
entered data will appear in the current cell.
The data is accepted and stored in the cell the way you have typed,
irrespective of whether you have used lowercase or uppercase. So, make
sure you enter data the way you want your data to appear. Excel does not
make any changes to your data on its own.
A cell can contain as many as 32,767 characters. That is lots and lots of
characters. Normally you may never need to enter so many characters in
a cell. If at all you have entered that many characters in a cell, the cell
displays only 1024 characters while all 32,767 characters gets displayed
in the formula bar.
If the column width is not sufficient to accommodate the entered text, two
things may happen:
If the neighboring right side cell or cells are blank, the display
extends over to the neighboring cells.
If the neighboring right side cells are not blank, the data gets stored
in the cell, but the display of the data appears truncated.
You can also use the scroll bar in the formula bar to scroll the text, or
expand the height of Formula bar to view all the text entered in the cell.

Text entered in
the cell

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If the data in a cell has spilled over to the neighboring blank cells, and if
subsequently data is entered in these blank cells, then the spilled over
data in these cells disappear.

Entering Value (Numeric) Data

Excel treats any data which begins with a numerical digit 0 to 9, or any of the
symbols plus (+), minus (-), Percent sign (%), Dollar sign ($), and decimal point
(.) as Value or Numeric data. Excel can perform arithmetical, mathematical and
other types of operations on such value data.
Practical demonstration
1. Click on Cell B5. Type 8.
2. As you type the entry, the typed data also appears in the formula bar. The
cross and the check marks appear in Formula bar.
3. Press right arrow key. The cell pointer moves to C5.
4. The number in B5 gets right aligned.
5. Now type 3.1456 in C5 and press Enter key. Excel saves the data as
3.1456, right aligns it and moves the cell pointer to C6.

Numeric data can include a period for indicating decimal point, commas as
thousands separator, percentage sign, or dollar (currency) sign. Negative
numbers can be either preceded with a minus sign or the number can be
enclosed in parenthesis. Lets experiment with all these by entering them into our
worksheet and observe how Excel accepts and displays the value type of data.
You should verify this yourself by typing in the data in the cells as suggested and
observing the display.
1. You can enter a positive number with a prefix of either a plus sign or an
equal sign. However Excel does not display these symbols. Verify these
by entering the data as shown in the table.
Select
Type the data as
Cell
A6
100
B6
+120
C6
=130

Data as displayed
Data as displayed
In Cell
In Formula Bar
100 100
120 120
130 =130
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2. Negative numbers can be either preceded with a minus sign or the


number can be enclosed in parenthesis. Verify this by entering the
numbers as shown in table.
Select
Type the data as
Cell
A7
-140
B7
(150)

Data as displayed Data as displayed


In Cell
In Formula Bar
-140 -140
-150 -150

3. Numbers can be prefixed with currency symbol. Excel automatically


prefixes the currency data with a US dollar symbol and uses commas for
separating thousands.
Select
Type the data as
Cell
A8
$1500
B8
$500000000

Data as displayed
Data as displayed
In Cell
In Formula Bar
$1,500 1500
$500,000,000 500000000

Note: US Dollar is the default currency symbol. To display Indian currency


symbol Rs., you must configure it in Windows operating system.
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4. Excel accepts a comma as a thousands separator. If you use comma at


other locations, Excel automatically readjusts it to indicate thousands.
Select
Type the data
Data as displayed
Data as displayed
Cell
In Cell
In Formula Bar
A9
1,234
1,234 1,234
B9
1,2345
12,345 12345
C9
12,3456
123,456 123456
D9
1,234,56
1,234,56
123456

Note: Be careful to insert commas in appropriate positions. If you use commas


incorrectly, Excel stores the data as a label rather than as a Value. Observe the
data in cell D9. Though the data is entered as a number, Excel stores it as a
Label.
5. By default, numbers with no fractional values are displayed as integers.
Trailing zeros are suppressed, including those which follow the decimal
point.
Select
Cell
A10
B10
C10
D10

Type the data as


3456.00
3456.01
.5
.0010

Data as displayed
In Cell
3456
3456.01
0.5
0.001

Data as displayed
In Formula Bar
3456
3456.01
0.5
0.001

Note: You can however format the cells to display the data the way you want.
You will learn how to format cells in subsequent lessons.

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6. Excel automatically adjusts the cell width to accommodate large numbers


upto 11 full digits (Cell C11). Beyond this, Excel converts them into
scientific (exponential) notation using E format (cell D11).
Excel stores numbers upto 15 significant digits accurately. Beyond 15
digits, rest of the digits will be stored as zeros (Cell E11).
Select
Cell
A11
B11
C11
D11
E11

Type the data as


12345678
1234567890
12345678901
123456789012
12345678901234567890

Data as displayed
In Cell
123456789
1234567890
12345678901
1.23457E+11
1.23E+19

Data as displayed
In Formula Bar
123456789
1234567890
12345678901
123456789012
12345678901234500000

7. When you enter a fractional data value, how Excel stores and displays the
data depends on the number of digits in the integer part as well as in the
fractional part. You can enter a fractional data value either with an integer
part or without an integer part. If you enter a fractional number with no
integer part but with just the decimal point, Excel automatically inserts 0 as
the integer part (A12).
Excel stores fractional numbers with a precision of upto 15 significant
digits (C13). Any precision beyond this will be neglected (D14). The actual
display of fractional numbers depends on the width of the column. If the
column width is insufficient to display all numbers, Excel displays the
maximum possible numbers in the Cell while displaying the complete
number in the Formula bar (C13).
Select
Cell

Type the data as

A12
A13
A14
A15
B13
C13
D13

.123456
.1234567
1234.567
1234.5678
.12345678
.123456789012345
.12345678901234567890

Data as displayed
In Cell
0.123456
0.123457
1234.567
1234.568
0.12345678
0.123456789
0.123456789

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Data as displayed
In Formula Bar
0.123456
0.1234567
1234.567
1234.5678
0.12345678
0.123456789012345
0.123456789012345

8. Fractional numbers must be entered with a decimal point and not as


fractions. For example, 1/5 should be entered as .20. If you enter the
value as 1/5, Excel treats it as a date value and displays it as 5-Jan (A16).
Similarly 10-6 will be displayed as 6-Oct (B16).
Select
Type the data as
Cell
below
A16 1/5
B16 10-6

Data as displayed
Data as displayed
In Cell
In Formula Bar
5-Jan 1/5/2006
6-Oct 10/6/2006

9. Percentages can be directly entered by prefixing the number with the


percentage sign. For example if you enter %25, excel displays it as 25%.
Excel treats this value as 0.25 for calculation purposes.
Select
Type the data as
Cell
below
A17 %25
B17 40.50%

Data as displayed
Data as displayed
In Cell
In Formula Bar
25% 25%
40.50% 40.5%

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Lets summarize what we have learnt about Value (Numeric) type of data
Excel 2010 treats any data which begins with a numerical digit 0 to 9, or
any of the symbols plus (+), minus (-), percent sign (%), Dollar sign ($),
and decimal point (.) as Value data or Numeric data.
Numeric data can include a period for indicating decimal point, commas as
thousands separator, percentage sign, or dollar (currency) sign. It can also
include division indicator (/), Exponentiation Indicator (E or e), Time
separator indicator (:) and a single space. Negative numbers can be either
preceded with a minus sign or the number can be enclosed in parenthesis.
By default numeric data is always right aligned in the cell.
Excel automatically adjusts column width to display numbers typed into
that cell.
You can enter any number subject to following limitations.
o Largest allowed positive number is 9.99999999999999E307 (or
9.9E+307)
o Smallest allowed negative number is - 9.99999999999999E307 (or
-9.9E+307)
o Largest allowed negative number is -1E-307
o Smallest allowed positive number is 1E-307

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If the number contains more than 11 digits, Excel automatically displays it


in the scientific notation.
Excel stores and displays numbers upto 15 digits as entered, but digits
after 15 will be displayed as zeros.
Excel interprets data entered as fractions as dates unless otherwise
formatted.
If the column width is insufficient to display the entered numbers, it will be
displayed as hashes (######). To display the numbers just Increase the
column width.

Entering Date and Time Data


Dates and times are treated as numeric type of data by Excel. When you enter a
date in a cell, Excel 2010 displays the date as entered. But internally, it converts
the date into a numeric serial value. Excel 2010 treats 1st January 1900 as the
base date, and assigns a numeric value of 1 to this date. 2 nd January 1900 has a
numeric value of 2 and so on. Excel calls these as serial date values. So when
you enter a date, say as 26-Jan-2010, Excel shows the date as entered but
internally it converts and stores this date into a integer serial number as 40204,
which is the number of days elapsed since 1st January 1900.
Practical demonstration
1. Click on Cell A19. Type 26-Jan-2010.
2. The typed data also appears in the formula bar.
3. Press right arrow key. The cell pointer moves to B19.
4. Excel displays the date as 26-Jan-10 in the cell.
5. Click on A19 and observe the date entry in formula bar. It displays date as
1/26/2010.

If you are curious to know the serial value of the entered date, enter
=Datevalue(26-Jan-2010) in B19 and press right arrow key. Excel displays
40204 in the cell. Make sure the date is entered within quotes.
Note: DATEVALUE is known as a Function. A Function is a built-in program
which operates on the argument enclosed in the parenthesis and returns a

Page 96

result. Functions are the life lines of the Excel working. We will be looking
at Functions in greater detail in subsequent lessons.

How the data is accepted by Excel and displayed depends on the way the dates
are entered as well as the way the Windows operating system has been
configured. Dates can be entered in a variety of ways as shown here.
Select
Cell
A20
A21
A22
A23
A24
A25
A26

Type the date as


below
8/15/2005
15/8/2005
Aug 15, 2005
15 Aug 2005
Aug 15
8/15
15/8

Date as displayed
In Cell (mm/dd/yyyy)
8/15/2005
Invalid date entry
15-Aug-05
15-Aug-2005
15-Aug
15-Aug
Invalid date entry

Date as displayed
In Formula Bar
8/15/2005
8/15/2005
8/15/2005
8/15/2006
8/15/2006

While entering dates in mmm dd, yyyy format (for example, Jan 26, 2010), make
sure that a blank space appears between the date and the year. Jan 26,2010 is
not a valid date while Jan 26, 2010 is OK (refer cell A27).
Entering dates in abbreviated forms as Jan 26 or 1/26 could lead to incorrect
date entries as shown in cells A24 and A25 of the worksheet. So you must be
careful when entering dates in the cells.
Excel accepts any date between 1st January 1900 and 31st December 9999. This
is quite a large period, that is, as many as 8099 years. Can you think of any use
for this?
Note that month can be represented by many ways by its full name (January,
February, etc), by its short name (Jan, Feb, etc), by numbers (1 or 01 for
January, 2 or 02 for February, etc.). Excel accepts all these formats. You can
Page 97

also enter months in any case you want. Jan, jan, JAN, January, JANUARY are
all admissible as month names.
Entering Time values
Time values can be entered in any of the following formats:
HH:MM:SS.S
HH:MM AM/PM
24 hour format.
Note that a colon separates the hour from minutes and minutes from seconds.
Also when you are specifying AM or PM make sure that there is space between
the time and the AM/PM.
Practical demonstration
1. Click on Cell C19. Type 10:30 (Observe the colon separating the hours
and minutes)
2. Press right arrow key. The cell pointer moves to D19.
3. Excel displays the time as entered, that is, 10:30.
4. Click again on C19 and observe the entry in formula bar. It displays as
10:30:00 AM.
If you dont specify AM or PM, Excel treats the time in 24 hour format. For
example, the time value of 10:30 you entered in the worksheet is stored as
10:30:00 AM as can be see from the Formula bar. If you intended to enter this as
10:30 PM, then you should enter this either as 10:30 pm or 22:30 hours. Note
that entering time as 2230 is invalid. Hour, minutes and seconds must be
separated by a colon.

Lets verify this by a practical demonstration.


1. Click in the cell C20.
2. Type 10:30 PM.
3. Press Enter key. The cell pointer moves to C21.
4. Excel displays time as 10:30 PM in cell 20. The Formula bar displays the
time as 10:30:00 PM.
5. Type 22:30 in cell C21. Press Enter key. Excel displays time as 22:30 in
cell 21 as entered.
6. Bring back the cell pointer to C21. The cell C21 displays time as entered
but the Formula bar displays it as 10:30:00 PM.
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Similar
to date
values, when you enter a time value, Excel converts it as a decimal fractional
number considering time as a part of a day. 0000 hours is 0.0, 0600 hours is
0.25, 1200 hours is 0.5, 1800 hours is 0.75 and 2400 hours is 0.0. For example,
if you enter time as 10:30, Excel accepts and displays it as 10:30 but internally it
converts the time data into a numeric value which is expressed as a fraction of
time elapsed since midnight (12 AM). If you are curious to know what this
number is, enter =TIMEVALUE(10:30) in cell D19 and press Enter key. 10:30
AM is displayed as 0.4375. The time in hours and their converted fractional
values are shown in cells E19 to F22.
Note that similar to DATAVALUE, TIMEVALUE is also a Function. We will be
discussing Functions in greater detail in a later lesson.
Also note that when you enter time value in 24 hour format, the cell displays the
time as entered but the formula bar displays the time after suitably converting it
to AM or PM (C21).
If you enter time beyond 24 hours, Excel computes the time as the whole days
(in multiple of 24 hours) elapsed from 1st Jan 1900 and displays the date as well
as the remaining time in the Formula bar. For example, if you enter 56:30:15,
Excel displays the time as entered in the cell, but displays 1/2/1900 8:30:15 AM
in the Formula bar.

Time in hours and


corresponding
time in fractions

The largest value of time that can be entered is 9999:59:59. The converted value
displayed in the formula bar is 2/19/1901 3:59:59 PM. (Verify this by entering the
value in cell C25).

Page 99

Entering Comments
When you are entering data or even afterwards, you may want to include some
comments to associate with your data in cells. Excel provides a Comments
feature which allows you to do this. These comments are for your reference only
and are hidden. By default they will not be printed when the worksheet is printed.
You may however optionally print them either in place or at the end of the
worksheet. (Printing of comments has been discussed in Printing your worksheet
lesson). A red triangle marker at the upper right corner identifies cells having
comments.
Select cell A30 and enter a date as 26-Jan-2010.
Suppose you want to insert a note in this cell to remind you what this date
represents.
Make sure that the cell in which comment is to be entered is the current
cell.
Right click on the cell. In the displayed context menu, click on the Insert
Comment option.
A red triangle appears at the upper right corner of the cell. A small yellow
comment box (Post-it note type) with users name also appears pointing to
this red triangle.
Enter the comment you want to include, in the comment box.
Click anywhere else to save the comments and close the comment box.

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Viewing Comments
Any time you want to view the inserted comment, just point the mouse pointer to
the red triangle. The comment box gets displayed with the comments.
Editing Comments
Right click on the cell containing the comment to be edited
In the short cut menu that appears, click on Edit Comment option.
The yellow comment box reappears with the insertion point in it.
Make necessary changes to the comments.
Click elsewhere outside the cell to save and close the comment box.
Deleting Comments
Right click on the cell whose comment is to be deleted.
In the shortcut menu that appears, click on the Delete Comment option.
The comment gets deleted.
Saving your worksheet
One of the very important aspects of working on computer is to save your work
frequently. Currently all your work is in computers memory. This memory is
volatile, that is, subject to availability of power. In case of power failure even for a
few seconds, all your work will be lost. So you must make it a habit of saving
your work to the hard disk at frequent intervals. Here are the steps to save.
Practical demonstration to save
1. Click File option in the main menu bar. Microsoft Backstage view
appears. Click on Save option.
2. Excel displays a Save As dialog box.
Suggested folder to
save your file
Click here to create a
new folder

Suggested Name for


your file

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Suggested file format


to save your file

Note: You can also click on Save tool in the QAT or press Ctrl+S key
combination to display Save As dialog box.
3. Observe that by default, Excel suggests Documents as the folder in
which to save your work. Windows 7 operating system uses Documents
as a common folder to save all your work irrespective of the application
you are using. Over a time, Documents may get over-crowded with lots of
files of all types.
4. It will be more convenient for you to save your work in specific folders so
that you can always find these files quickly. Lets create a new folder
within Documents folder and name it as Excel Exercises folder. To do so
follow these steps.
5. Click on New folder option in the Save As toolbar. A New Folder entry
appears within the window.
6. Overwrite the New Folder with Excel Exercises as the name of the new
folder. Click OK.

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7. Excels creates a new folder by the specified name and allows you to save
your current file in that folder. Click on the newly created sub folder to
open it.
8. Observe that in the File Name box, Excel suggests Book1 as the name of
the file. This is a generic name. Lets change this to a more appropriate
name.
9. Over-write the suggested name Book1 by DataType examples (or any
other name of your choice).
10. Observe that the Save As Type text box shows that your Excel workbook
will be saved as Excel Workbook type. By default, Excel 2010 saves your
workbooks with an extension of .XLSX. This is a new format known as
XML (Extensible Markup Language) format.
11. Click on Save button. When you save a workbook, Excel automatically
assigns file name extension of .XLSX. So, your file will be saved as
MyWorkbook.XLSX in Documents\Excel Exercises folder.

Note that by default Excel 2010 saves your workbooks with an extension of
.XLSX. The fourth character X identifies this new XML format. You can also save
your Excel workbooks in more familiar .XLS format used by the earlier versions
of Excel. To do this:
Click on the down arrow of the Save as Type text box. A drop down lists
various formats in which you ca save your workbook.
To save your Excel workbook in earlier .XLS format, choose Excel 972003, from the list.
Click Save.
Exiting from Excel
In this lesson, we have covered many important aspects of working in Excel
worksheets. Lets take a break before we go on to the next lesson.

Page 103

Click on File menu option. In the displayed Backstage view, click on Exit
option. If you have not saved your worksheet, Excel reminds you about
this. Take appropriate action to save. Excel closes down.

Note that you can also close Excel application by a couple of other ways.
Click on Excel logo in Title bar and click Close , OR
Press Alt+F4 from the keyboard.
Recap
It is very simple to enter data in Microsoft Excel 2010 worksheets. Just point to
the cell and type-in the data. However, Excel has been programmed to receive,
store and display data in specific ways depending on the type of data you enter.
In this lesson:

You learnt various types of data that can be entered in cells of Excel
worksheet.
You learnt the characteristics and other particulars about the data that can
be entered.
You learnt how to enter comments in cells and manage them.
Finally, you learn how to save your workbook in a newly created sub
folder.

Page 104

Lesson 7: Creating Your First Worksheet in Excel 2010


Overview
In the previous lessons, you got acquainted with the Excel 2010 interface, learnt how to
navigate in the worksheet as well as the different types of data that you can enter into
your worksheet. In this lesson you will use all these acquired knowledge in creating your
first Worksheet. As you have learnt in the previous lesson, creating a worksheet is just a
process of entering different types of data in the various cells of the worksheet. Once
you have entered the data, you can then manipulate, organize and analyse data to get
the required results. In this lesson you will take the basic steps to create a simple
worksheet.
Skills

you will learn in this lesson


Creating your first worksheet
Editing data in your worksheet Cells
Editing using Find and Replace
Finding and Replacing Data
Using Undo and Redo features
Clearing data in Worksheet Cells

Creating Your First Worksheet


As your first worksheet, you will be creating a Students Marks sheet. This is perhaps the
simplest exercise yet involves many of the important tasks that you are regularly
required to perform in an Excel worksheet. As you are well aware of, a marks sheet
consists of names of students and marks obtained by each student in a number of
subjects in a tabular format.
Lets open a new workbook for creating your worksheet.
1. Open Excel 2010 application, if you have not opened it as yet.
2. When you open a new workbook, observe that Sheet1 will be your worksheet
and the cell A1 will be your current active cell.
3. Maximize the application window by clicking on maximize control button.
Lets start with entering column and row headings for our Marks sheet.

Practical demonstrations

Page 105

Note that some spelling and other mistakes have been intentionally made in the
worksheet.
Entering Labels or text type of information
1. Make sure the cell pointer is in A1. Remember the active cell will be surrounded
by a thick border. If not click on it or press Ctrl+Home key combination. Observe
that the mode indicator in the status bar displays Ready.
2. Type name all in lower case characters. Dont type quotes. As you start typing,
observe the changes taking place:
The typed characters appear both in the cell and in the Formula bar.
The mode indicator changes from Ready mode to Enter mode.
3. Press Tab key or Right arrow key after completing the entry name. Observe
that:
The typed entry name gets left aligned.
The Cell pointer moves towards right by one cell to B1
The mode indicator changes back to Ready mode.
Note: If you make a spelling mistake while typing, use Backspace key to erase the
characters backwards and retype. If you observe the mistake after pressing the
Tab or Enter key, let it be there; you will learn how to correct it later in this
activity.
Also note that unlike MS Word application, Excel application does not
automatically capitalize the first character nor does it point out any spelling
errors.

4. Now type Englsh in cell B1, and press Tab key. Note that English is intentionally
wrong spelled.
5. Type Physiscs in cell C1 and press Tab key. Note that Physics is intentionally
wrong spelled.
6. Type Chemistry in cell D1 and press Tab key.
7. Type maths in cell E1 and Press Tab.
8. Type Total Marks in Cell F1 and press Enter. Observe that the typed entry
extends over to the next column (G1) also. The column width of cell F1 does not
automatically expand. Later we will see how we can do this and show the full
entry. For the present let it be as it is.

Page 106

Your worksheet with column labels should appear as shown.

Now lets enter the Row labels.


9. Move the cell pointer to A2 either by clicking directly in the cell or pressing Home
key or using arrow keys.
10. Type Mohan Kumar and press Enter key. You will observe that
the typed information is accepted in the cell though the data overflows to
the next cell, and
the cell pointer moves down by one row, that is to cell A3.
11. Type Rekha in cell A3 and press Enter key. Cell pointer moves down to cell A4.
12. Type Suresh in cell A4 and press Enter key. Cell pointer moves down to cell
A5.
13. Similarly enter a couple of names in cells A5 and A6.
14. Type Total in cell A7 and press Tab key. Cell pointer moves to B2.
Your worksheet with row and column labels should appear as shown.

Entering the Values or the numeric type of data


Lets now enter the marks obtained by these students.
1. Click in cell B2. The cell B2 will be highlighted. You will observe that some part
of text data in A2 has spilled over in this cell. But in the Formula bar you see
nothing. This is an indication that there is no data in cell B2 and that you can
enter data.

Page 107

2. Type 60 and press right arrow key. The numeric data will be accepted and the
cell pointer moves to C2. Observe that:
As you type data in B2, the spilled over part of data of A2 in cell B2
disappears, and you fill find only the valid data entry as 60 in B2.
The number is right justified, that is, aligned towards right border of cell C2.
Note: The spilled over data of cell A2 is not lost. If you move the cell pointer to A2,
Excel displays the data as entered in the Formula bar to assure you that it is still
there. It is just that the column width of A2 is insufficient to display the full text.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Type 74 in cell C2 and press right arrow. Pointer moves to D2.


Type 82 in cell D2 and press right arrow. Pointer moves to E2.
Type 89 in cell E2 and press right arrow. Pointer moves to F2.
Dont enter anything in Total Marks column F2. Later we shall see how we can
make Excel do the totaling for us.

Similarly enter the marks obtained by other students in rows 3, 4, 5 and 6. Your screen
should now display the completed worksheet.

Fig. Completed Worksheet

Saving your worksheet

What you have entered now is the basic data. You will be using this worksheet
extensively in this lesson as well as in subsequent lessons for performing various types
of computations and analysis. So, it is appropriate time to save your work before
something unexpected occurs. In the previous lesson you learnt how to save a
worksheet. Saving is such an important activity that lets repeat the whole process again
to emphasis this fact.
Practical demonstrations
12. Click on File tab. Microsoft Backstage view appears.
13. Click on Save or Save As option.
14. Excel displays a Save As dialog box. Remember that in the previous lesson, you
had saved your work in Excel Exercises folder. Note that the Windows operating
Page 108

system remembers where you have saved your file previously and automatically
displays the appropriate folder. Click on the folder to open it.
Note: In case some other user has used your computer and saved his work in some
other folder, then the folder displayed in Save As dialog box may be different. In
that case, you will have to yourself locate and display Excel Exercises folder to
save your work in that folder.

15. Observe that in the File Name box, Excel suggests Book1 as the name of the
file. Change this to Marks Sheet.
16. Click Save button. Excel 2010 saves your file as Marks Sheet.XLSX in the
Documents\Excel Exercises folder.
Note that saving an Excel workbook file does not close it. Your worksheet is still open
and is displayed on the screen so that you can continue with your work.
Editing Data in Your Worksheet
Editing is the computer terminology for correcting errors and mistakes that generally
creeps in when you are creating Spreadsheets or documents. However much care you
take while creating your worksheet, you are likely to make errors while you are entering
data. Sometimes you observe the errors while entering the data itself, or more often at a
later stage when the data has already been entered and while you are checking your
worksheet.

Page 109

There are three types of errors that are likely to creep in your worksheets:

Typographical errors. These are the typing mistakes. We are all not experts in
English language. So unintentionally there could be some typing errors while
typing textual information. While such errors are not critical for the performance
of your worksheet (remember, Excel is basically a number cruncher, that is, it is
designed to perform on numeric data rather than on text) still you would not like
to see typing errors in your labels and other forms of text.
Data entry errors These are errors which may occur while entering numeric
data. This type of error could be more critical.
Updating data Errors may occur when data in your worksheet is updated.

How to edit data depends on when you will be correcting it, the type of correction
required and the extent of correction required. Microsoft Excel provides various ways
of correcting your mistakes.

Editing While Entering Data


More often, while entering the data itself, you will notice some errors. As long as you
have not confirmed the entry by pressing Enter key or any direction arrows, you can
edit the entry immediately. Press the Backspace key to move the cursor backwards
deleting the characters from left and retype the correct entry. You can also erase the
complete data entry in that cell by pressing the Esc key and retyping the data.

Editing After You Have Entered Data


If you have confirmed the entry by pressing either the Enter key or any direction arrow,
you will have to select the data in that cell again to edit it. This is perhaps the most
common editing you will be required to do very often. You may be required to replace
the data with new data or update an existing data. You can do the editing in a number of
ways.

Editing By Replacing
The simplest way of editing, and often the most intuitive way, is to select the cell
containing the data error and over-tying it with the correct data. This is also necessary
when you want to update the data in that cell. For example, after entering the marks of
all students as above, you observe that you have made a mistake while entering the
marks in English subject for Rekha. Actually this should be 69 rather than 59 as shown
currently. Lets correct this.
Practical demonstration
Page 110

Click on cell B3 to select it.


Observe that the data does not get highlighted in the cell but its contents
appear in the formula bar.
Now start typing the new data. As soon as you do so, the existing data
disappears and newly typed data starts appearing.
You may cancel the process of editing by pressing the Esc key. If you do so,
the previous data gets restored.
After editing, confirm the entry by pressing the Enter key or using any
direction arrow key.

Thats all there is to it. You will find that the new data has replaced old data.

Editing By Using the Edit Key, F2 (Function Key)


At times you may find it convenient to make corrections to the existing data rather than
replacing it. This is particularly true if you have long labels, say, titles, headings, etc.
Excel provides an excellent tool in the form of F2 (known as the Edit key) to edit the
entries with-in the cell itself or in the Formula bar. Lets use this method to correct a
spelling mistake in the cell B1. The word English has been misspelled as Englsh; that
s, i is missing.
Practical demonstration
1. Select the cell to be edited, B1.
2. Press F2 function key. Alternately you can also double click in the cell to select
it.
3. The I-beam insertion point appears in the cell. The contents of the cell also get
displayed in the Formula bar.

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4. Observe that the Mode indicator changes to Edit to indicate that you are in edit
mode.
5. Move the left arrow till the I-beam appears between l and s. Type the
character i.
6. Press Enter to confirm the correction.
Correcting errors in Formula bar
Note that instead of correcting the data in the cell, you can also conveniently make the
corrections to the displayed data in the Formula bar. There are a couple of advantages
in this.
First, the formula bar can display longer labels and so it will be easy for you to
correct more than one correction in the entry.
Secondly, rather than using arrow keys a number of times to move to the
location where you want to make the correction, you can directly click at the
error location.
While editing in the cell or in the Formula bar (Edit area), you can make use of the
following keyboard keys.
Press
To
Move the I-beam cursor backwards or forwards
, arrow keys
Home
Move the cursor to the beginning of the entry
End
Move the cursor to the end of the entry
Ctrl + and Ctrl + Jump from word to word backwards or forwards
arrow keys
Ins
Overtype an existing entry (Insert mode is the
default)
Backspace
Delete characters to the left of the insertion point
Del
Delete characters to the right of the insertion point
Esc
Abandon the edit and restore the original data
Editing text using Excels Spell checker tool
Most of the typographical errors that occur are unintentional. You know the correct
spelling for the words, but while typing, your fingers may stray to different keys of the
keyboard, or you might be in a hurry to finish off your Spreadsheet and commit errors
while trying to type fast.
Proof reading is often the word used to check your Worksheet and documents for any
spelling and grammatical errors before printing out the document. Excel comes with a
spell checker tool and an in-built dictionary. This is the same dictionary that is used in
Microsoft Word. However, unlike Microsoft Word, Excel doesnt point out any
mistakes on its own. You will have to specifically request Excel to proof read your
worksheet. When you do so, Excel checks each and every word you entered in your
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worksheet with this built-in dictionary. This dictionary is a voluminous one and contains
practically all words of common usage. If the word is not found in the dictionary, it flags
the word as a possible spelling mistake. It is important to note that all indicated words
need not be mistakes. Certain specific words such as names of persons and cities,
terminology of engineering, technical, medical, legal, etc will not be found in the
dictionary. So you must use your judgment while correcting the indicated mistakes.
If certain words are flagged as spelling mistakes and if you think that those are valid
words, you have following options.
You can add them to the dictionary. Next time Excel comes across these
words, they will not be flagged as mistakes.
You can instruct Excel to just ignore them. Excel treats those words as valid
ones and ignores them for that particular document and particular session.
You can create a new dictionary and add such words to it.
Lets now see spell checker in action.
Practical demonstration
Press Ctrl+Home. The cell pointer moves to cell A1.
Click on Review tab to display its groups.

Click on Spelling tool in the Proofing group. Excel starts checking your
worksheet for spelling errors. If it finds an error, it immediately pops up a
Spelling dialog box. The offending word is displayed in the Not in Dictionary
text box. In the present case, the word Physiscs is pointed out as wrongly
spelled.

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Wrongly spelled word

Suggested alternatives

Default dictionary

Spell checker tool also lists a few alternate suggestions for replacing the
word. To replace the indicated word with any of these suggested words,
select the word by clicking on it and then click on Change button. To replace
all similar errors in your worksheet, click on Change All button.
You can also instruct Excel to ignore the word by clicking on either Ignore
Once or Ignore All buttons.

Note that by default, Excel uses American English (U.S.) dictionary. You can also
choose any other available dictionary of your choice. To look at the available
dictionaries, click on the down arrow of the Dictionary language text box. You can also
create your own dictionary and make it as the default one for checking words.
In the present case, the suggested word Physics is appropriate. To effect the change,
click on Change option. Excel replaces the wrongly spelled word with this selected
word.
Excel Spell checker tool locates the next wrongly spelled word Maths. In the present
case Maths is used as an abbreviation for Mathematics. So you can tell Excel to ignore
this word by clicking on Ignore Once option.
Spell checker next indicates Rekha as not in dictionary. Since this one and the next
few text words are names, lets terminate the Spell checking by clicking on Close
option.
Editing using Find and Replace

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If the data contained in your worksheet is limited to just a screen page, you can move to
whichever cell you want and edit the contents. But in case of a large worksheet
containing many screen pages, you may have to scroll through many pages to locate a
particular cell for editing. Also the data to be edited or updated may be located in more
than one cell of your worksheet. In such cases, Find and Replace tools comes in handy.
Note that you can find and replace both text and numbers.
Lets use our Marks sheet worksheet for trying out these tools. Though this worksheet
is a small one which really doesnt require the use of Find and Replace tools, the
procedure used here is applicable for any sized worksheets.

Finding Data
Suppose you want to locate the student name Kishore in this worksheet.
Press Ctrl+Home to search from the beginning of the worksheet. The cell
pointer goes to cell A1.
Make sure Home tab is selected. If not, click on it.
Click on Find & Select tool appearing at the end of the Home tab groups. A Find
and Replace dialog box appears, with Find tab option selected. Alternatively,
you can press Ctrl+F key combination from the keyboard to display this dialog
box.

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In Find what text box, type the data to be located. In this case type kishore. You
can specify the search criteria in upper or lower case. Excel ignores the case
when searching text unless specifically instructed otherwise.
Click on Find Next button. Excel starts searching for the first occurrence of the
word total in the worksheet. If found, it highlights the cell containing the word with
the cell pointer.
To find the second occurrence of the word, click Find Next button again. The
next occurrence of the word if found will now be highlighted.
Likewise you can find subsequent occurrences of the word in your worksheet.

Finding All occurrences of the search data


If the data to be searched occurs at many locations in your worksheet, it will be tiresome
to go on pressing Find Next to locate each subsequent occurrence. Excel provides an
alternate option in the form of Find All. Suppose you want to locate all student names
starting with Su.
Practical Demonstration
Press Ctrl+F key combination. Find and Replace dialog box appears.
Enter the search criteria in the Find what text box, say, su*. This criterion
instructs Excel to find all words that starts with su and followed by any number
of characters. The asterisk is known as a wild card and stands for any number of
characters.
Now click on Find All button.
Excel displays a list box, listing all the occurrences of the search criteria with all
particulars including the cell references, worksheet names and the located
values. You can easily move to the required cell containing the data just by
clicking on the listed cell reference.

Search results

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Refining your Search


Excel ignores the case when searching for text. For example, if you specify the search
criteria as total, Excel also finds Total, TOTAL etc. If you know the exact search
criteria, you can fine tune your search using specific search options. Lets try these out.
Practical Demonstration
Press Ctrl+F key combination. Find and Replace dialog box appears.
In the Find what text box, type the search criteria as total.
Click on Options button. Excel lists some options for fine tuning your search.

Click in the check box of Match case option to enable the option.
Now click on Find All or Find next option. Excel pops up a message informing
you that it could not find the data. This is because, now the search is casesensitive and Excel differentiates between total and Total.

By checking the Match entire cell contents check box, you can ensure that only
those cells that contain just the search criteria will be found. That is, if total is
your search criteria, and if you enable the Match entire cell contents check box,
Excel will look for total only and will skip text such as Total Marks.
Other available options are:

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Within: You can specify whether the search should be restricted to the
current worksheet only or should be extended to all the worksheets of the
workbook. By default, the search is limited to the current worksheet.
Search: You can specify the search to be performed By Rows or By
columns. Default is By Rows.
Look In: You can also specify whether Excel should look for the search data
in Formulas, Values or Comments. By default, Excel looks for the search
criteria in Formulas only.

Finding and Replacing Data


Find and Replace tools work similar to Find tool except that in addition to finding, you
can also replace the found data with another data. To demonstrate this lets replace
name in cell A1 with Student Name.
Practical Demonstration
1. Click on Find & Search tool in Home tab.
2. In the displayed drop down menu, click on Replace option. A Find and Replace
dialog box appears with Replace tab options displayed.

3. In Find what text box, enter the data to be found and replaced. In this case type
name.
4. In the Replace with text box, type new data to replace existing data. In the
present case, type Student Name.
5. Enable the Match entire cell contents option by clicking its checkbox. This is to
ensure that Excel replaces only the text in cells that contain just the specified find
criteria.
6. Click Replace. Excel locates and replaces the data Region appearing in cell A1
with Region Names.
7. To continue the search click
Replace button again. Excel

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pops up a message informing that it could not find a match.

Just as in the case of Find operation, you can use Replace All option to replace the
existing data with new data in one go through out the current worksheet. You can also
fine tune your find and replace options by choosing options from the Options button
similar to Find tool.
Using Undo and Redo feature
Suppose you have changed some data but feel that you should not have changed that.
To undo the recent change do one of these.
Click Undo button in the QAT OR
Press Ctrl+Z key combination. You will get back your original data.
After undoing an entry, if you again change your mind and want to restore the changed
data, just click Redo button on the QAT, or Press Ctrl+Z key combination. You can try
out these by making some corrections to the data in any of the cells and restoring them
back.
Clearing a Cell Entry
Any cell in your worksheet can contain data. The data could be formatted so that it
appears in a particular way, such as say with currency symbol, specified number of
decimal places, thousands separators etc. In addition to the data, the cell can also
contain a comment. Cells can also be formatted with Cell styles. So when you are
deleting an entry in a cell, Excel wants to know which one of these you want to delete
the data, the applied format, the comments or all these three. You can erase the
contents of a cell using following steps.
Practical Demonstration
1. Select the cell to be cleared, say B31 which has been formatted using Font and
its attributes.

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2. Click on Clear tool, which appears as an erasure icon, in the Editing group of
Home tab.

3. A drop down menu lists following Clear options:


Clear All option clears everything in the selected cell including applied
formats if any.
Clear Formats option clears format of the cell applied, if any. Try this:
o Select cell B31.
o Click on Clear tool and choose Clear
Format.
o Observe that the applied format is
removed.
o Press Ctrl+Z to undo the action.

Clear Contents option clears the data in the cell but retains the format
contents of the cell.
o Select cell B31.
o Click on Clear tool and choose
Clear Content.
o The cell is cleared of the data
value.
o Again select B31 and type any text, say Thank You.
o Observe that the new text takes on the previously applied format for
that cell.
o Press Ctrl+Z a couple of times to undo the actions.

Clear Comments option clears cell comments, if any.


Clear Hyperlinks option clears any hyperlinks displayed in the cell.
Remove Hyperlinks option just disables the hyperlink instead of clearing the
Hyperlinks. When you use Clear Hyperlinks, Excel removes the data as well
as the hyperlink in the cell, whereas Remove Hyperlinks just removes the
hyperlink but not the data in the cell.

In the present example, click on Clear All to remove everything from the selected cell.

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Note: You can also clear the contents of a cell by selecting it and pressing either Del
key or Backspace. This will only delete the data but not the applied format to
that cell. This is similar to Clear Contents option.
Saving the Workbook
It is time to save the workbook. Save this corrected workbook as Marks Sheet2. We will
be continuing with this in the next lesson.
Creating and Editing Data Some Dos and Donts
As you observed, creating a worksheet and editing the contents is very simple.
However, it may be useful to remember following simple Dos and Donts for making
your work much easier.

Do enter the long title or the column heading in a single cell. Dont split them in
different cells just because they cant be displayed in a single cell. You can
always align and position the contents of a cell the way you want by formatting.
Remember a cell can hold as many as 1024 characters.
Don't put a text label and its associated numeric quantity in the same cell - keep
them in different cells. You will not be able to use the number for calculations.
For example, Salary 8700, Age 24, etc should be split up in different cells rather
than putting them both in a single cell.
Don't use $ signs, % signs, commas, with numerical data - just type in the
numbers. Excel cant do calculations on anything other than numbers. You can
format the cells later to show the numbers as currency, percentages etc.
Don't get carried away with changing style, font, size etc. when you are
entering data. Concentrate first on getting your data entered correctly.
Do experiment with various tools Excel provides. Excel has many alternate ways
of doing the same task. As you work more and more with Excel you will learn
these and other various tricks of entering and managing data.

Recap
Creating an Excel worksheet is very simple. Just select the cell by clicking and then
type-in the data. In this lesson you learnt
how Excel accepts and saves various types of data in its cells
how to edit data while entering or afterwards
how to use undo and redo features for saving your time and efforts
how to clear data, formats, comments and hyperlinks in the selected cells.

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Lesson 8: Selecting Data in Your Worksheet


Overview
Microsoft Excel 2010 worksheet is a huge worksheet consisting of 16384 columns
and 1,048,576 rows, which amounts to more than 1.7 billion cells. Each one of these
cells is an individual unit capable of storing some data. The data you store in these
cells can be modified or updated as and when necessary. You must however select
the data before you can take any action on it. Selecting data in your worksheet is
therefore an essential task while you work in Excel. Excel 2010 provides many
different ways of selecting data either with the mouse, with the keyboard or with
both. In this lesson you will learn the various ways of selecting data in your
worksheet.
Skills you will learn in this lesson

How to select data in one or more cells


Hiding Columns and Rows of data in your worksheet
Hiding and Re-displaying Worksheets

For demonstration purposes lets open our Marks Sheet workbook created in the
previous lesson.
1. Start Excel application
if you have not done
so.
2. Click on File tab.
Microsoft
Backstage
view
appears.
By
default Recent option
is selected, and a list of
Recently
opened
Workbooks
is
displayed.
3. Locate the Workbook
you want to open and
double click on it.
4. Excel
opens
the
selected workbook and
displays the Marks
Sheet.

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The opened worksheet is shown in the figure.

Selecting data
Editing of data is just one aspect where you need to select cells. Apart from editing
you can also perform many other operations on the data contained in cells. These
include formatting of data, copying and moving of data from one location to another,
printing of data, etc. You must invariably select the cells containing data for all such
operations in your worksheet. Microsoft Excel provides many ways of selecting the
data. You can:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Select a single cell, a single column or a single row


Select multiple adjacent cells, columns and rows
Select multiple non-adjacent cells, columns and rows
Select a group of cells known as a range

Selected cells will be highlighted. You can select the cells using either the mouse or the
keyboard shortcuts, or a combination of both.
Selecting a single cell
A Cell is a basic element in Excel 2010 Worksheet. You can store any data such as
text, number, date, time, formula in a cell. Excel identifies cells by Cell addresses. A
Cell address is nothing but the Column and Row identification of the cell. For example,

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Cell address D5 refers to the cell which is at the intersection of D column and 5th row.
Note that in a cell address Column reference comes first and then the row number.
Data you enter in Excel worksheet is cell-specific. So you must select the cell first
before you can perform any action on the data contained in that cell.
1. To select a cell, just click on it, say cell C4.
2. The selected cell will be occupied by the cell pointer and is highlighted by a
dark border.
3. Observe that the address of the selected cell is displayed in the Name box
while the contents of that cell are displayed in the Formula bar. Also observe
that the Column and Row labels of the selected cell are shown in different
color to easily identify them.

Selected cell

Selecting a Column of data


1. Click on the column heading of the column to be selected, say D.
2. The selected column will be highlighted. This means that the whole 1,048,576
cells of the column D are selected. All the row labels are also highlighted in
color.
3. The figure shows the column D being selected.
Selected Column

Selecting a Row of data


1. Click on the row heading of the row to be selected, say row 4.

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2. The selected row gets highlighted. This means that all the 16384 cells in that
row 4 are now selected. The column labels are also highlighted.
3. The figure shows the row 4 being selected.

Selected Row

Selecting multiple adjacent (contiguous) cells


There are several methods by which you can select a group of cells of your worksheet.
Method 1 (Using Mouse):
1. Click on the first cell of the group of cells to be selected, say B3.
2. Hold down the left mouse button and drag across the data cells you want to
select, say cell E5. Release the mouse button after the selection.
3. The selected cells are highlighted.
4. Figure shows the selected cells from B3 to E5.

5. To de-select the cells, click anywhere in the worksheet.


Method 2 (Using Mouse and Keyboard):
You can also conveniently use the keyboard for selecting a group of cells. This is
particularly useful when the first and last cells to be selected are considerable distance
apart.
1. Click on the first cell of the group of cells to be selected, say C4.
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2. Hold down the Shift key and click on the last cell of the group of cells to be
selected, say E6.
3. The entire group of cells between the selected cells gets highlighted.

4. Click anywhere on the worksheet to de-select the cells.


Method 3 (Using keyboard)
1. Click on the first cell of the group of cells to be selected, say B2.
2. Hold down the Shift key and press the arrow keys in the direction in which
you want to select the cells. Observe that each press of the arrow key selects
one cell in that direction.
3. When the required group of cells have been selected release Shift key.
4. Selected cells get highlighted.

5. Click anywhere on the worksheet to de-select the cells.


Method 4: Using keyboard keys
1. Press F4 to anchor the cell pointer in the beginning cell of the range
2. Use the pointer-movement keys to cover the range of cells to be selected.
3. The whole range will be highlighted.
4. Click anywhere on the worksheet to de-select the cells.
Selecting multiple non-adjacent cells
1. Hold down Ctrl key while selecting the individual cells
2. The selected cells get highlighted.
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3. Figure shows non-adjacent cells being selected.

4. Click any where on the worksheet to de-select the cells.


Selecting consecutive (adjacent) columns or rows
1. Click on the Column heading of the first column (or the beginning Row
number) to be selected.
2. Hold down Shift key and click on the last Column heading (or ending Row
number) of the selection.
3. All columns (or rows) between the selected columns (or rows) will be
highlighted.
4. The figure shows the adjacent columns B to E, (and adjacent rows 2 to 6)
being selected.

Selection of adjacent Columns

Selection of adjacent Rows

5. Click any where on the worksheet to de-select the cells.


Selecting non-consecutive (adjacent) columns or rows
1. Click on the beginning Column heading (or Row number) of the selection.
2. Hold down Ctrl key and click on the Column headings (or Row numbers) to
be selected.
3. The selected Columns (or Rows) will be highlighted.
4. The figure shows the non-adjacent columns A,C and E, (and non-adjacent
rows 2, 4 and 5) being selected.

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Selection
of Non-contiguous
of Non-contiguous
rows 2, 4
5. Click
any where oncolumns
the worksheet Selection
to de-select
the cells.
A, C and E.
and 6.

Selecting the entire Worksheet


Sometimes you may need to select the entire worksheet for formatting and other
purposes.
1. Click on the box appearing at the junction of the column and row labels.
2. The entire worksheet will be selected.

Click here

Hiding Columns and Rows of data in your worksheet


There may be occasions when you want to hide some data in your worksheet. One
reason might be that you have used a few rows or columns to workout your drafts and
naturally would like to hide them in the final worksheet. Secondly, your worksheet may
contain some data of classified or confidential nature and you dont want others to see
it. Whatever may be the reasons, you can hide the data contained in your rows and
columns from prying eyes. Note that hiding is not deleting. When you hide data, the
data is still in the worksheet but is not visible. You can re-display it whenever you want.
Hiding columns of data
You can hide a single column, multiple contiguous columns or multiple non-contiguous
columns. Lets try out these in our Marks Sheet worksheet.
Practical demonstration
1. Make sure Home tab is selected. If not click on it to display its groups.

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2. Select the column to be hidden by clicking on its label. To select more than one
contiguous column, hold down the Shift key while clicking the column labels. To
select non-contiguous columns, hold down the Ctrl key, and click the column
labels, say columns C and E.
3. Click on Format option in Cells group of Home tab.
4. Point to the Hide & Unhide option under Visibility section. One more side menu
slides out.
5. Click on Hide Columns option in the side out menu.

Columns selected
for hiding

6. Excel 2010 hides the selected column or columns. Verify that the Columns C and
E are now not visible.
7. Also observe that though the Columns are not visible, the labels of remaining
columns have not been changed.

Selected columns C and


E are hidden. Note that
the column labels have
not been changed

Redisplaying Hidden columns

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1. Click on Format option in Cells group of Home tab.


2. Point to the Hide & Unhide option under Visibility section. One more side menu
slides out.
3. Click on Unhide Columns option in the side out menu. Hidden columns get redisplayed.
Hiding and unhiding Columns using Context menu
An easier method for hiding and unhiding of one or more columns is to use the options
in the context menu.
1. Select the Column to be hidden, say Column B
2. Right click on the selection. In the context menu that pops up, click on Hide
option.
3. The selected Column gets hidden.

Column B is hidden

Redisplaying Hidden

columns

1. Select the range of columns which includes the hidden columns. For example, to
redisplay column B, select range of columns A to C.
2. Right click anywhere on the selected columns. A shortcut menu pops up.
3. Click on Unhide option. Hidden columns get re-displayed.
Hiding and re-displaying Rows
Hiding and unhiding of rows is similar to hiding or unhiding of columns. You can use
either the options in shortcut menu or the format menu. Lets try this using format menu
options.
Keyboard shortcuts for hiding and Unhiding columns and Rows

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You can also hide and unhide one or more columns and rows using the Keyboard
shortcuts. The table shows the relevant keyboard shortcuts.
1. Select the columns or rows to be hidden.
2. Press the Ctrl+0 key combination to hide the selected columns, and Ctrl+9 to
hide selected Rows. The selected columns or rows gets hidden.
3. To unhide columns, press Ctrl+Shift+( keys combination. To unhide Rows, press
Ctrl+Shift + ) keys combination.

Press
Ctrl + 0
Ctrl + 9
Ctrl + Shift + )
Ctrl + Shift + (

To
Hide selected Columns
Hide selected Rows
Unhide hidden Columns
Unhide hidden Rows

Hiding and Re-displaying Worksheets


Not just the columns and rows, you can even hide the complete worksheet as well. This
may be necessary if you dont want others to view your worksheet.
1. Click on the sheet to be hidden, say Sheet1
2. Click on Format option in Cells group of Home tab. Format drop down menu
appears.
3. Point to the Hide & Unhide option under Visibility section. One more side menu
slides out.
4. Click on Hide Sheet option. The selected worksheet gets hidden. Note that other
worksheets are not affected and are still visible.

Select the sheet


to be hidden

Sheet1 has been hidden


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To re-display the hidden Sheet


1. Click on Format option in Cells group of Home tab.
2. In the displayed drop down menu, point to the Hide & Unhide option under
Visibility section. One more side menu slides out.
3. Click on Unhide Sheet option. An Unhide dialog box appears displaying all the
hidden worksheets.
4. Click on the sheet you want to
unhide.
5. Click OK. The selected sheet gets
re-displayed.

Recap
You have to select data in your worksheet before you can edit, modify or update it. So
selection of data is a routine but an essential part of your work in Excel. Microsoft Excel
provides many ways of selecting data using either mouse or the keyboard.
In this lesson
You learnt how to select data in a single cell, a row, a column or a group of
adjacent or non-adjacent cells, columns and rows.
How to hide and redisplay Columns, Rows, and Worksheets of your Workbook.

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Lesson 9: Worksheet Basics in Excel 2010


Overview
Copying and moving of data from one location to another within your worksheet or
workbook is a frequent necessity in a practical spreadsheet application. Copying is the
process of making a duplicate of the selected data while moving is the process of
shifting the selected data from one location to another. You can copy or move data
contained in one or more cells, one or more columns or rows. You can also copy and
move data from one worksheet to another within a workbook and between workbooks.
Excel provides various alternate ways for copying and moving. You can use either the
mouse or the keyboard or a combination of both. In this lesson you will explore all these
tools.
Skills you will learn in this lesson

Moving, Copying and Deleting of data


Using Paste Special feature
Moving and copying data within a workbook
Inserting Columns, Rows and cells in the Worksheet

Moving and Copying of data


Copying and moving of data helps you in reducing the number of repetitive entries you
are required to make in your worksheet. Copying in particular is one of the most
essential tools for efficient working in your worksheet. For example, once you have
entered a formula or a function in a cell to perform a certain operation such as say
summing a row or column of data, you can duplicate that formula or function to other
cells to perform the same operation (that is sum) on the adjacent rows and columns.
There are basically two methods for copying and moving data in your worksheets.
1. Using the Drag and Drop approach.
2. Using either the Windows or the Office Clipboard.
Lets use our Marks Sheet worksheet to explore the various ways of doing this. Open
the worksheet if it is not opened already.

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Moving and Copying data using Drag and Drop method


Drag and drop method using mouse is perhaps the easiest and the most frequently
used method for moving and copying of data. This is particularly useful when the data is
to be moved or copied over a short distance.
Practical demonstration
Lets try moving and copying of range of cells B2 to E6. Before you move or copy data,
you must select it first.
Moving the selected data
1. Select the cells B2 to E5 by any convenient method.
2. Position the mouse pointer on any border of the selected range of cells. The
pointer changes into a white left oriented arrow with double headed arrows at its
tip.

Selected data

Position the mouse pointer on the


border line. Pointer appears as a
while left oriented arrow with
double headed arrow at tip.

3. Hold down the left mouse button. Observe that as you do so, the double headed
arrow vanishes and only white arrow remains.
4. Still holding down the mouse button drag the pointer to the new location where
you want the data to be moved. As you drag observe the following:
A blank outline of the selected range of cells moves with the pointer.
A yellow screen tip continuously displays the current position of the
moving outline. This is actually the destination range of cells where the
selected data will be moved if you release the mouse button.
An informative message appears in the Status bar.
5. When you have reached the destination, release the mouse button.
6. The selected data gets moved to its new location. The original data gets deleted.

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Data gets moved to


new location

Original data
gets deleted

Press Ctrl+Z to undo the moving. The moved data will be restored to its original
position.
When you move (or copy) data, make sure that you have selected a location having
sufficient blank area for the moved data to appear. If the selected destination location
already has some data, Excel displays an alert message, Do you want to replace the
contents of the destination cells? Click OK to overwrite the existing data with the
moved (or copied) data, or click Cancel to abort the move or copy process.

Copying the selected data


1. Again select the cells B2 to E6 by any convenient method. Position the mouse
pointer on the top left corner of the selection till a white arrow pointer with double
arrow appears.
2. Press and hold down the Ctrl key. Observe that as you do so, the double headed
arrow changes into a white left oriented arrow with a small plus sign.
3. Still holding down the Ctrl key, press the left mouse button and drag the pointer
to the new location where you want the copied data to appear. As you drag
observe the following:
A blank outline of the selected range of cells moves with the pointer.
A yellow screen tip continuously displays the current position of the
moving outline.
An informatory message appears in the Status bar.
4. When you have reached the destination, release the mouse button.
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5. The selected data gets copied at the current pointer location. Observe that the
original selected data is unaffected.

Copied data

Press Ctrl+Z to undo the copy action. The worksheet will be restored to its original
status.
Moving or Copying using Clipboard (Copy, Cut and Paste methods)
If the data is to be moved or copied over a considerable distance within the worksheet,
a better alternative to drag and drop is the Copy and Paste or Cut and Paste methods.
These methods are also required if you want to move or copy data within different
worksheets of your workbook or between different workbooks. You can use either the
mouse or the keyboard shortcuts to move or copy data. When you are using these
tools, you are making use of the Clipboard facility available in Office 2010 applications.
Getting acquainted with Office Clipboard and its options
Clipboard is just a memory area of your computer where cut or copied data is
temporarily stored. Any information stored in this memory buffer can repeatedly be
pasted into any other location in the worksheet, other worksheet or workbook. Microsoft
Windows operating system provides a clipboard which is capable of storing only one
piece of data at a time. Microsoft Office 2010 suite of applications including Excel
however provides a clipboard facility which is capable of storing upto 24 different pieces
of data at a time. You can paste any or all of these within a Microsoft Office suite of
applications or any other Microsoft application.
Clipboard is such an important feature of all MS Office applications that it is displayed
as the first group in the Home tab of the Ribbon interface.
Practical demonstration
1. Click on the Home tab if it is not selected.

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2. Observe that Clipboard appears as the first group.


3. Click on the Dialog Box Launcher button appearing at the bottom right corner of
the Clipboard group.
4. A Task pane appears docked to the left of worksheet working area displaying the
Clipboard and its options. Currently the contents of the clipboard will be empty
as you have not cut or copied any data.

Office Clipboard

Click here to
display options

5. As you cut or copy any data in the worksheet, the selected data appears in the
clipboard as an item. You can store as many as 24 items in the clipboard. You
can then selectively paste any of these or all of these into your worksheet or any
other Office application.
Clipboard Options
Clipboard comes with a few options. You can view them by clicking on the Options
button. A list of five options gets displayed.

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1. Select Show Office Clipboard Automatically to automatically display the


Microsoft Office Clipboard when copying items. By default this is disabled.
2. Select Show Office Clipboard when Ctrl+C Pressed Twice option to
display the Clipboard when you press Ctrl+C key combination twice. By
default this is disabled.
3. Select Collect Without Showing Office Clipboard to automatically copy
items to the Office Clipboard without displaying the Office Clipboard. By
default this option is disabled.
4. Select Show Office Clipboard Icon on Taskbar to display the Office
Clipboard icon in the status area of the system taskbar when the Office
Clipboard is active. This is enabled by default.
5. Select Show Status Near Taskbar When Copying to display the collected
item message when copying items to the Office Clipboard. This is enabled
by default.
To display the Clipboard automatically when you copy or cut data, select the first option
Show Office Clipboard Automatically if not already selected.
Using Home tab options (using mouse)
1. Select the data to be moved or copied, say data in cells A2 to E6.
2. Click on Home tab is not already selected.
3. Click on Cut tool (appearing as scissors) to move the data, or on Copy tool
(appearing as overlapped pages) in the Clipboard group of Home tab.
4. A marquee rectangle highlights the selected range of cells. Excel copies the
selected data to its Clipboard and is displayed in the Clipboard panel.

Copied data
to Clipboard

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5. Observe that a message 1 of 24 selected Clipboard Item Collected is


also displayed in the right corner of the Taskbar. In case you dont want this
message to appear, disable the clipboard option Show Status Near Taskbar
When Copying.
6. Position the mouse pointer at the destination location where the moved or
copied data should appear, say B9.
7. Click on the Paste tool in the Clipboard group or click on the copied item in
the Clipboard.
8. The selected data appears at the destination.

Copied data
Copied data
in Clipboard

If you want to copy the selected data once again at some other location in the
worksheet, or in another worksheet, just select the destination location and click on the
copied item in the Clipboard.
Press Ctrl +Z to undo the recent actions.
Using mouse (Shortcut menu)

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Instead of choosing the Cut, Copy and Paste tools from the Clipboard group, you can
also right click on the selected cells to display a shortcut menu and then use its Copy,
Cut and Paste options for copying and moving of selected data.

Use Cut, Copy and Paste


options to move or copy
selected data

Using Keyboard shortcuts


Copying and moving of data is such an important and routine activity that Excel also
supports Copying, Cutting and Pasting tasks using Keyboard shortcuts. This is also a
widely preferred method by many users.
Select the data to be moved or copied.
Press Ctrl+X key combination for moving data, or Ctrl+C for copying data.
Excel copies the selected data to its Clipboard.
Position the mouse pointer at the destination location where the moved or copied
data should appear.
Press Ctrl+V to paste the data.
The selected data appears at the destination.
Copying cell data without selecting (using Ctrl+D and Ctrl+R)

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It was emphasized earlier that to copy data you must first select the cells containing the
data. However, if you are copying an individual cells data either to its adjacent cell on
the right or to the cell directly below it, you can use Ctrl+D and Ctrl+R key shortcuts for
copying without first selecting the data. This shortcut approach is useful when you want
to repeatedly enter data in the cell which has the same data in the cell above it or to the
left of it.
Practical demonstration
Lets copy data in cell A6 to cell A7 without
selecting the data first.

Click on cell A7 to make it the current


cell.
Press Ctrl+D. Observe that the data in
the cell immediately above it, that is
Sunitha in cell A6, gets copied into
the current cell.
Press Right arrow key to make B7 as
the current cell.
Press Ctrl+R. Observe that the data in the cell immediately left of it, that is,
Sunitha in cell A7, gets copied into the current cell.
Press Ctrl+Z twice to undo the changes.

Copying data with-in worksheets of a workbook


You can also copy or move selected data from one worksheet to another within the
same workbook.
Practical demonstration
Lets copy our Sales data from the current worksheet, Sheet1 to Sheet3.

Select the complete data from cell A1 to F6. The selected data gets highlighted.
Right click anywhere on the selected data. A shortcut menu appears.
Click on Copy option to copy the data or on Cut option to move the data to the
clipboard.
Click on Sheet3 tab appearing at the bottom of the screen. Excel displays Sheet3
worksheet. By default the cell pointer appears at cell A1.
Right click on the cell A1. Short cut menu pops up.
Click on Paste option. The selected data from Sheet1 appears on Sheet3.

Using Paste Special Feature


When you cut or copy any data, Excel places it in Office Clipboard. You can then using
the Excels Paste option paste it any number of times in any of the worksheets of the
Page 141

current workbook or in any other workbook you want. In addition to the conventional
Copy, Cut and Pasting of data, Excel 2010 also provides a Paste Special feature. This
option allows which is new in Excel 2010, allows you to selectively paste attributes of
the copied data and also shows a preview of how the pasted data appears in its
destination location. To understand this feature, you need to know what a cell in Excel is
capable of holding.
A Cell in Excel can contain:
Contents consisting of text, numbers, and formulas
Formats consisting of number formats, conditional formats, cell style formats,
border formats, etc.
Comments Consisting of Notes and other information saved in the cell but not
as data values. Comments are invisible unless pointed to when they will pop up
in small comment view windows. Cells with comments can be identified by small
red corners.
Hyperlinks Consisting of links to other cells or ranges on the current
worksheet, current workbook, other workbooks, other files, and web sites.

You
can

selectively include or exclude


formulas, data values, formatting, comments,
arithmetic operators, and other cell properties before Excel actually copies the data.
You can preview several possibilities of pasting the data using tools from either the
ribbon or from a dialog box. Even after pasting the data you can conveniently change
your pasted option and choose a different paste option from the Smart tag.
Lets look at some of the options provided by Paste eature of Excel 2010. The
worksheet shows a formatted range of data. You will learn about how to format data in a
worksheet in subsequent lessons. As you can see, the selected data range has data
values, formats including background color and borders, formulas, comments, and
graphics. Lets selectively copy this data range.

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1. Make sure Home tab is selected and its groups are visible on screen.
2. Select the data range A1 to G7.
3. Click Copy tool under Clipboard group. Excel marks the selected data range
with a marching ants border and copies a copy of it in its Clipboard.
4. Click the cell where you want the copy of the selected range to appear.
5. Click on Paste option in the Clipboard group. A set of Paste options appears.
6. As you point to each of these Paste options, you
will get see a Live Preview of how the data will be
copied at the destination location.
As you can see you have quite a few paste options. You
paste from everything the source data has to just the
formulas, format, borders, and so on. Lets look at some
these options in actual action.

can
of

Paste Options:
Paste (P) option: Use this option to paste everything that the selected source data
contains, including data values, formulas, comments, formats, etc.

Page 143

Original data

Copied with
Paste (P) option

Smart Tag

Formulas (F) Paste


Option: Use this option
to
copy and paste just the
formulas but not the formatting. For example, if you have formatted the cells containing
formulas with borders, background color, etc., this option copies only the formula but not
its background color or borders. The screen shot illustrates this.

Formulas
Number
Formatting
Option:

&

Page 144

Use this option to Paste only formulas and all number formatting options. This is similar
to Formulas (F) paste option but in addition it copies any number formatting of the cells
also.

Keep
Source
Formatting (K) option:
this option to copy the
source data along with its original source formatting to the destination.

Use

No

Borders (B) option:


option pastes all the cell
contents and formatting
does not copy the
Borders of the selected source data while copying to the destination location.

Page 145

This
but

Keep
Source Column Width
Use this option to copy
formatted widths of the
columns of the source data.

(W):
the

Page 146

Transpose (T) Paste option: This option changes the orientation of the destination
range while copying it to the destination location. That is, rows are copied as columns
while columns are copied as rows.

Paste
Values
(V)
Option: Use this option
to
copy and paste the
results of Formulas and not the formulas themselves. Observe that cells G3 to G7
contain Sum formulas as you can verify by pointing to one of these cells. When you
copy this range of data using the Paste Values option, you will not find any difference.
But if you point to any of the copies cells of the Total Marks column, you will find the
Sum formulas are not copied as illustrated by cell G12 in the screen shot.

Paste Formatting (R) Option: Use this option to copy and paste only the formatting of
the source but not its contents.

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Paste Link (N) Option:


This
option copies source
range in the destination
range that refer to the
cells
in the source range. For
example, if the data
range in Marks2 sheet
is
copied to Sheet 9 of the
worksheet,
the
cell
addresses
in
the
destination
links
or
refers to the data in the source, as illustrated by cell G4 in sheet9. If any data value in
source is changed, the copied data value in the destination also gets changed and any
formula or function based on this data value also gets changed.

Page 148

Paste Picture (U) option: Use this option to paste the source data range as a picture in
the destination location. The data in the destination range can no longer be edited.
However the whole picture can be manipulated using the Picture Tools Format tab
which appears automatically in the Ribbon. For example you can resize the destination
range and also move it by dragging to any location you want just like a picture.

If you
use
the
Paste
Picture
Link
option,
Excel

The data is copied as a


picture
by
selecting
Picture icon. The data in
this range can no longer
be edited. However the
whole picture can be
manipulated using the
Picture Tools Format
options

creates
a
Live picture that is updated whenever you change the data in the source range.

Paste Special Dialog box


The Paste options displayed when you click on the Paste button in the Clipboard or in
the context shortcut menu when you right click, allows you to look at a Live Preview of
how the copied data appears. Excel provides yet another method of pasting data but
without the benefit of Live Previews. This is by using the Paste Special dialog box.
However, Paste Special dialog box has some additional options which are sometimes
very useful while copying and Pasting.
1. Copy the source data using any of the Copy options. Note that Paste Special
Dialog box options are not available for Cut options.
2. Select the destination cell or cells where you want to copy the selected source
data.
Page 149

3. Click on the Paste tool in the Clipboard. In the drop down menu of Paste options,
click on the Paste Special option. A Paste Special dialog box appears as
shown. Lets look at the options available in this dialog box.
4. Observe that most
of the options in the
dialog box are the
same
and
work
similarly as in the
drop down menu of
Paste
iconic
options.

Formulas:

This option pastes the cells contents, formats, and data validation from
the Clipboard.
Pastes values and Formulas, with no formatting.

Values:

Pastes values and the results of formulas (no formatting).

Formats:

Copies only formatting.

All:

Comments: Copies only the cell comments from a cell or a range. This option doesnt
copy cell contents or formatting.
Validation:

Copies the validation criteria so that same data validation will apply for any
data newly entered in that destination range.

All Using Theme:

Pastes everything but uses the formatting from the document


theme of the source. This option is relevant only if you are pasting
information from a different workbook, and the workbook uses a
different document theme than the active workbook.
All Except Borders: Pastes everything except borders that appear in the source range.
Column Widths:

Pastes only column width information.

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Formulas And Numbers formats: Paste all values, formulas and number formats (but
no other formatting).
Values and Number formats:

Pastes all values and numeric formats, but not the


formulas themselves.

Besides the above Paste options, the dialog box also provides various action oriented
options under Operation category. These are None, Add, Subtract, Multiply and Divide.
Skipping Blanks when pasting
The Skip Blanks option in the Paste Special dialog box prevents Excel from overwriting
cell contents in your paste area with blank cells from the copied range. This option is
useful if youre copying a range to another area but want the blank cells in the copied
range to overwrite existing data.
Smart Tags
Smart tags in Excel 2010 recognize specific data and then offer options based on the
type of data recognized. The actions are made available with a button that appears near
the cell that contains the recognized data. The button appears when the cell is activated
or when you move the mouse pointer over the cell.
If you select data and copy it
some other location in the
worksheet, a small icon
appears at the bottom right
corner of the copied data.
is known as the Smart tag.
Clicking on the smart tag,
displays a panel consisting
many
pasting
options.
These options are the same
we have already discussed.
couple of point are worth
noting:

to

This

of
as
But a
Smart Tag

1. Even though you


have already pasted a copy of the source range, you can still choose any of the
paste options in the Smart tag and change the way the range as been copied.
2. You will not get to see a Live Preview when you point to any of these Paste
icons.
Inserting Columns, Rows and cells in the Worksheet
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As you develop your worksheet, you may feel it necessary to insert one or more
columns or rows either to add additional data or to format the worksheet. You can
insert columns and rows at any location you want before, in-between or at the end of
the existing columns and rows of data.
Inserting Columns
Excel provides a couple of ways for inserting of columns using either the mouse or the
keyboard shortcuts. Lets try out these using our Marks sheet worksheet.
Inserting column using Insert option
Our Marks sheet does not have a column to mark the serial numbers of students. Lets
insert a column between the column containing the row labels and the Column A
(Student Names) for this purpose. Note that a new column always gets inserted to the
left of an existing column.
Practical demonstration
1. Make sure Home tab is selected in the Ribbon.
2. Select column A by clicking on its label.
3. Click on Insert option under Cells group. A drop down menu appears.
4. Click on the Insert Sheet Columns option in the drop down menu. A new
column gets inserted to the left of the selected column.
5. Observe that the column labels get automatically renamed. The data in the
worksheet is not affected in any way.
6. You can enter the Students serial numbers in the newly created column.

Inserting
new

a
New Column inserted

Page 152

column using Shortcut menu


Right click anywhere on the newly inserted column. A short cut menu pops up.
Click on Insert option. A new column gets inserted to the left of the selected
column.

Inserting
multiple
columns

Newly inserted column

You can also insert more than one column at the same time. To insert multiple columns
you must select that many number of exiting columns starting with the column to the left
of which new columns are to be inserted. Lets insert three columns between the
columns labeled English (Column D) and Physics (Column E).
Practical demonstration
1. Select columns E, F and G by holding down the Shift key while clicking on the
column labels.
2. Right click anywhere in the selected columns. A short cut menu pops up.
3. Click on Insert option. Three new columns gets inserted to the left the selected
columns.

Page 153

Newly inserted columns

Deleting Columns
You can delete one or more
unwanted columns from your
worksheet. When you delete a
column, the data in that column will be lost and you may not be able restore it. So
before you delete a column, make sure that you really dont need the data in that
column. Lets delete the newly inserted columns.
Practical demonstrations
Excel provides a couple of ways to delete selected objects.
Deleting column using Home tab
1. Select the column to be deleted by clicking on its label or anywhere in the
column, say column A.
2. Click on Delete option in Cells group of Home tab. A drop down menu appears.
3. Click on Delete Sheet Columns option.
4. The selected column gets deleted. The remaining column labels get renamed.

Deleting columns
using Short cut menu

Page 154

1. Select the newly inserted blank multiple columns D, E and F.


2. Right click anywhere on the selected columns. A short cut menu pops up.
3. Click on Delete option. The selected columns get deleted and the column labels
get renamed.

Inserting and Deleting Rows


Inserting and Deleting rows are exactly similar to inserting and deleting columns. Rows
are inserted above the selected row. Just as an exercise, lets insert a row to provide a
title for the data.
Practical demonstrations
1. Click on the row header 1.
2. Click on Insert option in Cells group of Home tab.
3. From the displayed menu items, click on Insert Sheet Rows.
4. A new row gets inserted above the selected row.

Newly inserted row

To insert multiple rows, select that many number of rows starting with the row above
which new rows are to be inserted. Then right click on the selection. From the displayed
short cut menu, click on Insert option. That many blank rows get inserted above the
selected row.
Page 155

To delete these newly added multiple Rows, select the rows to be deleted, right click on
the selection and click on Delete from the displayed shortcut menu.
Inserting cells
Inserting of columns and rows are frequently required while working in worksheets. But
rarely are you required to insert new cells within your worksheet. But in case you do
require to insert a new blank cell or a group of blank cells, you can do so by shifting the
existing adjacent cells either to the right or pushing them down relative to the current
cell pointer. Note that when you insert a cell within your worksheet, the existing data
gets rearranged.
Practical demonstration
1. Select cells D5 to E6.
2. Right click on the selected cells. A short cut menu appears.
3. Click on Insert option. An Insert dialog box appears. You can insert cells either
by shifting the existing cells towards right or pushing them down.
4. Click on option Shift cells right. Click OK.
5. Observe that the existing cells also get shifted towards right making way for the
insertion of new cells. Observe that the existing data in the cells also gets shifted.

Newly inserted cells by


shifting data to the right

6. Press Ctrl+Z to undo the changes.


7. Now, again select cells D5 to E6.
8. Right click on the selected cells. In the shortcut menu that pops up, click on
Insert option.
9. In the Insert dialog box, click on the option Shift cells down. Click OK.
Page 156

10. The selected cells gets pushed down and make way for insertion of two new
blank cells in their pace.

Newly inserted blank


cells by shifting data
down

11. Press Ctrl+Z to undo the changes.


Inserting Entire Rows and Entire Columns
Other two options in the Insert short cut menu, Entire row
and Entire column, work similar to the insertion of rows and
columns. You can try them out yourself.

Inserting Entire
Columns

Inserting Entire
Rows

Press Ctrl+Z required


number of times to undo
changes to the Worksheet
have done, to make it
appear as in screen shot.

the
you

Page 157

Recap
Moving and copying of data within a worksheet or a workbook, inserting columns and
rows, hiding and redisplaying of data are some of the essential skills you must learn for
efficient working in Excel. In this lesson you learnt:
How to move and copy data within your worksheet and workbook.
How to paste data using various Paste and Paste Special options.
How to insert cells, columns and rows in your worksheet.
How to delete unwanted columns and rows of data.

Page 158

Formula (F) Paste Option copies the


data without any formats.

Formulas & Number Formatting option


pastes the data.

Pasted just the Format

Paste option: Keep Source Formatting (K)

Formulas & Number Format option

Pasted without Borders

Page 159

Copied as a picture

Pasted copy after Transposing

Page 160

Page 161

Page 162

This data is copied as a picture by


selecting Picture icon in the smart
tag. The data in this range can no
longer be edited. However the
whole picture can be manipulated
using the Picture Tools Format
options

Page 163

Lesson 10: Working with Ranges in Excel 2010


Overview
A Range is an important concept while working in Microsoft Excel 2010 applications.
Normally a Range represents a group of cells in a row or a column, or in both rows
and columns, but it could also be a single cell. One of the important features of a
range is that you can assign a name to the selected range of cells. You can then use
that name just like a cell address in practically all Worksheet operations, such as
copying, moving, formatting, in formulas and functions and so on. In this lesson you
will learn how to create ranges and work with them.
Skills you will learn in this lesson

Concept of naming Worksheet cells


How to Label Cells and use them in Formulas
How to name ranges of cells and use them in Functions.
How to manage names

Concept of Naming or Labeling cells


Excel identifies cells by cell addresses. A Cell address is nothing but the Column and
Row identification of that cell. For example, Cell address K8 refers to the cell which is at
the intersection of K column and 8th row. Note that in a cell address Column reference
comes first and then the row number.
In a large worksheet, locating and moving to a cell often requires considerable scrolling
of screen pages. Excel does provide an excellent tool in the form of Go To (function F5)
key to instantly locate a specific cell but the problem is that you should know which cell
to go to.
Instead of using the Cell Addresses in your Excel computations, you can also refer to a
cell by assigning a descriptive name to it. This will be very advantageous in many
situations.
1. It is much easier to remember an assigned name to a cell, such as say
InterestRate rather than the cell address as say BH14.
2. Using names for cells lessens the chances of entering incorrect cell addresses.
3. When you enter a formula into a cell which references data in other cells, you
need to include their cell addresses. This means that you should know which cell
contains which type of data so that your formula can be correctly entered. If
instead of cell addresses you assign names to cells, it will be much easier for you
to remember.

Page 164

4. When you want to locate a cell, it is much easier to use its assigned cell label
name from Name box rather than using its cell address.
5. Creating formulas gets easier with the use of names and the Formulas
AutoComplete feature.
6. Using names in formulas makes them much more easier to understand. For
example Product Cost = Basic Cost + Tax is easier to comprehend rather than
B22 = B22+(B22*C22)
Formulas are similar to algebraic expressions you learnt in your Algebra classes.
Formulas and Functions are the main working blocks in Excel. We will be discussing
these in detail in subsequent lessons.
Practical demonstration
Lets take a simple example. The cost of a product is its basic price plus a certain
amount of tax on it. Lets enter a formula to find the cost of a product.
Open a blank worksheet.
In cell B2 enter 500 which is the basic cost of a product.
In cell C2 enter 4% as the tax.
In cell D2 enter the formula =B2+(B2*C2).
Press Enter key. Excel displays 520 as the final cost of the product.

Observe that the formula in cell D2 refers to cells B2 and C2. Every time the data is
changed in cells B2 and C2, the result in D2 changes. Since you have created these
cells, you know what these cells contain. But in your absence, if some one else wants to
update the basic cost or the tax rate, he or she may not know which cells to update. You
can solve this problem by assigning names to the cells containing data and refer to
these names in formulas instead of their cell addresses. Lets name the cell B2 as
BasicCost and cell C2 as TaxRate. Then instead of the cryptic formula =B2+(B2*C2) in
cell D2, you can write the formula in D2 as =BasicCost+(BasicCost*TaxRate). Lets do
this.
Click on cell B2 to select it.
The Name box shows the current cell address. Click in the Name box and
overwrite the current address with the name you want to assign to this cell, say
BasicCost. Upper or lowercase wont make any difference, but make sure there
is no space between the words Basic and Cost.
Press Enter key. Note that you must press the Enter key for Excel to save this
assigned name to the cell. If you dont press the Enter key, Excel does not save
the name.
Page 165

Name Box

Now click on cell C2 and replace the cell address in the Name box with TaxRate.
Press Enter key.
Select cell D2. Retype the formula as =BasicCost+(BasicCost*TaxRate).
Check the formula to make sure that you have entered the formula correctly
without any spelling mistakes exactly as shown. Press Enter key.
Cell labeled as
TaxRate
Cell labeled as
BasicCost

Formula entered as
=BasicCost+(BasicCost*
TaxRate)

Lets verify whether our formula in cell D2 still holds good. Suppose you want to modify
the Tax rate from 4% to 6%. Assume that your current cell address is A1. If not, make it
so by pressing Ctrl+Home.
Click on the down arrow of the Name Box.
A drop down list appears with all the label cell names you have created.
Click on TaxRate. Instantly, the cell pointer moves to the cell named as TaxRate,
which is cell C2.
Update the existing value of 4% to 6%. Immediately the result in cell D2 gets
updated.

List of Label names


Page 166

To understand the usefulness of assigning label names to cells, follow these steps.
1. Select the cells B2, C2 and D2.
2. Right click anywhere on the selection. In the displayed context menu, click Cut
option.
3. Right click anywhere on your worksheet, say cell E25.
4. In the displayed context menu, click on Paste. The selected data is now moved
from cells B2, C2 and D2 to E25, E26 and E27.
5. Press Ctrl+Home to send the Cell pointer to its home, A1.
6. Click on the Name box and once again choose TaxRate from the list of label
names.
7. Excel locates and selects the TaxRate labeled cell which is now E26. Overwrite
the existing 6% with 10%. Observe that the result in E27 automatically gets
updated.
Though this is a trivial case, it nevertheless illustrates the advantages in naming the
cells and the flexibility it provides. By naming cells,
You can make your formulas and functions more easily understandable, and
You can quickly locate and move to the required cells in any sized worksheet.
Points to note while labeling cells
While labeling the cells you must follow certain naming conventions and restrictions.
The name can be between 1 to 255 characters in length. For practical reasons
however, the names should preferably be short and indicative of the nature of
data stored in the cell. For example, TotalCost, Budget, Sales etc are appropriate
as cell label names.
Names can contain uppercase or lowercase letters. Case is immaterial.
BasicCost, BASICCOST, basiccost are all same.
After entering a name in the Name box, to save it you must press Enter key.
Clicking on Worksheet does not save the label name.
Names must start either with a letter, an underscore or a backslash. Rest of the
characters of the name could be letters, numbers, periods, or underscores
Names can be a single character except for characters R, r, C and c which
are reserved names for Row and Column. It is preferable however to avoid such
single name labels.
Names should not contain blank spaces. For example BasicCost is valid, while
Basic Cost is not valid as a label. You can use underscore instead.

Page 167

Names should not contain hyphens, or other special characters such as $, %, &
and #. For example, Net$Profit is invalid as a cell label, while Net_Profit is valid
one.
Excel 2010 does not allow you to create duplicate label names. If you try to label
a cell with a name that already exists, Excel moves the cell pointer to the cell that
is already similarly named.
Names cannot be cell addresses. That is, you cannot name a cell as B12 or A5,
etc.

Working with Range of Cells


A Cell is a single element in the Excel worksheet. Cell address is used to identify the cells. As
you learnt, you can also identify a cell by assigning a name to it. Naming concept can also be
extended to a group of cells. A group of cells is known as a Range. A range may contain just one
cell or a block of cells. A range is identified by its beginning cell address and ending cell address
separated by two periods (..). Following are all examples of Ranges.
A2
A range which consists of a single cell A2
C3:C9
A range of cells in Column C consisting of 6 cells
A12:F12
A range of cells in Row 12 consisting of 7 cells
F4:H7
A range of cells in block F4 to H7 of 3 columns and
4 rows
B4:XFD4
An entire range of cells of row 4 consisting of 16384
cells. This can also be expressed as 4:4
E1:E1048576 An entire range of cells of column E consisting of
1048576 cells. This can also be expressed as E:E
A1:XFD1048576
An entire range of all cells of the current worksheet.

The figure pictorially illustrates some typical examples of ranges.

Range A2
Range
C3 to C9
Range
A12 to F12

Range F4 to H7

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A Range is a very useful concept while working in Excel 2010. You can define a range
of cells by assigning a name to it. While performing various operations such as
formatting, copying, moving, printing etc., you can specify the range names rather than
the cell addresses. This makes for easier working. You can also nest Ranges. That is, a
range may contain another range. You can define any number of ranges in your
worksheet. There are many advantages in this.

By assigning a name, you need not remember the cell addresses of that group of
cells. You can just refer to them by its assigned name.
While selecting that group of cells, you need not use of the selecting methods
described earlier. The Name box lists all the range names. You can just click on
the range name you want and Excel selects the block of cells represented by that
range name.
You can refer to that name when you want to work on that block of cells such as
formatting, moving, copying, etc.

Naming Ranges
You can select a range of cells and name it using any name of your choice. While
labeling cells, we made use of the Name box to assign labels. You can also use the
same method to name a range of cells. But it is much easier and safer to use the
naming feature specifically provided by Excel 2010 for working with ranges. Lets
demonstrate this using our Marks Sheet Worksheet. Lets create two ranges one for
the names of students and other for the block of Marks.
1. Display the Marks Sheet worksheet data.
2. Select cells A2 to A6.
3. Click on the Formulas tab to display its
groups.
4. Click on the down arrow of Define Name
option in Defined Names group.
5. In the drop down list of choices, click on
Define Name option. A New Name
dialog box appears.

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6. By default, Excel suggests the first name in the block as the Range name.
Overwrite this by any other suitable name of your choice, say Students.
7. Observe that the Refers to: text box shows the sheet number as well as the
range of cells selected. If you want, you can change this by clicking on the red
arrow button and redefining the range in the displayed New name - Refers to
dialog box.
8. The Scope text box indicates the name of the current workbook that will save
this range name. This ensures that this range name is available to you from any
of the worksheets of that workbook. In case, you want this range name to be
specific for a particular worksheet, then click on the down arrow of the Scope
text box and choose the specific Sheet you want.
9. In the Comment text box, you can enter any comments you want to be
associated with this range name.
10. Click OK to assign the range name and remove the dialog box.

Collapse Dialog
button

Expand Dialog
button

From
now
on,
you can
refer
to
the

selected block of cells by this range name. As an illustration lets apply Italics font
attribute to this block of cells.
1. Click anywhere on the worksheet to clear the selection
2. Click on the down arrow of the Name box. A list of assigned range names
appear. Observe that the list also contains label names defined earlier. Label
names are infact range names for individual cells.
3. Click on Students name in the list.

Select Range
Name

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Selected range of
cells

4. Observe that Excel automatically selects the range of cells referred to by this
name. The selected range name Students now appears in the Name box.

5. Press Ctrl+I keyboard shortcut to


apply Italics font attribute. The data in selected range appears in italics.
Note that while naming ranges, you should follow the same naming rules that apply to
labeling of cells.
Lets create one more Range. Select the block of cells B2 to E6. Repeat the above
steps to assign a range name, say Marks to this block of cells.
From now on, you can refer to the selected block of cells by this range name. Here is an
example. Suppose you want to find the maximum marks in this range. Select any blank
cell and type =MAX(Marks). As soon as you press the enter key, the cell displays the
maximum mark in this range.

Scope of Range names


When you have identified a range of cells with a name, that name can be used to refer
to those cells from anywhere within that Workbook. You can verify this easily.
1. Activate any other worksheet in the same workbook.
2. Click on the Name box. Observe that all range names you have created are
displayed in the Name box.
3. Select any blank cell. Type =MAX(Marks) and press Enter key.
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4. Excel displays 96 in the cell.

Canceling selection
To cancel a selected cells or a range of cells, press Esc key or click anywhere else in
the worksheet.

Viewing available Range names


You can view and access the range names you have created, using the Apply Names
option as discussed below.
1. Click on Formulas tab to display its groups.
2. Click on Define Name option. In the
drop down list of choices, click on
Apply Name option.
3. A Apply Names dialog box
appears listing all the Range names
you have created.
4. From this dialog box, you can not
only select the range name you
want, but also exercise some options
such as:
a. Ignoring
Relative/Absolute
cell addresses,
b. Omitting column or row
names if same column or row.

Page 172

Managing Range Names with Name Manager


As you become more proficient in the use of Excel application, you will find using Range
names more and more useful. So naturally you will be creating more and more range
names. As the number of range names increases it becomes necessary for you to
manage them properly. Managing of range names includes modifying the existing range
names, deleting unwanted range names, etc. You can also copy a list of available range
names on your worksheet for references.
Excel 2010 provides a Name Manager feature specifically to help you in managing the
Range names.
1. Click on Formulas tab to display its groups.
2. Click on Name Manager option in Defined Names group.
3. Names Manager dialog box appears as shown.
4. The dialog box lists all the range names you have created for the workbook along
with their particulars. These include:
a. the defined name of the range,
b. actual data values included in the range,
c. the Sheet name or the number followed by the cell addresses referred to
by the range name,
d. the scope of the range name, and
e. any comments you might have assigned to the defined range.

5. The dialog box displays four buttons at the top.


a. New option allows you to create new range names. When clicked, Excel
displays the familiar New Name dialog box for defining a new range
name.
b. Edit option allows you to edit or modify the existing particulars of the
selected range name. This displays the Edit Name dialog box, which is
the same as New Name dialog box except that it shows all the details of
the selected range name and allows you to modify them.
c. Delete options enables you to delete the selected range name.
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d. Filter option when selected drops down a list of sub options that allows
you to display only those names that meet specific criteria, such as say
range names for a particular worksheet.
Practical demonstration - Modifying a Range
Lets modify the existing range of cells of Marks and Students range names.
1. Click on the range name you
want to edit, say Marks.
2. Click on Edit tab. Edit Name
dialog box appears. This is the
same one you had earlier used
for defining the range name.
Range of cells
covered by the
3. You can change the name by
selected Range
overwriting the existing name in
name
the Name text box.
4. To modify the range, click on
the red arrow button in the
Refers to: text box.
5. Edit Name Refers to: dialog
box appears displaying the range of cells referred to by the range name. At the
same time, the range of cells represented by the selected name in the worksheet
is outlined.
6. Lets extend the range to include three more rows.
7. To do this, hold down the Shift key and click on cell E10. The outline expands to
include these additional rows. At the same time, the displayed range in the
Refers to: dialog box reflects the changed range.
8. Press Enter to accept the changes. Click OK in the Edit Name dialog box to
save the change.
9. The Name Manager dialog box now shows the modifications you have made.
10. Click Close to remove the dialog box.

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Range of cells
covered by the
selected range name

Observe that in the Define Name dialog box as well as in the Name Manager dialog
box, when you select a range name, the range of cells it refers to is also displayed in
the Refers to text box. You can modify this range in-place in the text box by directly
replacing the displayed cell addresses. Lets use this method to modify the Students
range name to extend it to include cells from A2 to A10.
1. Click on Name Manager in Defined Names group of Formulas tab.
2. In the displayed Name Manager dialog box, click on Students range name to
select it.
3. Click at the end of the displayed range in the Refers to: text box.
4. Press Backspace key. Excel removes the second part of the range appearing
after the colon.
5. Type $A$10, such that the display now appears as =Sheet1!$A2:$A10. Press
Enter key. Click Close the remove the dialog box.
6. Excel saves the modified range. Verify this by selecting Students range name
from the Name box.

Deleting an existing Range name


Display the Name Manager dialog box as before.
Select the range name to be deleted by clicking on it in the displayed list.
Click on Delete button.
The selected range name gets deleted.
Pasting a list of Range names
If you have a large number of range names defined, it may help you to keep a list of
these range names with their associated range of cells on your worksheet for easy
reference. You can do this by asking Excel to paste the list of range names in your
worksheet.
Select a suitable blank area in your worksheet. Make sure that the cell pointer is
within this area.
Page 175

Click on Formulas tab.


Click on Use in Formula option in Defined Names group. In the displayed drop
down list, click on Paste Names option.
A Paste Name dialog box appears listing all the Range names you have created.
Click on Paste List tab at the bottom of this dialog box. A list of all the listed
range names in the dialog box now appears at the cell pointer in the worksheet.
Observe that along with the range name, the range of cells referred to by the
range names as well as the worksheet in which they appear is also displayed.

Pasted list of range


names

Page 176

Recap
A Range is a group of cells to which you can assign a name. By defining cells and
ranges with Names you can make your formulas much easier to understand and work
with. In this lesson you learnt how to identify single cells containing data with labels and
use them in formulas. You also learnt how to identify a rage of cells with names and
refer to them in functions. You got acquainted with the Name Manager and explored its
various features.

Page 177

Lesson 11: Referencing Cells in Worksheets of Excel 2010


Overview

In Microsoft Excel 2010 references are used for identifying a cell or a group of cells in a
worksheet. References tell Excel where to look for the values or data you want to use in
a formula or a function. With references, you can use data contained in different parts of
a worksheet in one formula or use the value from one cell in several formulas. Using
references you can also link cells of different worksheets of different workbooks. In this
lesson you will learn about the different ways Excel refers to data in the worksheets of
the same workbook as well as in other workbooks. You will also learn how to copy and
move formulas containing references within the same workbook and between
workbooks.

Skills you will learn in this lesson


How Excel references data in cells
Working with Relative, Absolute and Mixed cell
references

Copying and moving formulas

How Excel 2010 references data in cells


A cell reference refers to a particular cell or range of cells in your worksheet. There are
three styles by which you can refer to data in Excel Worksheet cells.
1. A1 reference Style
2. R1C1 reference Style, and
3. 3D reference Style
The A1 Reference Style
By default, Excel uses the A1 reference style. This refers to columns with letters (A
through XFD, for a total of 16,384 columns) and rows with numbers (1 through
1,048,576). These letters and numbers are called row and column headings. To refer to
a cell, just enter the column letter followed by the row number. Some typical examples
of A1 reference styles are:
E14
C12:C25
D5:G5
8:8
2:12

refers to the cell at the intersection of column E and row 14


refers to cells in column C and rows 12 to 25
refers to cells in row 5 and columns D to G
refers to all cells in row 8
refers to all cells in rows 2 through 12
Page 178

E:E
H:L

refers all cells in column E


refers to all cells in columns H through L

You can use cell references in several ways


1. Referring to data in a single cell or range of cells in the same worksheet
2. Referring to data that is contained in a different worksheet of the same workbook
3. Referring to data that is contained in a different worksheet of a different
workbook.
Referring to data in a single cell or range of cells in the same worksheet
This is the most common cell referencing style you will be using most of the time. If
your work is within a single worksheet, you can refer to any cell or range of cells in that
worksheet simply by specifying their cell addresses. For example, in the left screen
shot, cell address B3 refers to a single cell at the intersection of column B and row 3,
while in the right screen shot, B3:D6 refers to a range of cells, both in the same
worksheet. When you dont specify the worksheet name, Excel assumes that you are
referring to the current active worksheet.

Referring to another worksheet within the same workbook


By default, each Excel Workbook when opened opens with three Worksheets. You may
however add any number of Worksheets as per your requirement. In a practical Excel
application, you are often required to refer to data in other worksheets of the same
workbook. You can easily do this by using appropriate references. Suppose you are
currently working in cell B2 of Sheet3. You want to sum the values in a range of cells

Name of the
worksheet
referenced

Page 179

Symbol !
separates the
sheet and the
range of cells

D3:D6 in Sheet1 of the same workbook and show the sum in the current cell of Sheet3.
Entering the following formula does the trick for you.
=SUM(Sheet1!D3:D6)
In the above example, the SUM worksheet function sums the data values for the range
D3:D6 on the worksheet named Sheet1 of the same workbook and displays the result in
the current cell B2 of Sheet3. Note that the name of the worksheet and an exclamation
point (!) precede the range referenced.
Referring to another worksheet in another workbook
Occasionally while working in a workbook you may want to refer to data available in
another workbook. You can set up a link between the two Workbooks by using
appropriate references. Suppose you are currently working in cell F6 of Sheet1 of
workbook1. You want to sum the values in a range of cells K2:K10 in Sheet4 of another
workbook named as Budget and save the sum in the current cell. Entering the following
formula does the trick for you.
=SUM([Budget]Sheet4!K2:K10)
Name of the
Workbook and
Worksheet
Referenced

Symbol separating the sheet and the


range of cells

In the above example, the SUM worksheet function sums the values for the range
K2:K10 on the worksheet named Sheet4 of another workbook named Budget and
stores the result in the current cell of current Sheet of current workbook. Note the
syntax carefully. The referred workbook Budget is specified in square brackets. It is
followed by the referred worksheet name. This in turn is followed by an exclamation
mark and the range of referred cells.
The R1C1 reference Style
In the R1C1 style, Excel indicates the location of a cell with a letter "R" followed by a
row number and a letter "C" followed by a column number. This reference style is useful
for computing row and column positions in macros. A macro is an action or a set of
actions created to automate tasks. Macros are recorded in the Visual Basic for
Applications programming language. VBA is a built-in language in most of the Microsoft
Office applications including Excel 2010.
When you record a macro VBA in Excel records commands by using the R1C1
reference style. For example, if you record a macro for adding two data values cells A2
and B2, Excel records the formula by using R1C1 style, not A1 style references.

Page 180

The recorded macro in VBA language is shown in the screen shot. Observe how VBA
refers to cells using R1C1 style.
Following are some examples of how Excel refers to cells in R1C1 reference styles.
R[4]C[6]
refers to a relative reference to the cell four rows down and six
columns to the right
R6C10
refers to an absolute reference to the cell in the sixth row and in the
tenth column
R[-4]C
refers to a relative reference to the cell four rows up and in the
same column
R[-1]
refers to a relative reference to the entire row above the active cell.
R
refers to an absolute reference to the current row.
In Excel 2010, the default way of referencing cells is A1 style. When you record a
macro, Excel automatically invokes VBA programming language and changes the style
to R1C1 style. When you end recording of macro, Excel 2010 again removes the VBA
language and switches back to A1 reference style.
You can also turn on or off the R1C1 reference style using options in Excel options
window.
Click File tab to display the options on the Backstage View.
Page 181

Click
on
Options
option. In the displayed
Excel
Options
window,
click
Formulas option.
Observe
that
by
default,
the
R1C1
reference style option
under Working with
formulas section is
disabled. To enable or
disable
the
R1C1
reference style, just
click in its associated
check box.

The 3-D reference style


The 3-D reference style is used to refer to the same cell or to the same range of cells on
multiple worksheets within a workbook. A 3-D reference includes the cell or range
reference, preceded by a range of worksheet names. Excel uses any worksheets stored
between the starting and ending names of the reference. For example,
=AVERAGE(Sheet3:Sheet8!D4:D15) computes the averages of all the values contained
in range of cells D4 to D15 on all the worksheets between and including Sheet 3 and
Sheet 8 of the current workbook.
=AVERAGE(Sheet3:Sheet8!D4:D15)
Range of
Worksheets
Referenced

A typical example would be one where you have used different worksheets to save the
sales of a product for 4 quarters. You can then monitor the overall performance of the
product by creating an abstract worksheet using 3D reference style for summing or
averaging the sales from the individual worksheets.
The following example illustrates the use of 3D reference style.
Suppose you have sales figures of a product for three regions saved in three separate
worksheets say Sheet 3, Sheet4 and Sheet5 in identical cells. You want to consolidate
them in a single sheet say in Sheet 2 to learn about its performance by adding and
finding average. You can use 3D reference style for this purpose as illustrated in the
following screen shots.

Page 182

Data in Sheet 3

Data in Sheet 4

Data in Sheet 5

Abstract results
Sum of Qtr1 data in
Sheet3, Sheet4 and Sheet5
Average of Qtr1 data in
Sheet3, Sheet4 and Sheet5

Cell

Referencing in Formulas
There are two types of cell references that you can enter in Excel formulas Relative
and Absolute. It is essential to know the difference between these two ways and the
importance of how to use them in formulas.
Relative cell referencing

Page 183

When you enter a formula


the form =B3+C3 in cell
you are in effect telling
Excel to add the values in
B3 and C3 and display the
result in D3. Excel notes
relationship between the
D3 which contains the
formula (or the function),
the other cells B3 and C3 which contain data.

of
D3,
cells
the
cell
and

Now lets copy the formula to the


cells D4 to D6. Select one of the
cells say D6. Observe that the
formula
has
automatically
changed to =B6+C6 in this cell.
Excel has noted the amount of
shift from the original cell to the
copied cell and has relatively
adjusted the cell references in
the copied formula automatically.
The formula in D3 computes the total by adding the value in the cell that is 2 cells to its
left with the value in cell that is 1 cell to its left. When you copied this formula to other
cells D4 to D6, Excel just transformed this relative summing to other cells.
This is known as Relative referencing. Unless you specify otherwise, Excel always
uses relative cell references in formulas. It is the Excels default way of working. Most
important advantage of relative referencing is that, since it references by relative
location, when you can copy the formula or function to another cell, Excel automatically
makes adjustments in the associated cell references.
The following demonstration makes this concept clear.
The worksheet shows
the sales data of a
company for the four
quarters of the four
regions
of
the
country.

Let us workout the


average sales for each region. The formula for this is the Sum of quarterly sales divided
by the number of quarters.
Page 184

Practical demonstration
1. Select cell F8 and enter column label as Avg Sales. Press Enter key.
2. In cell F9, enter the formula =SUM(B9:E9)/4
3. Excel computes the average and displays it in cell F9 as 22
4. Now, instead of repeating the above steps for computing the averages for
remaining regions, lets use the relative referencing facility by copying the
formula to other cells.
5. Right click on F9. A shortcut menu appears.
6. Click on Copy option. The cell F9 will be surrounded with marching dashes.
7. Press down arrow key so that F10 becomes your current cell. Holding down the
Shift key, press down-arrow key till cells F10 to F12 are highlighted.
8. Right click anywhere on the selected cells. In the shortcut menu that pops up,
click on Paste option. Excel copies the formula entered in F9 to all the selected
cells F10 to F12.

9. Move the cell pointer to F10 and observe the formula displayed in the formula
bar. You will observe that Excel has on its own adjusted the formula to read
=SUM(B10:E10)/4).

Page 185

If you change any of the values for any of the quarters for any region, its Average Sales
gets automatically updated, because now everything has been linked up. Confirm this
by changing any of the data values in the range.
This is the true power of Microsoft Excel. Using Formulas and Functions, you can
reference a number of cells in your worksheet and setup a link. Whenever you change
any of the data in the linked cells, the results gets automatically updated. This is the
foundation for What-if type of analyses which allows you to workout various
alternatives in your worksheet.
Absolute Cell Referencing
As against the Relative referencing of cells as discussed above, Excel also provides
Absolute referencing of cells. An Absolute cell reference in a formula always refers
to a particular cell in a specific location. Even if the position of the cell that contains the
formula changes, the absolute reference remains the same and does not change in the
formula. If you copy the formula across rows or down columns, Excel does not adjust
the absolute references.
Absolute referencing will be necessary when you want the calculations to be performed
with reference to the data value in a particular cell even when the formula is copied to
other cells. This concept is somewhat difficult to understand, so lets use a
demonstration to clarify this very important aspect.
In our above worksheet we have computed the averages for each region. Now as the
manager of this company you may want to evaluate each regions performance. One
way of doing this is to find the overall average of all regions and treat this as benchmark
for evaluating the performance of other regions. The formula for computing overall
average is to add all averages and divide it by number of averages.
Select cell F14. Enter the formula as =SUM(F9:F12)/4. Press Enter.
Excel computes the overall average and displays the result in F14 as 16.5.
Select cell D14 and enter the label as Overall Average.

Now, you want to evaluate each regions averages against this overall average and
display the result against each region.
Select cell G8 and type the label as Performance. Press Enter.

Page 186

In cell G9 type the function =IF(F9>=F14,"Above","Below"). Press Enter. Excel


displays the result as Above in cell G9. How? Lets analyse this result.
IF is a logical function which is used to compare two values. We will be
discussing this function in more detail in a later lesson. Excel compares the data
values in cells F9 and F14. If the value in cell F9 is greater than or equal to the
data value in F14, then Excel evaluates the result as Above and shows this
result in the current cell. If not, (that is if data value in cell F9 is less than data
value in cell F14), the evaluated result is Below and this result gets displayed in
the current cell.
Now copy this function to rest of the cells F10 to F12, by using any convenient
method. Excel displays the results in these cells.
Look at these results. Something is obviously wrong with the result in cell G11.
North Regions average 9 is obviously less than the overall average of 16.5 and
yet the result is Above! Actually it should be Below. So what has gone wrong?

Incorrect
evaluation

Click on cell F11 and look at the formula in formula bar. It reads
=IF(F11>=F16,"Above","Below"), that is data in F11 is being compared with data
in F16. But there is no data in F16 and so Excel treats it as zero. Actually the
comparison should be between cells F11 and F14. Where has this F16 come
from? If you think logically, you will get the answer.
When you copied the function from G9 to the cells G10 to G12, Excel used
Relative referencing in the copied functions. It just adjusted the cell references
in the copied function relative to the cells in the original function. So in the copied
function in cell G11, it has just replaced F9 with F11 and F14 with F16 relatively!
Lets use Absolute referencing to modify this. Click on cell G9 and re-enter or
modify the function as =IF(F9>=$F$14,Above,Below). Note the $ sign before
the letter F and the number 14. Press Enter key. Now copy the function to cells
F10 to F12.
Now observe the results. Now they have been correctly evaluated!

Page 187

Absolute referencing
Correct
evaluation

Relative referencing

The $ sign preceding Column F and Row 14 informs Excel to treat the reference
to Column F and Row 14 as Absolute (unchanging) when copying the formula or
function to other cells. That is the cell F14 should be treated as an Absolute
reference and should not be changed in copied formulas or functions referencing
to this cell.
Verify this by clicking on cell G11 and looking at the function in formula bar. It
reads =IF(F11>=$F$16,Above,Below). Observe that while cell F9 has been
relatively referenced to F11, F14 has not been changed.

Mixed cell referencing


Mixed cell referencing is a combination of relative and absolute cell referencing. It locks
either the column or the row part of a cell address. There are two possibilities:
Sometimes you may want to fix a particular column as absolute while keeping the
row number as relative. In that case you would prefix a $ symbol to the Column
Label only. For example, $G10, $B2
Sometimes you may want to fix a particular Row number as absolute while
keeping the Column label as relative. In that case you would prefix the Row
number with the $ symbol. For example, G$10, B$2.
Reference (Description)

Display

Absolute column and Absolute row $A$1


Relative column and Absolute row

A$1

Absolute column and Relative row

$A3

Relative column and Relative row

A3

Page 188

A mixed reference has either an absolute column and a relative row, or an absolute row
and a relative column. If the position of the cell that contains the mixed reference
formula changes, the relative reference is changed, but the absolute reference does not
change. If you copy the formula across the rows or down the columns, the relative
reference automatically adjusts, and the absolute reference does not adjust.
Use of Mixed cell referencing requires unusual situations. As you gain more experience,
you will have opportunities to experiment with this type of referencing.
Using F4 for prefixing $ symbol
Prefixing of $ symbol to Column labels or Row numbers requires positioning of the
insertion pointer preceding the Column label or Row number, and then inserting the
symbol. Excel gives a short cut to this by way of F4 function key.

Display the formula in the cell by double clicking on it in the cell.


Select the Column or Row to be prefixed with the $ symbol.
Press F4. Both Column and Row get prefixed with $ symbol indicating absolute
cell address.
Press F4 again. Now only the Row number gets prefixed indicating mixed cell
address.
Press F4 again. Now only the Column label gets prefixed with $ symbol
indicating mixed cell address.
Press F4 again. The $ symbol gets removed from both Column label and Row
number indicating relative cell address.

Pressing F4 key cycles through possible combinations of relative, absolute and mixed
cell references. The table shows how the cell reference A1 is displayed with the
repeated pressing of F4 key.
Copying and Moving Formulas
Copying and moving formulas within a worksheet are exactly the same as in the case of
copying or moving cell data. But there is an important difference. When you copy a
formula, the cell references included in it also change to reflect the new location of the
cell. On the other hand when you move the formula the cell references included in it
doesnt change but remains the same. The following simple demonstration clarifies this
important distinction.

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Practical demonstration
Enter a data value, say 3 in a blank cell, say A4.
Enter another data value 5 in cell B4.
Enter the formula =A4+B4 in cell C4. Press Enter. Excel displays the result as 8.

Now copy the formula in cell C4 to cell


D5. Excel copies the formula and
displays the result as 0 in D5. To know
why, click on cell D5 and look at the
formula. Excel has replaced A4 and B4
with A5 and B5 respectively. Since A5
and B5 are blank, Excel returns
the result as 0. Note that when
you copied the formula, the cells
referenced by it have also
relatively shifted.

Copied
formula

Now move the formula in cell C4


to C6 using Cut and Paste. Excel
moves the formula and displays
the result as 8 in C6. The moved
formula in cell C6 still refers to its
Moved
cells as A4 and B4, so it displays
formula
result in C6 as 8. That is even
though you have moved the
formula, the new destination still refers to the old data value cells.

Recap
Referencing of cells means identifying the cells for Excel where to look for data
values. It provides a way of linking of various cells that Excel uses for performing
various types of tasks. In this lesson you explored the various ways of referencing
cells either within the same worksheet, or among the various worksheets of the
same workbook or among different workbooks. You also leant about the various
reference styles for referencing cells.

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Lesson 12: Working with Data Entry Tools in Excel 2010


Overview
One of the main reasons for the popularity of Microsoft Excel application is its user
friendly features. For occasional users of Excel application, a bit of extra work and time
taken may not matter much. But for regular users, and particularly for those users
working mainly as data entry personnel, any little help in reducing their typing work is
most welcome. In this lesson we will be exploring a few of such tools which go a long
way in achieving this.
Skills you will learn in this lesson
How to use AutoComplete feature
How to use AutoFill feature
How to create Custom data series

Entering a large volume of data into a worksheet can be tedious, particularly if you are
required to repeat the same data again and again. Excel 2010 provides a coupe of
tools which helps in entering such repetitious data.
Open a new Excel workbook to explore the various Data Entry tool available in Excel
2010.
AutoComplete Feature
Microsoft Excel remembers all the text entries made by you in the cells of a column.
When you start typing an entry in a cell of that column which begins with same
characters as that of an earlier entry, Excel anticipates you and displays the whole
matching previous entry in that column. If it is what you want to enter, just press Enter
or right arrow key to confirm. If not, just ignore the suggested entry and continue typing
the rest of the characters. This is Excels AutoComplete feature. Following example
demonstrates this very convenient and useful AutoComplete feature.
Practical Demonstration
Lets enter a few cities names in Column A starting from A2.
In cell A2, type Mumbai.
In cell A3, type Nashik
In cell A4, type Pune
In cell A5, type Kolhapur
Now, in cell A6 start typing Nagpur. As soon as you type the starting letter N,
Excel remembers the entry Nashik made in cell A3 and displays Nashik in the
current cell.

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If you press Enter or press an arrow key, Excel automatically completes the entry
for you as Nashik and moves to next cell. This is the AutoComplete feature of
Excel. Since, in this case, the city name you want to enter is different, just ignore
the Excels suggestion and continue typing as Nagpur.

Now in cell A7, start typing Nanded. Even


when you type the first two characters Na, Excel doesnt suggest any
AutoComplete entry. This is because there are now two data labels Nashik and
Nagpur both beginning with Na, so Excels AutoComplete feature does not get
activated.

Turning off (or on) the AutoComplete feature


AutoComplete feature though is very useful when you are entering text data that are
repetitive in nature, sometimes it could be distracting in your data entry process. If that
is so, you can easily turn it off.
Click on File tab in the Ribbon. In the Microsoft Backstage View, click on
Options. Excel Options dialog box appears.
Click on Advanced options.
Observe that the check box against the entry Enable AutoComplete for cell
values has a check mark which means it has been enabled. To disable the
AutoComplete feature, removing the check mark by clicking on the check box.
Click OK.
Now try entering a city name say Miraj which begins with the character of a city
which you have already entered, that is Mumbai. Excel does not prompt you with
any AutoComplete suggestions for completing your entry.
Since AutoComplete is a useful feature, enable it again by visiting the Excel
Options window.

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Using AutoFill Feature


Microsoft Excels AutoFill feature allows you to create several types of data series in its
worksheet. A data series is a sequence of data that follows a definite pattern. One
simple example is that of automatically creating a serial number series. Excel 2010 can
automatically create a series of sequential numbers, number/text combination series,
dates series , or time series etc based on a pattern you establish. Excel 2010 comes
with a few pre-defined well known data series such as months of a year, weekdays, etc.
You can also custom create your own data fill series. There are three ways you can use
the AutoFill feature in your worksheets.
1. AutoFill feature is very handy when you want to automatically fill up weekdays,
months of a year, Quarters, Periods, time sequence, etc in a row or column of
your statement. You need to enter only the starting data. AutoFill knows the
incremental value and automatically completes the rest for you.
2. If you are creating a sequence which does not have standard incremental values,
such as numerical linear or growth series, then you can specify the starting value
as well as the incremental value for AutoFill to create the series.
3. You can use AutoFill to copy the contents of a cell by extending it to other cells in
the same column or row. This is essentially copying.
A few practical demonstrations will illustrate the usefulness of this feature.
Practical demonstration
Lets create a month data series from January to December.
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Click on cell A12 to make it the active cell.


Type January as source data in this cell. We will be creating a month series
using this data.
Observe the small black square appearing at the lower right corner of the cell.
This is known as Fill handle.
When you position the mouse pointer
on
this fill handle, the cursor changes
into a small plus symbol.
Fill handle
Holding down the left mouse button
start dragging the pointer downwards.
As
you drag, a screen tip appears
displaying the rest of the months.
When the screen tip displays
December, release the mouse button.

Excel AutoFills rest of the months in the selected range of cells.

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Using

AutoFill
options button

AutoFill options

AutoFill Options
When you drag the Fill handle and release the mouse button at the destination cell, an
AutoFill Smart tag button appears just below the filled range. When you click this
button, a list of AutoFill options gets displayed. These options enable you to determine
how to fill the cells. Note that the options displayed may vary as per the content you are
trying to fill.
The Copy cells option, copies the data in the original cell to the rest of the cells.
That is, the same data is repeated in the selected destination cells.
The Fill Series option, which is selected by default, creates AutoFill series based
on a definite pattern which Excel knows.
Fill Formatting only just copies the format applied to the original cell to the rest of
the cells. It does not copy the data. The destination cells will be blank. If you
enter any other data in these blank cells, the data takes on the format copied to
that cell.
Fill Without Formatting option creates an AutoFill series but does not copy the
original format. For example, if the original data is formatted with bold italic and
color attribute, the copied AutoFill data will not have any of these formats.
Fill Months option creates an AutoFill series of months. This is same as the
default Fill Series option. This last option may vary as per the content you are
trying to fill.

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These options have been illustrated in the following screen shots. The examples use a
formatted data value entry of January month in cells B12 to E12. How the AutoFilled
data series appear with each option is illustrated.

Copy cells
option just
copies the
data

Copy Cells option just


AutoFills or copies with
the same data

Fill Without Formatting


Fill Months AutoFills the
Fill Formatting Only
Fill Series option
AutoFills the destination
destination cells with the
option AutoFills the
AutoFills the destination
cells without copying the
successive months
destination cells with the
cells with months.
format
format only

Example 2: Creating month and year AutoFill data series.


Select cell A26 and type January 2009. Excel converts this to Jan-09.
Click on the Fill handle and drag it downwards till the screen tip displays Dec-09.
Release the mouse button.
Excel AutoFills cells B27 to B37 with month and year as shown.
Example 3: Creating a Weekdays data series.
Select cell A39 and enter Monday
as data.
Click on the Fill handle of cell A39
and drag it towards right till the
screen
tip
displays
Sunday.
Release the mouse button.
Excel AutoFills A39 to G39 with
rest of the weekdays.

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Example 4: Creating Quarters AutoFill data series


Select cell A41 and type Quarter 1.
Click on the Fill handle of cell A41 and drag it right till the screen tip displays
Quarter 4. Release the button.
Excel AutoFills the series in cells A41 to D41 with remaining 3 Quarters.

Example 5: Creating a Date data series


You can also create a consecutive
dates.
Type the first date of the list
in a blank cell, say A44, in
mm/dd/yyyy format, say as
1/1/2009.
Select the cell. Click on the
Fill handle and drag it to fill
a list of consecutive dates,
say from 1/1/2009 to

list of

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1/15/2009 in cells A44 to A58.


As we have seen in the above examples, with known sequential data series, Excel is
quite capable of intelligently guessing the incremental value and automatically
AutoFilling the rest for you. But there are exceptions to this. Try this.
Example 6: Suppose you want to enter serial numbers from 1 to 10.
1. Enter a number say 1 in any blank cell, say A44.
2. Click on the Fill handle and drag it downwards. Excel AutoFills the selected cells
with 1 by copying the same value rather than with the sequential serial numbers.
If you are creating a sequence which does not have standard incremental values, such
as numerical linear or growth series, then you need to specify the starting value as well
as the incremental value for AutoFill to create the series. Lets repeat the above
example.
1. Enter a number 1 in cell D44.
2. Enter the next number in
the sequence you want
to create in cell D45,
which will be 2 in the
present case.
3. Now select both cells
D41 and D42. Click on
the fill handle and drag
in downwards. Observe
that now the selected
cells are auto filled with
serial numbers.

Example 7: Creating a Time data series


Suppose you want to create a time series at 30 minutes interval starting from 9 AM to
16:00 hours for an appointment chart.
Select cell F44 and type 09:00.
Press right arrow key.
In cell F45 type 09:30.
Select both cells F44 and F45.
Click on the Fill handle and drag it
down. Observe that as you drag,
screen tip displays time at 30
minutes interval.
Release the mouse button when
you have entered your required
time sequence.
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Excel AutoFills the cells with time at 30 minute intervals.

Some more examples of data series are shown in the Worksheet.

Copying data with AutoFill


Occasionally you may be required to copy the same data a number of times in the
adjacent cells of the row or column. By entering such a data in a cell and by dragging
the fill handle of a cell, you can copy the contents of the cell to other cells in the same
row or column.
Practical demonstration
Select cell A28 and type any data,
say Nashik.
Click on the Fill handle and drag it
downwards. Observe that the cell
content of A28 is copied to all other
cells.
Release the mouse button when
you have copied the data required
number of times.

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Using Series option for AutoFilling data series


So far you have been using the fill handle of the data cell to create several types of data
series. Microsoft Excel also provides an alternate way of creating data series. You can
use the Fill tool under Editing group to create many other types of data series,
particularly for creating a linear or a growth series of numbers, dates, etc. When you
use the Fill tool, you can manually control how a linear or growth trend is created and
use the keyboard to fill in values.

Lets
use
Sheet
2 of
our

workbook to explore the options


Fill tool.

in this

Practical demonstration
Lets create a linear series of numbers at step value of say 7 (This could be for
displaying every Monday or any weekday of the year in the worksheet).

Select cell A2. Type 1 and press Enter key.


Again select cell A2.
Click on Fill tool under Editing group in Home tab. In the drop down menu, click
on Series option. A Series dialog box appears.
Observe that by default, Linear type of series is selected.
Click on Columns option to create a linear series in the same column.
In the Step value text box, enter 7 as the interval number.
In the Stop value text box, enter the end value of the series, say 100.
Click OK. Excel fills the cells from A2 to A16 with a series of numbers from 1 to
99 at step values of 7.

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Linear series at
step value of 7

Creating a Growth series


In a growth series, the starting value is multiplied by a defined step value to get the next
value in the series. The resulting product and each subsequent product is then
multiplied by the step value.
Examples: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, .in multiples of 2 (1, 1*2, 1*2*2, 1*2*2*2, .)
1, 3, 9, 27,81, . In multiples of 3 (1, 1*3, 1*3*3, 1*3*3*3, .....)
Practical demonstration
Select cell D2 and type 1.
Click on Fill tool in the Editing group of Home tab.
In the displayed Fill drop down menu, click on Series option. Series dialog box
appears.
Select type of series as Growth type. Enter 3 as step value and 1000 as stop
value. Click Series in option as Columns. Click OK.
Excel automatically fills a range of cells from D2 to D8 with the specified growth
series. (1, 1*3, 1*3*3, 1*3*3*3, 1*3*3*3*3, ).

Page 201

Growth series in
step values of 2

Growth series in
step values of 3

Creating a Custom Data Fill Series


In addition to these built-in AutoFill patterns, you can also create a custom fill series for
frequently used text entries, such as names of employees, Cities, States, etc. Such a
custom created data fill series comes in handy when you are required to type such data
series frequently in worksheets.
You can create a custom fill series from existing items that you've listed on a worksheet,
or you can type the list from scratch.
Creating a Custom fill series from existing items
Select a group of blank cells in your worksheet, say A20 to A26.
Enter some names of States in these cells, say Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat,
Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, etc.
Select the range of data cells A20 to A26.

Click on File tab. In


the
displayed
Backstage view, click
on Advanced options.

Page 202

In the displayed Advanced options, under Web options category, click on Edit
Custom lists shown against Create lists for use in sorts and fill sequence
option.

Custom Lists dialog box appears. Observe that the Import list from cells text entry
box shows the currently selected range of cells A20 to A26 in Absolute reference
system. Click Import button.
The selected range of data values in cells A20 to A26 now appears as a custom
series in Custom lists list box.
Click OK to save the newly created Custom list.
Click OK to exit from Excel Options window.

Now
lets
test
this
custom
created
series.

Select a blank cell, say C20.


Type the beginning value of the series Maharashtra. Press Enter key. Again
select the same cell C20.
Click on the Fill handle and drag it across or downwards. As you drag, observe
the list of State names getting displayed. When you see the last entry, release
the mouse button.
Newly created custom list appears in selected cells.

Page 203

List of names for


creating Custom
series

AutoFilled
Custom created
list

Creating a Custom Fill series from Scratch


You can also create a new Custom series without first entering it in the Worksheet.
Suppose you are the manager of a company with sales offices in North, East, South
and West regions of India. You will be entering the names of these regions very
frequently in your worksheet either in a column or in a row. Lets create a custom series
for this from scratch.

Display the Custom Lists dialog box as discussed earlier.


Click on New List in the Customs lists list box.
Type the entries in the List entries box, beginning with the first entry North
Region, South Region, East Region, West Region. Press Enter after each entry.
When the list is complete, click Add option. The List entries are now converted
as a Custom list and appear in the Custom list box.
Click OK to exit from the dialog box.

Now to
test the
series,

Click on a blank cell making sure that there are enough blank cells adjacent to it
to fill in data series, say A28.
Type the beginning data of the series, North Region.
Page 204

Click on the fill handle and drag it across or downwards to create the series.

Editing or
Changing Custom Lists
You can update an existing Custom list by making changes to it anytime you want.
Display the Custom Lists dialog box as already discussed.
In the Custom lists box, select the list you want to update or modify.
Make the necessary changes in the Custom list entry box.
When complete, click on Add button. Your Custom list gets updated.
It is important to note that the changes you have made will be effective for the newly
inserted custom lists from now-onwards. Previously entered custom lists will not be
affected by these changes.
Deleting an unwanted Custom list
Display the Custom Lists dialog box as already discussed.
In the Custom lists box, select the list you want to delete.
Click Delete.
The selected custom list gets deleted.
Creating a numeric custom list
Normally custom data series lists are created for inserting a series of text or text mixed
numeric entries. You can also create a custom list that contains only numbers. Suppose
you routinely have to enter serial numbers from 1 to 25 in a column. You can easily
create a custom list that can do this work for you.
Select enough empty cells to contain the list; in this case 25 blank cells.
Right click anywhere on the selected list of blank cells. In the displayed shortcut
menu, click on Format Cells option. A Format Cells dialog box appears.
Click on the Number tab if not already selected.
Click on Text category to apply the text format to the selected empty cells. Text
formatted cells are treated as text even when a number is entered in that cell.
Type the list of numbers in the formatted cells. Select the list.

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Display the Custom Lists dialog box by clicking on Edit Custom lists in the
Excel Options window.
Observe that the Import list from cells text entry box shows the currently
selected range of cells in Absolute reference system. Click Import button.
The selected range of data values now appears as a custom series in Custom

lists list box.


Click OK to save the newly created Custom list.

Page 206

Now your number custom list is ready. You can test it out by entering the beginning
number and dragging it to fill a series of cells in a column.
Recap
Microsoft Excel provides a number of tools to make your data entry process easier. In
this lesson you get acquainted with a few of these tools. You learnt
How to use the AutoComplete feature
How to use built-in AutoFill series for routinely required series data
How to custom create your own AutoFill data series.
How to create different types of AutoFill series.

Page 207

Lesson 13: Working With Formulas in Excel 2010


Overview
Creating a worksheet is just a process of entering different types of data in the various
cells of the worksheet. Mere entering data is of little use unless you can perform some
operations on the data and obtain required results. Excel 2010 is specifically designed
to perform various types of operations on the entered data in the worksheets using its
inbuilt Formulas and Functions. Formulas and Functions are the backbones of the
Microsoft Excel application. In this lesson you will get acquainted with these
indispensable tools for efficient working in Excel worksheets.
Skills you will learn in this lesson
Using Formulas
Getting to know Operands and Operators
Using AutoSum tool
Using AutoCalculate feature
Using Formulas
In Excel 2010, a formula is an algebraic expression that performs computations on
numbers, text or other formulas stored in cells of a worksheet. It is made up of operands
and operators. An operand is just a data stored in a cell. An operator is a symbol which
performs certain operations on data stored in cells.
A formula is entered into a cell like any other data entry. When you press Enter or any
of the movement keys, the formula performs the specified computations taking data
from the referenced cells and displays the result in the current cell.
When you enter a formula in a cell, the actual formula is displayed in the formula bar
while the result of the formula is displayed in the current cell.
Syntax of an Excel Formula
Suppose you want to evaluate the algebraic expression (a 2 + b2 2ab) using Excel. In
the above expression, a and b are two variables which can be assigned any values. A
variable in computer terminology is just a named location in its RAM. You can think of
each cell in the Excel Worksheet as a location in the computers memory. Lets use any
two cells of the worksheet, say cells B2 and C2 for representing these variables. Then
to display the evaluated result in cell, say D2, you would enter the formula in cell D2 as
below:
Operands (Data
in cells)

=B2^2 + C2^2 2*B2*C2


Operators

Page 208

In this formula, the data contained in the referenced cells B2 and C2 are the operands.
Symbols such as ^, +, - and * appearing between these operands are known as
operators. These operators perform certain specific arithmetical operations. The equal
symbol appearing at the beginning is known as an Assignment Operator. It indicates to
the Excel that what follows is a formula. The evaluated result of this formula is displayed
in the current cell of the worksheet.
The above formula returns the computed value of the algebraic expression (a 2 + b2
2ab) for whatever values of a and b entered in cells B2 and C2.
Practical demonstration
1. Open a new Excel workbook. Sheet1 will be the active worksheet.
2. Select cell B2 and type a value, say 5.
3. Select cell C2 and type a value, say 2.
4. Select D2 and enter the above formula as =B2^2+C2^2-2*B2*C2. Make sure that
you enter the formula exactly as shown. Remember that to type ^ and * you must
hold down the Shift key and then press the number keys showing these
symbols. Press Enter key.
5. Excel should display the result as 9 in cell D2.

Value of
variable a

Value of variable b

Formula (a +b 2ab)

Computed result of the


2
2
Formula (a +b 2ab)

6. Now lets change the value of cell B2 to any other number, say 12.56 and that of
C3 to 3.25.
7. Observe that the result in cell D4 gets automatically updated to 86.6761.

Re-computed result when


values in cells B2 and B3
are changed
Page 209

Syntax error
Syntax error means grammatical error. Like every language, computer applications also
follow certain grammar. Formulas in Excel must be entered with proper syntax. If you
make an error in the formula, Microsoft Excel immediately pops up an error message
with some suggestions. Try this:
1. Click on the Formula bar.
2. Press Home key to move the insertion pointer to the beginning of the formula.
3. Type an equal (=) symbol and press Enter key.
4. Immediately Excel pops up the following error message. Observe that Excel not
only points out the error but also suggests the corrected version of the formula.
5. Click Yes to accept the suggestion. Excel rectifies the error and displays the
result.

In case the error is not so simple, Excel displays an error message and suitable options
including online help for solving the problem.
Automatic Calculation
You might have observed that when you change any of the values in the referenced
cells of a formula, Excel 2010 automatically recalculates and displays the result before
you make any other change. Every time you make a change, Excel recalculates and
updates the results. Excel does this in the background. In a small worksheet like the
present one such updating takes place almost instantaneously. However if your
worksheet is a large one involving many formulas and functions involving complex type
of calculations, Excel does take some noticeable time to recalculate and update the
results. In such cases you may find the working of Excel application become a bit
sluggish. To improve its performance, you can switch off automatic recalculation
temporarily. Instead of recalculating every time you make a change, you can instruct
Excel 2010 to wait till all your changes to data are completed and then to recalculate all
the formulas and functions. To switch off the Automatic recalculation, follow these steps.
1. Click on Formulas tab in the Ribbon.
2. In the displayed Formulas tab groups, click on Calculation Options in
Calculation group. A drop down menu appears listing Calculation choices.
3. Observe that Automatic option has been selected by default. That is, the
Automatic Calculation is on. You have a couple of choices.

Page 210

Automatic except for data tables option: Excel recalculates all


dependent formulas except Data Tables whenever you make a change
in the data value of the referred cells in the formula.
Manual: If you choose this option, Automatic calculation mode will be
switched off and you can choose when you want to Recalculate workbook.

4. Now Excel 2010 does not recalculate and update the results when you make any
changes in your worksheet. Lets verify this.
1. Select cell B2 and change the data value to 18
2. Select cell C2 and change the data value to 12.
3. Press Enter key. The result in cell D2 does not change.
5. When you want to recalculate and update the results, just press F9 function key
or click on Calculate Now option in the Ribbon. The result in cell D2 changes to
36.
Calculate Now Vs Calculate Sheet
To manually recalculate all open worksheets, including data tables, and update all open
chart sheets, click Calculate Now command in the Calculation group of Formulas tab in
the ribbon.
To manually recalculate the active worksheet and any charts and chartsheets linked to
this worksheet, click Calculate Sheet tool the Calculation group of Formulas tab in the
ribbon.
By default, Excel automatically recalculates all the worksheets of the workbook when
you save it.
Using Keyboard shortcuts to Recalculate a Worksheet or a Workbook
Press

To

F9

Recalculate formulas that have changed since the last


calculation, and formulas dependent on them, in all open
workbooks. If a workbook is set for automatic recalculation,
you do not need to press F9 for recalculation.
Recalculate formulas that have changed since the last
calculation, and formulas dependent on them, in the active
worksheet.
Recalculate all formulas in all open workbooks, regardless of
whether they have changed since the last recalculation.

Shift+F9

Ctrl+Shift+F9

Page 211

Automatic Calculation feature is the popular requirement of Excel spreadsheet. So lets


revert back to default setting. Repeat the above steps and click the Automatic option to
switch on the Automatic Calculation.
Operands and Operators
All formulas contain two basic elements: Operands and Operators.
Operands are the values that the formula operates on. It could be an actual number
such as 3.14, or references to cells containing data, such as B2, B3, etc.
Operators are symbols that tell Excel what to do with the operands in a formula. Excel
has following types of operators:
Assignment Operator: This operator is used to display a computed or
referenced value in a cell.
Mathematical Operators: These operators are used for arithmetical
calculations.
Text Operator: This operator is used for combining two strings or text type of
data.
Relational Operators: These operators are used for comparing data in two
cells and to determine whether a condition is true or false, and to return result
accordingly.
Logical Operators: These operators are used to evaluate logical expressions
containing more than one condition. Excel returns a true or false result
depending on all conditions being true or false.

The Assignment Operator (=)


The Assignment operator is used to display a computed or referenced value in a cell.
Syntax:
Example:

= Value or Expression

= B2
= B3 + B4

assigns the existing value in cell B2 to the current


active cell
assigns the computed value of the formula to the current
cell.

Mathematical Operators
There are several Mathematical operators Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication,
Division, and Exponentiation.
The Addition operator (plus, +) is used to add two values.
Syntax:
=Value1 + Value2
Example:

Page 212

=8 + 2
=A4+B4

Practical demonstration:
Select cell A4 and type any value, say 8.
Select cell B4 and type a value of 2.
Select cell C4 and enter the formula =A4+B4.
Press Enter key. Excel displays 10 as the result in C4 cell.
The Subtraction operator (Minus, -) is used to subtract one value from the other.
Syntax:
=Value1 Value2
Example:
=8 2
=A4-B4
Practical demonstration:
Select cell C5 and enter the formula =A4-B4.
Press Enter key. Excel displays 6 as the result in C5 cell.
The Multiplication operator (Asterisk, *) is used to multiply one value with the other.
Syntax:
=Value1 * Value2
Example:
=8 * 2
=A4*B4
Practical demonstration:
Select cell C6 and enter the formula =A4*B4.
Press Enter key. Excel displays 16 as the result in C6 cell.
The Division operator (Forward Slash, /) is used to divide one value by the other.
Syntax:
=Value1/Value2
Example:
=8/2
=A4/B4
Practical demonstration:
Select cell C7 and enter the formula =A4/B4.
Press Enter key. Excel displays 4 as the result in C7 cell.
The Exponentiation operator (Caret, ^) is used to raise a number to the power of
another number.
Syntax:
=Value1^Value2
Example:
=8^2
=A4^B4
Practical demonstration:
Select cell C8 and type the formula =A4^B4.
Press Enter key. Excel displays 64 as the result in C8 cell.
Note that in all the above cases, Excel returns a result after performing the specified
operation. You can display the result in a cell or use it as an intermediary value in an
expression.

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Basics of using Formulas in Excel worksheet


1. All formulas must start with an equal symbol (=).
2. The operands can be either numeric values or references to cell addresses
containing values.
3. When you enter a formula in a cell, the actual formula is displayed in the formula
bar while the result of the formula is displayed in the current cell.
4. You can edit a formula either in the formula bar or directly in the cell itself.
5. The formulas are not case sensitive. You can enter them using upper or lower
cases or a combination of both.
6. You can leave extra spaces on either side of the operators for easy readability.
7. Formulas recalculate in order of dependence: if a formula uses the results of
other formulas, those formulas recalculate before the one that depends on them.
For example, if a formula in B20 depends on the result of a formula in C8, Excel
recalculates the formula in C8 first and then the formula in B20. This is called
recalculating in natural order.
Order of Precedence
Excel 2010 doesnt treat all operators same. Some operations are performed earlier
than others. In computer terminology this is known as Order of Precedence. If the
formula you entered in a cell contains more than one type of operator, Excel performs
the mathematical operations according to a well defined order of precedence.
1. The exponentiation operation takes precedence over other operations.
2. The multiplication and division operations are performed next in the order of their
occurrence.
3. Finally, the addition and subtraction operations are performed in the order of their
occurrence.
In an algebraic expression having the above types of operators, Excel 2010 makes a
number of passes from left to right performing one operation in each pass as per the
order of precedence. In case of a formula having operators of same precedence, Excel
performs the operation which comes first when evaluating from left. For example in the
formula =A2/2*B2, division and multiplication both have the same precedence, so Excel
performs division and then the multiplication as division comes first. That is, A2/2 is
computed first and the result is then multiplied by the data value in B2.
In the formula =A2*B2/2, the values in cells A2 and B2 are multiplied first and the result
is then divided by 2.
The same procedure is followed by Excel when it reevaluates formulas each time the
data is changed in the referenced cells.
Using Parenthesis for controlling the operations
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When you enter a formula in a cell which performs mathematical operations on data
contained in various other cells, you must be very precise in defining the way the
operations are to be performed. Otherwise, you may get unexpected and wrong results.
Such errors are known as logical errors. Lets demonstrate this with a very simple
example using our worksheet. Lets find the average of the values stored in cells A4 and
B4 and display the result in E4. Make sure that cell A4 has a value of 8 and B4 has a
value of 2.
1. Click in the cell E4 to make it the current cell.
2. Enter the formula =A4 + B4/2. Press Enter key.
3. Excel displays the result as 9 in cell E4.
This is obviously wrong answer! The average of 8 and 2 must be 5. So, what went
wrong? Lets analyse.
As per the set order of precedence, division takes place first and then the addition. So
Excel first divides the value in cell B4 by 2 which gives the result as 1. It then adds this
result to the value in cell A4, and hence the result 9.
To override this set order of precedence, you can use parenthesis. You can then force
Excel to perform the operations on the operands (values) within the parenthesis first,
overriding the order of precedence. In the above example,
1. Click on cell E4 and retype the formula as =(A4+B4)/2. Observe the opening and
closing parenthesis.
2. Press Enter key
3. Excel displays the value of 5 in cell E4, which is the correct average.
By using the parenthesis, you have now forced Excel to first add the values in cells A4
and B4, that is (8+2), and then divide the result by 2.
Note the following points when you are using Parenthesis.
1. Parentheses allow you to specify which operation should be performed first in a
multi-operator operation.
2. Every opening parenthesis must have a closing parenthesis.
3. You must use the ordinary parenthesis symbols and not the curly or the square
brackets.
4. You can nest parenthesis up to any level; that is you can have parenthesis within
parenthesis. If your formula has nested parenthesis, Excel starts evaluates from
the innermost parenthesis towards the outermost parenthesis.
5. Use of parentheses also makes your algebraic expression more easily readable
and understandable.
Text Operator (Ampersand, &)
The Ampersand operator & is used for concatenating two text strings, the contents of
two cells or expressions. Concatenating is the computer terminology for combining or
joining data. For example, if you have entered First Name and Last Name in separate
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cells, you can concatenate them using the ampersand & operator to display the full
name in another cell.
Syntax:

= Value1 & Value2

Example: = First Name & Last Name

Practical demonstration
1. Type Nashik in cell E5.
2. Type Road in cell F5.
3. In cell G6 type the formula = E5&F5. Press Enter key.
4. Excel displays NashikRoad in cell G5.
5. To leave a space between Nashik and Road, reenter the formula in G5 as =E5&
&F5. That is, leave a blank space within double quotes between the operators &.
6. Press Enter key.
7. Now the cell G5 displays the result as Nashik Road.
You can also use & operator for joining alpha-numeric data. For example, if cell E6
contains XYZ and cell F6 contains 1234, then using the formula =E6&F6 in G6
produces the result as XYZ1234. Verify this.
Relational Operators (>, <, >=, =< and <>)
Relational operators are mostly used when you want to compare data in one cell with
the data in another cell or cells and then take a decision based on the comparison. We
will discuss more about this when we take up Logical functions in a subsequent lesson.
Logical Operators (AND, OR, NOT)
Logical operators are often used to evaluate logical expressions containing more than
one condition and then take a decision based on the evaluation. We will be discussing
more about this in a subsequent lesson.
Summing up a Column or Row of numbers
One of the most common and very frequent activities in a worksheet is to find the sum
of a series of numbers appearing in a column or in a row. Excel provides a number of
methods for summing the numbers. Lets explore these using our Marks Sheet
workbook created in an earlier lesson. Open the Marks Sheet Workbook using any
convenient method. The worksheet is shown on the screen. Note that previously
applied worksheet and data formatting from this Worksheet have been removed so that
they wont distract the actual requirements issues of this lesson.

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Lets use different techniques of adding numbers for summing up the marks of students
and display the same in their respective Total Marks column.
By directly typing the formula
If the number of cells to be referenced in the formula is just a few, then you can directly
type the cell references in the formula. Lets use this method to add the marks of
Mohan Kumar and display the total under Total Marks column.
Practical demonstration
1. Click on the cell F2 to make it the current cell.
2. Begin entering the formula by typing an equal (=) sign. This sign tells Excel that
what follows is a formula and not a value or a label.
3. Now type B2+C2+D2+E2 and press Enter key (or click check mark in Formula
bar) to confirm the formula.
4. The computed value will appear in the cell F2.

Directly type-in
the formula

Pointing Method (using mouse)


You can also use mouse to select the cells to be added rather than typing their cell
references. This is particularly useful if you have to add a large number of nonconsecutive values. Lets add the marks of Rekha using this approach.
Practical Demonstration
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1. Click on F3 to make it the active cell.


2. Begin entering the formula by typing an equal (=) sign to indicate that what
follows is a formula.
3. Click on cell B3. The entry in the current cell will be displayed as =B3. Type a
plus sign.
4. Click on C3. The entry in the current cell is displayed as =B3+C3. Type a plus
sign.
5. Repeat the above steps by clicking D3, a plus sign and click E3. The entry in the
current cell is now displayed as =B3+C3+D3+E3
6. Press Enter key. The computed value will appear in the cell F3.

Finding the totals using SUM function


Adding a series of numbers using the above approach is not only cumbersome but is
also not practicable, particularly if you have to total a large array of numbers. Excel
provides an easier method for totaling by using Functions. Functions are the backbones
of the spreadsheets. Excel provides innumerable ready made functions. You will learn
more about the functions later on. For the present, lets use one of the functions, SUM
to determine the total marks of the student Suresh.
Practical Demonstration
1. Select cell F4
2. Type
=SUM(B4..E4).
Observe that as you start
typing the function:
Excel pops up a list of
all available functions
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beginning with the first letter you type. As you type more letters, the list
gets refined narrowing down the list of functions.
Excel displays the syntax of the Function you are entering to help you out,
and
Excel highlights the cells that you are referencing in the function

Make sure that you enclose the referenced cells within parenthesis and separate
the start and finish cells by typing two dots (..).
3. When you press the Enter key, Excel evaluates the sum of all the data in
referenced cells and displays the result in cell F5.

Totaling using
Sum Function

Result of Sum
Function

Notes: 1. Instead of dots you can also use colon (:), as =SUM(B4:A4).
2. Instead of equals sign, you can also use @ sign, as
@SUM(B4:A4)
Using AutoSum
Summing of numbers is perhaps the most commonly used operation in Microsoft Excel.
Recognizing this, Excel provides an AutoSum tool. This is shown as in the Ribbon
under Editing group of Home tab. AutoSum tool is frequently used to find and display
the sum of a contiguous range of cells containing numerical values either above or to
the left of the current cell. Before actually summing, Excel displays the Sum function
with the selected range of cells as arguments. If the selected cells are the correct ones
you can press the Enter key to confirm it, or you can change the range of cells selected

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using either the keyboard or the mouse. The following demonstration illustrates the use
of AutoSum function.
Lets use the AutoSum tool to sum the marks of Kishore student.
Practical Demonstration
1. Click on cell F5 to select it.
2. Click on AutoSum tool (). The mode indicator changes to Point.
3. Excel makes an intelligent guess and highlights the group of cells B5 to E5 with a
dotted box with marching ants.
4. By default, Excel assumes that you want to sum all the numeric values in the
cells above the current cell and accordingly it displays the Sum function with the
ranges selected as, =SUM(F2:F4) in the cell F5.
5. If the selected cells to be summed are okay, confirm it by pressing Enter key or
clicking on the Check mark in Formula bar.

AutoSum tool

6. If the suggested summation is not correct, as in the present case, correct it by


overwriting the displayed range. To correct this, click on the beginning cell B5
and holding down the Shift key click on the ending cell E5. The AutoSum function
now displays as =SUM(B5:E5).

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7. When you press the Enter key. Excel sums up the numeric values in the
selected cells and displays it in the current cell.
8. Note that you can cancel the AutoSum operation by pressing Esc key or clicking
on cross mark in the formula bar.

AutoSum is a very useful tool, but you must properly understand how it works. Before
pressing the Enter key, you must verify that the range of cells referenced in the
displayed Sum function is indeed correct. Otherwise, you may end up with incorrect
sum in the cell.
Besides summing the referenced cells, you can also use AutoSum tool to compute
various other results such as Counting the number of data cells in the range, finding the
Maximum or Minimum values in the range and so on. Clicking on the down arrow of the
AutoSum tool in the Ribbon drops down a list of other available functions. We will be
using these later in this lesson.

AutoCalculate feature
Many times when you are working with numbers in a worksheet, you may want to know
the total of a range of numbers on the fly. Microsoft Excel provides an excellent
feature, known as AutoCalculate, to sum up the numbers in a column or a row or a
range of cells and display the sum in the Status bar of the Worksheet. No need to
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enter any formula or function! Just select the cells. The result is displayed in the Status
bar. Only drawback is that the result cannot be transferred to a worksheet cell.
In our Marks sheet, we have not yet computed the total marks of student Sunitha. Lets
use AutoCalculate feature to get this result.
1. Click on the 6th row to select it. Excel displays the sum of all the cells that contain
numeric data in the selected row in the status bar.
2. Besides Sum, it also displays other statistics such as Average and Count values
of the numeric data in the selected row.
3. You can now directly type in the total in the Total Marks cell F6.

To know the overall class Average marks obtained by all students in English
subject, just select column B by clicking on its label. Excel displays the
average besides other statistics in the Status bar.

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To know the total marks of all students and for all subjects, click on cell B2
and holding down the left mouse button drag the pointer to cell E5. This will
select all cells from B2 to E5. Excel displays the sum, average and count of
all the selected cells in the Status bar.

Finding the maximum and minimum data values using AutoCalculate


In addition to displaying Sum, Average and Count Statistics, AutoCalculate can also be
used to display on the fly the Maximum and Minimum values of the range.
Practical Demonstration
1. Select the range of cells F2 to F6
2. Right click on the AutoCalculate area of the Status bar.
3. A Customize Status Bar list box appears displaying various information that can
be displayed in the Status bar. The items that have check marks against them
are currently displayed in the Status bar. To display the Minimum and Maximum
values of a selected rage of cells in the Status bar, just enable them by clicking
on their check boxes.

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Note that you can also toggle the display of any statistics in the Status bar by just
removing the check mark against that item in the Customize Status Bar list box.
Observe that there are two Count functions Count and Numerical Count.
Count function counts and displays the number of data entries in the selected range
including cells having text entries.

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Numerical Count function counts and displays the number of data entries in the
selected range excluding cells having text entries.
Practical Demonstration
1. Select the complete range of cells A1 to F6
2. Right click on the AutoCalculate area of the Status bar and in the displayed
Customize Status bar list, enable the Numerical Count item and disable Average
item.
3. Observe that in the Status bar, now the Count functions displays the total number
of cells in the range as 36, while Numerical count displays only the number of
cells in the selected range that contains numeric data (as 25).

Editing Formulas
Formulas entered in cells can be edited just like editing of any other data contained in
those cells. You can edit the formula either in the cell or in the formula bar.
Editing in the cell
1. Double click the cell containing the formula to be edited or select the cell and
press F2 function key.
2. The formula gets displayed both in the cell as well as in the formula bar.
3. Insertion pointer appears in the cell. Move the insertion pointer to the location
where you want to edit and make necessary changes.
4. Press Enter to confirm the changes.
Editing in the Formula bar
If the formula is not completely visible in the cell, you can edit it conveniently in the
formula bar.
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1. Double click the cell containing the formula to be edited OR select the cell and
press F2 function key.
2. The formula gets displayed both in the cell as well as in the formula bar.
3. An advantage in editing formula in the formula bar is that you can directly click at
the location where you want to edit.
4. To replace a cell reference in the formula with another, select the cell reference
and either type the replacement cell reference OR click the cell you want to
replace it with.
5. Make all the changes necessary by moving the insertion pointer. Press Enter key
when editing is complete.
Displaying and Printing Formulas and Functions
Excel displays only the results of a formula or a function in the working cell. The
Formula bar displays the actual formula or the function entered when you point to that
cell. Generally this is as it should be. However, for documentation purposes you may
want to display the formulas and functions as entered in the worksheet cells and take a
hardcopy printout for future references. Excel allows you to do just that.
Click on Formulas tab in the Ribbons to display its associated Groups.
Click on Show Formulas option under Formula Auditing group.

Display of Formulas
and Functions
instead of results

Observe that the formulas and functions are now displayed in worksheet cells
instead of the results. Excel widens the columns to display the formulas and
functions in full.
To take a print out, make sure that your printer is ready and click on the Print
icon in the Standard toolbar.

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After the purpose of displaying and/or printing is over, you must reset the
display. Repeat the steps above to re-display the Formula Auditing group
options and click on Show Formulas option.
Excel reverts back to display the results in cells rather than the formulas and
functions. Columns return to their original widths.

Recap
Formulas are the lifelines of Excel working. Without formulas Excel would just be an
ordinary grid of cells for entering data. Formulas link data in various cells and automate
computations. In this lesson you learnt:
about how to create formulas using operands and operators
the various operators available in Excel
various ways of totaling a column or row of numbers

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Lesson 14: Working With Functions in Excel 2010 (Part 1)


Overview
Functions are built-in programs which perform a specific task. Functions are the
backbones of the spreadsheets. Without Functions your spreadsheet would be just an
ordinary data entry table. They simplify computations. Operations which normally take
considerable time can be performed in a few seconds with the use of functions. The
most advantageous and important fact is that you can change any of the parameters
involved in the calculations and obtain instantaneous updating of results. In this lesson
you will get acquainted with this powerful yet simple to use functions in Excel.
Skills

you will learn in this lesson


Concept of Functions
How to use functions
Types of functions
Working with Basic Functions
Working with SUBTOTAL Function

Concept of Functions
Functions are simplified versions of formulas. In formulas you have to type lengthy
expressions involving many operands and operators. For example, for adding data
values in a series of column cells from B2 to B10, you would enter a formula as
=B2+B3+B4+B5+B6+B7+B8+B9+B10. A Function simplifies this by enabling you to
enter the same as =SUM(B2:B10).
Secondly a function automatically takes care of any changes in the range of cells it
references. Formulas on the other hand just ignore this, sometimes leading to false
results. A small demonstration will make this point clear.
Open Marks Sheet workbook if it is not already opened. Insert a new worksheet.
Type a few numbers in cells A1 to A8, say as 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8.
Copy these numbers to cells B1 to B8.

Formula based
sum

Function based
sum

Page 228

Select cell A9 and enter the formula =A1+A2+A3+A4+A5+A6+A7+A8. Press


Enter key. Excels displays the result as 36 in cell A9.
Select cell B9 and enter the function =SUM(A1:A8). Press Enter. Excel displays
the result as 36 in cell B9.
So far so good. Now insert a row anywhere between Row 1 to 9, say between
Row 5 and 6. To do this:
o Select Row 6. Click on Insert Sheet Rows option in the Cells group of
Home tab. A blank row gets inserted below rows 5 and 6. The row
numbers
gets
renamed.
Select blank cell A6 and
type any number, say 15.
Observe that the total in
cell A10 does not get
updated.
Now select blank cell B6
and enter the same
number 5. Observe that
the
total
in
B10
automatically gets updated
to 51.
Newly
inserted row

Formula based
sum

Function based
sum

Page 229

Categories of Functions in Excel


Excel 2010 provides about 340 ready made functions programmed for performing
various types of computations in a wide variety of applications such as mathematics,
science, business, statistics, Engineering, etc. Functions vary from simple ones like
SUM to complex ones used in advanced applications. These functions have been
grouped in appropriate categories. There are more than ten such categories, each
category containing dozens of useful functions. The categories are:
o atabase
o Date and Time
o External
o Engineering
o Financial
o Information
o Logical
o Lookup and Reference
o Math and Trigonometry
o Statistical, and
o Text and Data
o Cube
o Compatibility
o
Syntax of a Function
Every function consists of three parts:
1. The equal sign ( =) to inform Excel that what follows is a function;
2. The name of the function;
3. One or more arguments enclosed in parentheses, including none.
=Function Name(list of arguments separated by commas, colon or double dots)

Example 1:

=SUM(B2,B5,B8:B16)
Function Name

List of Arguments

Example 2:

=IF(E4=F4,"Yes","No")
Function
Data in cells E4 and F4 are
compared

True value

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False value

A Function must always be followed by a pair of parenthesis enclosing one or more


arguments separated by commas. Some functions need no arguments but still
parenthesis must be present. For example the simple function PI() which returns a value
of 3.14159265358979 has no argument, where as a complex function such as
=FV(rate,nper,pmt,pv,type) which returns the future value of an investment based on
periodic constant payments and constant rate of interest, has as many as 5 arguments.
Some multi-argument functions may not need the values for all its arguments, but still
placeholder arguments in the form of commas must be provided. Some functions have
optional arguments.
Entering a Function into Worksheet
Excel 2010 provides several ways for entering functions into worksheet cells.
By using the Functions tab in Ribbon Interface
Click on the Formulas tab of the Ribbon interface.
Various groups of Formulas tab get displayed. The Function Library group lists
various categories of functions available to you. How these categories are
displayed depends on the size of your monitor. On a wider screen, you will see
the icons of these different categories listed in a row series. On a smaller sized
screen, they will be grouped together in multiple rows. Clicking on More
Functions option drops down a list of some more function categories.

Clicking on the down arrow of any of these function categories drops down a list of
associated functions of that group. If you point to any of these listed functions, a screen
tip appears showing the syntax of the function as well as a brief description. To select
any of these listed functions, just click on it. A Functions Arguments dialog box appears
requesting for the required arguments for the selected function. You can directly enter
the argument or click on the cell in the worksheet that contains the required argument.

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Recently Used category when selected lists recently used functions for quick access.
By directly typing-in:
Select the cell. Begin with an equals sign followed by the functions name and
then enter its arguments in parenthesis. Arguments can be values, cell
references or named cells. This method is suitable for simple functions such as
SUM. You can type the function as well as arguments either in upper or lower
case. Conventionally however, the function name is typed in Upper case.
By using Insert Function dialog box:
Because it has so many diverse functions, Excel provides an Insert Function
dialog box for helping you with the selection and use of functions. Pasting
functions from this dialog box is the easiest way of entering functions, particularly
for complex functions having many types of arguments.
Before we go ahead, lets have a look at these available functions.
Click on the Insert Function symbol which appears as fx in the Formula bar.

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Excel pops up an Insert Function dialog box.

If you dont know the


name of function,
enter here what you
want to do in natural
language

Select a Function to
display its syntax
and a brief
description

Select a function
category to display
all functions in that
category

Selected Functions
syntax and a brief
description appears
here

Observe that
by
default,
Excel has selected Most Recently Used category of functions. Excel keeps
track of your frequently used functions and includes them in this category for
easy availability. These functions are listed in Select a function list box.
If the function you require is not in the Most Recently Used category, then you
will have to search for it. If you know its name or the category to which it belongs,
your search will be simple. Just click on the down arrow appearing in Select a
category list box. A list of categories drops down. Click on the required category.
Functions of that category get displayed in Select a Function list box. You can
then click on the required function.
Suppose you dont know the name or the category of the function. You are
looking for a function which
does a particular type of
operation. Your best choice of
searching is to enter a plainEnglish description of what
your requirement is, in the
Search for a Function text
box, say loan payments. Excel
lists functions which might
meet your requirement in
Select a Function list box.
To view all available functions
in Excel, click on All category.
All functions are displayed in
alphabetical order in the
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Select a function list box. You can scroll through the displayed function list of
over 200 functions by using the scroll bar.
Observe that for each selected function, its syntax and brief information about the
function appears just below the category list box.

Syntax Error in Functions


You must type the formula with its proper syntax. If there is any syntax error in the
formula, Excel pops up an error message. It also suggests the corrected function. You
can either accept the suggested corrections by clicking on Yes option, or correct it
yourself by clicking on No option.
Try this.
In any blank cell of the worksheet, enter the SUM function as =SUM(B8;B16).
Note that semi-colon is used intentionally instead of colon.
Press Enter key. Immediately Excel pops up an error message as shown.
Observe that Excel has suggested the corrected function replacing semi-colon
with colon.

If you accept the suggested correction by clicking on Yes option, Excel automatically
replaces the incorrect function with the corrected function.
If you click No option intending to correct the function yourself, Excel displays one more
message box with some additional suggestions.

Click OK to close the message box. Click on Help button to get some additional
information about the syntax error.
Points to be noted about Functions
The function appears on the Formula bar while the results appear in the cell.

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Function names are not case sensitive. It is however, the conventional practice to
always write them in uppercase.

Trying out functions


Lets use our Marks Sheet data for exploring the use of some basic and fundamental
functions. Click on Sheet1 to display the Marks sheet data.

Using Basic functions


Now lets use some basic and fundamental functions to workout some results from the
entered data in the worksheet.
Summing data values with SUM
Syntax:
Where

=SUM(range)
range can be contiguous data cells such as (B2:B16) or it could be
made up of non-contiguous individual data cells, a sub range of
cells, etc. For example, =SUM(B2,D2,E2:F2) sums the values in
cell B2, D2 and range of cells E2 to F2.

We have already discussed in the previous lesson, the use of SUM function to add a
range of data values. The following demonstration illustrates the summing of noncontiguous data cells using SUM function.
Practical demonstration
Select any blank cell, say B10 as the current cell.
Enter the sum function as =SUM(B2,D2,E2:E6) and press Enter.
Excel sums the numeric data in cells B2, D2 and range of cells E2 to E6 and
displays the sum as 506.

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Delete the function in cell B10 as this is of no practical use.

Finding Averages with AVERAGE


AVERAGE function finds the average of a list or range of data values.
Syntax:
Where

=AVERAGE(range)
range can be contiguous data cells or it may contain noncontiguous individual data cells, a sub range of cells, etc.
Lets now find the averages of each student. For this, lets make use of the Insert
Function facility.
Click on cell G2 to select it.
Click on Insert Function symbol which appears as fx. Insert Function dialog box
appears.
Observe that the AVERAGE function is already listed under the Most Recently Used
category.
Click on it. The syntax of the selected function and its purpose appears at the bottom
of the dialog box. Click OK.
A Functions Arguments dialog box
appears. It shows how to use the
function. Observe the following:
The name of the function appears at
the top.
Excel has intelligently guessed that
you want to find the averages of data
in cells B2 to F2 and has accordingly
displayed the range in the Number 1
text box. It also displays the actual
cell data values in curly brackets to
the right of this text box.
If the suggested range is correct,
accept it by clicking on OK.

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Function name

Range or List of
arguments. You
can modify this
directly

Description of
function

Click here to select


range yourself

Result of function

Result of function
Argument
description

If not, you have a couple of choices here.


o You can directly modify the range by overwriting the displayed range in
the text box. Just click in the box where you want to modify. Insertion
pointer appears in the box. Make necessary corrections as usual.
OR
o Instead of directly typing in the range, you can also select it by using
mouse. To do that:
Click on the small red arrow button appearing at the end of the
Number 1 text box. This is the selection box.
Excel displays a collapsed Functions Arguments box displaying a
suggested range of cells to be summed. If this suggested range is
not correct, click on the first cell of the range in the worksheet. This
cell address appears in the Functions Arguments text box.
Selection box

Now hold down the Shift key and click on the last cell of the range.
Selected cells get enclosed in a marquee box.
Press on the red arrow button. You will be returned to the previous
Expanded Function Arguments dialog box with the selected range
displayed.
Excel computes the average using the specified range and displays it as
Formula Result at the bottom of the dialog box.
By clicking on the Help on this function option at the bottom left corner, you can
obtain more information about the function you are using.

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In this present case, Excel has wrongly guessed the data values to be averaged. It
should be B2:E2. To correct
it, click in the suggested
range box. Select F and
change it to E. Excel
immediately recalculates and
displays the average in the
dialog box. If this is correct,
click on OK. Excel displays
the computed average value
of 76.25 in cell G2. Observe
that the actual function is
displayed in the formula bar.

Copying Functions
Instead of computing the
average for rest of the rows (students) individually using AVERAGE function, lets copy
the formula in G2 to the cells G3 to G6.
Right click on cell G2 which contains the function. A shortcut menu appears.
Click on Copy option. The selected cell gets highlighted.
Hold down the Shift key and click on cell G6. Cells G3 to G6 get highlighted.
Right click on the highlighted cells. In the shortcut that pops up, click on Paste
option.
Excel copies the formula in G2 to the rest of the selected cells and displays the
total of each batsman.
If you click on any of the cells G2 to G6, Excel displays the copied formula in the
Formula
bar.
For
example, the formula
in G6 will appear as
=SUM(B6:E6).

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You can also use AutoFill method to copy the Function to the rest of the cells G3 to G6.
Select cell G2. Click on the fill handle and holding down the left mouse button
drag it till you reach cell G6. Release the mouse button.
Excel copies the formula in G2 to the rest of the selected cells G3 to G6.
Check the correctness of copied function by clicking on any of these cells and
noting the function in the formula bar.

Note that you can also find the Average of a list of non-adjacent data values by entering
the cell references separated by commas as arguments. For example,
=AVERAGE(B2,D2,E2:E6) finds the average of data in specified cells only.
Counting data values with COUNT
COUNT function can be used to count the number of cells in a range that contain
numbers or date values. COUNT function does not count the text entries or blank cells
even if they appear in the range selected.
Syntax:

=COUNT(range)

COUNT is a simple function and can be directly entered in the cell without the help of
Insert Function dialog box.
Practical demonstration
Select cell G10. Type the function as =COUNT(A1:G6). Press Enter key.
Excel displays the result of the COUNT function as 30 in cell G10.
COUNT function does not count the cells containing text entries or the blank cells. This
is obvious from the specified range which includes cells A1 to A6 and B1 to F1
containing text and cell G1 is blank.

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Excel provides a couple of useful associated COUNT functions.


Counting number of cells that are not Empty with COUNTA
COUNTA function counts the number of cells in a range that contain data including text
entries. Blank or Empty cells are excluded. It returns number of non-blank cells in the
range.
Syntax:
=COUNTA(range)
Practical demonstration
Select cell G11. Type the function =COUNTA(A1:G6). Press Enter key.
Excel displays the result as 41. Observe that counting includes the cells
containing the text entries in cells A1 to A6 and B1 to F1. However the blank cell
G1 is not counted.

Counting number of cells that are Empty with COUNTBLANK


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COUNTBLANK function counts only the number of cells in a range that are blank or
Empty.
Syntax:
=COUNTBLANK(range)

Select cell G12. Type the function as =COUNTBLANK(A1:G6). Press Enter key.
Excel displays the result as 1. This corresponds to the blank cell G1in the range.

Conditional Counting with COUNTIF


COUNTIF function can be used for counting data in a range that meets a certain
criteria.
Syntax:

=COUNTIF(range, criteria).

Suppose you want to find how many times scores of 80 and above have been scored by
the students in the entire marks sheet. Here the range is the entire scores and the
criteria is 80 and above. Lets use the Insert Function dialog box for inserting the
function.

Click
on
Insert
Function
symbol.
Insert
Function
dialog box appears.
Check
whether
COUNTIF function is
listed under the Most
Recently
Used
category. If so, click
on it.
If not, click on the
down arrow of the
Page 241

Select a category list box and choose Statistical category. In the listed functions,
locate the COUNTIF function (you may have to scroll down the list), and click on
it.
A Functions Arguments dialog box appears with details of COUNTIF function.

In the Range box, enter the range as B2:E6.


In the Criteria box, enter >80.
Click OK. Excel counts the data cells satisfying the criteria in the specified range
of cells and displays the result in cell G13 as 6.

Note: 1. Since the specified criterion is greater than 80, the CountIF function
counts only the data values that is greater than 80. To include the data values
of 80 also, the function needs to be specified as =COUNTIF(B2:E6,>=80)
2. Instead of using the Insert Function dialog box, you could have also
directly entered the function as =COUNTIF(B2:E6,>80) in the cell.
Finding the Maximum and Minimum scores with MAX and MIN

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You can use MAX() and MIN() functions to find the maximum and minimum data values
in a specified range.
Syntax:

=MAX(range)
=MIN(range)

These functions are very simple and you wont be needing the Insert Function dialog
box to insert them.
To find the maximum score:
Select cell G14. Type =MAX(F2:F6). Observe that as you type the function a
screen tip appears showing its syntax. Press Enter key.
Excel finds the maximum score value in the selected range of cells and displays
it in cell G14 as 336.
To find the minimum score:
Select cell G15 and type the function as =MIN(F2:F6). Press Enter key.
Excel finds the minimum value in the selected range of cells and displays it in cell
G15 as 140.

Using SUBTOTAL function


Excel 2010 provides a unique many-in-one function by the name of SUBTOTAL which
performs several frequently used different functions on a list of numbers and returns
appropriate results. SUBTOTAL does this by incorporating many other commonly used
functions.

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An advantage of using SUBTOTAL is that you can exclude hidden rows while
subtotaling. It means that you can temporarily hide rows which you dont want to
process, get the results and unhide them later.
Syntax:

=SUBTOTAL(Function_number, Range)

Where:
Function_number is any number between 1 to 11, and 101 to 111. Each of these
numbers refers to a particular type of computation as in table below. Numbers 1
to 11 are to be used to obtain results considering any hidden data, while
numbers 101 to 111 are to be used to obtain results excluding the hidden data.
Range is an array of up to 1 to 29 cell references or sub-ranges for which you
want to use SUBTOTAL function.
Function
_number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

SUBTOTAL
Function
AVERAGE
COUNT
COUNTA
MAX
MIN
PRODUCT
STDEV
STDEVP
SUM
VAR
VARP

Purpose
Finds the Average of the range
Counts numeric data in the range
Counts non-blanks in the range
Finds the Maximum value in the range
Finds the Minimum value in the range
Finds the Product of the range
Finds the Standard Deviation based on sample
Finds the Standard Deviation based on entire
population
Finds the total of the range
Finds the Variance based on sample
Finds the Variance based on entire population

Function numbers 101 to 111 have the same purpose as above except that the
SUBTOTAL function with these function numbers exclude hidden rows while computing
the results.
As we have seen, we can use functions like SUM, MAX, MIN, AVERAGE etc and obtain
the results. They why use the SUBTOTAL function which essentially does the same
thing? The following demonstration illustrates the usefulness of this versatile function.
Practical Demonstration
Lets use our Marks sheet data to evaluate some of these SUBTOTAL functions to
demonstrate the usefulness of this function. Lets hide the 4th row of data.
Right click on 4th row in the worksheet
In the displayed shortcut menu, click on hide option. 4th row gets hidden.

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Lets now apply various inbuilt functions of SUBTOTAL function on this


worksheet data

The screen shot shows the computed results of various functions of the SUBTOTAL
function.
Results in cells D11 to D21 are obtained using the function parameters 1 to 11 of
SUBTOTAL function. Observe that the data in hidden row is also considered
while computing the results.
Results in cells G11 to G21 are obtained using the function parameters 101 to
111 of SUBTOTAL function. Observe that the data in hidden row is excluded
while computing the results.

Data range with 4


row hidden

Results obtained
without hiding any
rows of data using
function parameter
number 1 to 11

th

Results obtained
th
after hiding 4 row of
data using function
parameter number
101 to 111

Observe that as you start typing the function, the syntax of the SUBTOTAL function with
its associated built-in functions gets
displayed. You can double click on the
required function or just type its function
number to specify.

Page 245

Recap
Functions together with formulas are the heart and soul of Excel worksheet. Without
them Excel worksheet would be just a grid of cells. Excel has more than 200 functions
which allow you to perform various types of computations in a variety of applications.
In this lesson you:
Learnt the difference between Formulas and Functions
Learnt about the various categories of functions
Learnt the structure and syntax of functions
Learnt how to enter functions in to the worksheet directly and using Insert
Function dialog box
Experimented with a number of basic and fundamental functions.

Page 246

Lesson 15: Working With Functions in Excel 2010 (Part 2)


Overview
In the previous lesson we got acquainted with Functions and their importance in Excel
working environment. We also experimented with a few basic functions to understand
their use. Functions are the backbone of Excel worksheet. A good working knowledge
of many different types of functions available in Excel goes a long way in making your
work easier. So, lets explore the functions further in this lesson.
Skills you will learn in this lesson
Using Mathematical and Trigonometric Functions
Using Date and Time functions
Using Date related Functions
Using Special Date functions
As already been emphasized, Microsoft Excel has about 340 functions spread over a
number of categories. These functions cater to a wide variety of applications, such as
Statistics, Engineering, Financial, Math & Trigonometry, etc. Use of application specific
functions requires some background knowledge of that application. So it is practically
not possible to discuss all these functions. However, in this lesson an attempt is made
to discuss a few functions belonging to these categories and which are more commonly
used. You are advised to look up the online help facility in Excel 2010 for learning the
use of remaining functions.
Using Mathematical Functions
In the previous lesson you got acquainted with some basic functions such as SUM,
COUNT, AVERAGE, MAX, MIN, and the versatile SUBTOTAL functions. Lets get to
know some more basic and frequently used mathematical and trigonometric functions in
this lesson.
Finding the Absolute value with ABS
The absolute value of a number is the number without positive or negative sign. ABS
functions always returns a positive value, even though the argument might be negative.
In many computations you will need to consider a data value as positive irrespective of
whether it is positive or negative.
Syntax:
=ABS(Number)
where
Number is a real data value. Note that there is only one argument.
Practical Demonstration

Page 247

Select any blank cell, say A15. Type a negative number, say -12.75 and press
right arrow.
In cell B15 enter the function =ABS(A15). Excel displays 12.75 in the cell.

Finding the Square Root of a number with SQRT


You can find the square root of a number using SQRT function.
Syntax:
Where

SQRT(number)
number is the number for which you want the square root.
Note that if the number is negative, Excel returns a #NUM! error.

Practical Demonstration
Select cell A16 and enter a data value, say 256.
In cell B16 enter the function =SQRT(A16). Excel returns 16 which is the square
root of 256.
Now, select cell A17 and enter a negative data value, say -25.
In cell B33 enter the function =SQRT(A17). Excel displays an error as #NUM!.
This is because Excel cant find the square root of a negative number.
In cell A18 enter the function =SQRT(ABS(A17)). Excel now takes the absolute
value of negative data value in cell A17, and then finds the square root.

Finding the POWER of a number


POWER function computes the value of one expression raised to the power of another
number.
Page 248

Syntax:
Where

=POWER(number, power)
Number is the base number to be evaluated, and
Power is the exponent specifying to what level the base number is
to be raised.

Practical Demonstration
Select cell A19 and enter a number, say 5.
In cell B19 enter the number 3.
In cell C19, enter the function =POWER(A19,B19) and press Enter key.
Excel computes the
value of 5 raised to
3, that is (53), and
displays the result
as 125. Note that
(53) is equivalent of
5 x 5 x 5.

Using PI Function
PI value is often required when you want to find the area of circles and other geometric
figures. You can use PI directly in the formulas and functions for such evaluations.
Syntax:

=PI()

Practical Demonstration
Select cell B20. Enter the function =PI(). Press Enter key.
Excel displays the value of PI as 3.141592654.
Rounding off numbers with ROUND()
You can use the round function to return the rounded value of a cell with specific
number of digits.
Syntax:
Where

=ROUND(number, digits)
number is the numeric value or the cell reference containing the
numeric value to be rounded, and
digits is an integer number specifying the number of decimal places
to be rounded to.
Practical Demonstration
Select cell B20. Enter the function =ROUND(PI(),4). Press Enter key.
Excel displays the value of PI as 3.1416.
Notes:
Page 249

1. If the number of digits is greater than 0, the value is rounded to that many
number of decimal places as illustrated in cells B20 and B21.
2. If the number of digits is zero, the value is rounded to the nearest integer as
shown in B22.
3. If the number of digits is less than 0, the value is rounded to the left of the
decimal point as shown in B23.
4. While rounding, fractions less than .5 will be rounded downwards while above .5
will be rounded upwards as shown in cell B24.

Excel also provides ROUNDUP and ROUNDDOWN Functions for rounding fractional
numbers. The syntax for both functions is same as ROUND() function.
ROUNDDOWN function rounds a fractional number downwards towards zero and after
rounding discards the remaining fractional part.
Examples:

ROUNDDOWN(2.78,1)
rounds down the number to 2.7.
ROUNDDOWN(1.5678,2) rounds down the number to 1.56.

ROUNDUP function rounds a fractional number up away from zero and after rounding
discards the fractional part.
Examples:

ROUNDUP(2.78,1)
ROUNDUP(1.5678,2)

rounds up the number to 2.8


rounds up the number to 1.57

Discarding decimals
with INT()
INT function returns the Integer value of a number or cell.
Syntax:

=INT(number or cell reference)

Page 250

Where

number or cell reference is the actual number or the cell reference


containing the number

Practical Demonstration
Select cell A33. Enter a fractional number, say 12.45. In cell B33 enter the
function =INT(A33). Press Enter key.
Excel displays the value as 12 discarding the fractional part.
Note that INT function does not round up the positive values after discarding the
fractions. Whether it is 12.45 or 12.76, INT() function returns 12.
However if the
argument is a negative number, INT() function rounds up to the next whole number.
Both -12.45 and -12.76 are rounded to -13.

Obtaining Logarithm with Log()


Log() function returns the logarithm of the given number.
Syntax:
= Log(Num)
where num must be a positive number.
Practical Demonstration
Select cell A39. Enter a number, say 20. In cell B39 enter the function
=LOG(A39). Press Enter key.
Excel displays the logarithm value as 1.301029996.
Observe the error #NUM! displayed in B40 which tries to find the logarithm of a negative
number.

Finding the Exponentiation with Exp()


Exp() function returns the Exponential function ex (that is e to the power of x).
Syntax:

= Exp(num)

where num must be a number.


Page 251

Cells B43 to B45 show the evaluated exponential values of cell values A43 to A45.

Rounding Numbers with CEILING()


Ceiling function rounds up the argument to the nearest multiple of significant number.
Syntax:
Where

CEILING(num, significance)
num is any number
Significance is the multiple to which the number is to be rounded
upwards, that is away from 0.

Note that the arguments must have the same signs (positive or negative) else Excel
returns Error.
Screen shot illustrates the CEILING() function. Cells A48 to A52 show the numbers to
be Ceiled, B48 to B52 show the significance and cells in A48 to A 52 show values after
applying the CEILING function.
For

example, CEILING(-4.5,-2) rounds up the value -4.5 to the nearest multiple of -2, which
is -6. (The multiples of -2 are -2, -4, -6, -8 and so on. The nearest multiple of -2 to the
argument -4.5 upwards is -6).
Rounding numbers with FLOOR()
FLOOR function is the opposite of CEILING function. It rounds down the argument to
the nearest multiple of significance.
Syntax:
Where

FLOOR(num, significance)
num is any number

Page 252

Significance is the multiple to which the number is to be rounded


downwards, that is towards 0.
For

example, FLOOR(-4.5,-2) rounds down the value -4.5 to the nearest multiple of -2,
which is -4. (The multiples of -2 are -2, -4, -6, -8 and so on. The nearest multiple of -2 to
the argument -4.5 downwards is -4).

Page 253

Using Trigonometric functions


Working with SIN, COS and TAN Functions
SIN() function returns the trigonometric Sine of the given angle.
COS() function returns the trigonometric Cosine of the given angle.
TAN() function returns the trigonometric Tangent of the given angle.
Syntax:

=SIN(angle)
=COS(angle)
=TAN(angle)

Note that the argument must be in radians. If the argument is in degrees, multiply it by
PI()/180 to convert it into radians. You can also use the RADIANS function to convert
the degrees to radians.

To

switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results,
press CTRL+` (grave accent), or click the Show Formulas tool in the Formula Auditing
group of Formulas tab.
Apart from these simple and commonly used SIN, COS and TAN functions, Excel also
provides a number of other trigonometric functions such as:
Arc (or the inverse) functions such as ACos, ASin, ATan
Hyperbolic functions such as SinH, CosH, TanH
Inverse Hyperbolic functions such as ACosH, ASinH, ATanH
For more details about these functions, you can refer to the on-line Excel Help.
Working with Date and Time Functions

Page 254

Date and time are important data values from various considerations. There are two
possible ways of entering date and time entries in your workbook.
Entering date and time based on System clock.
Entering date and time as normal data values like any other data.
Displaying Systems Date and Time
Lets first discuss how to enter the dates and times based on system clock.
Do you observe the current date and time displayed at the extreme right end of the
Taskbar of your computer? If you position your mouse pointer on this, a tip appears
displaying the current day and date. This is courtesy of your computer system clock.
Your computer system automatically goes on updating your current date and time
continuously using this click. This process goes on even when your computer is
switched off because this clock runs on batteries. However, if the batteries run down,
your clock stops working. When you switch on your
computer the clock again restarts but with some default
date and time. Frequently, you will be required to enter date
and time values in your worksheet based on this system
clock for various reasons. Since the accuracy and
correctness depends on your system clock, you must
ensure that it always shows correct date and time.
Excel 2010 provides a couple of choices while inserting dates and times.
You can insert date and time as Static values; that is date and time do not get
changed even if the system date and time changes, or
You can insert date and time as dynamic; that is date and time gets automatically
updated with the system clock.
Inserting Static date and time
For documentation purposes you may want to insert date and time in your worksheet
that do not change. Note that these are not functions but keyboard shortcuts for
displaying current system date and time.
Add a new blank worksheet to workout various Date and Time functions
To insert static date:
1. Select any blank cell in your worksheet, say A3.
2. Press Ctrl+; key combination (that is, hold down the Ctrl key and press ;). Press
Enter key.
3. Excel inserts current date in the cell. Observe that the date is in mm/dd/yyyy
format.

Page 255

To insert static time:


1. In cell A4, press Ctrl+Shift+; key combination. Press Enter key.
2. Excel inserts current time in the format hh:mm AM/PM.
To insert both static date and static time:
1. In cell A5, press Ctrl+;, leave a blank space, press Ctrl+Shift+;.
2. Excel inserts current date and time with a blank space in between.

Inserting date and time as


static values using Ctrl+;
and Ctrl+Shift+; keys

Inserting dynamic date and time that gets updated


If you want to insert current date and time which automatically updates whenever the
worksheet is recomputed, then you need to use TODAY() and NOW() functions. These
functions dont require any arguments, but you must use parenthesis to indicate them
as functions.
Inserting updatable Current date with TODAY()
Syntax:

=TODAY()

1. Select a blank cell, say A8.


2. Enter =TODAY() and press Enter key. Make sure that you precede the entry with
an = symbol and use parenthesis without any arguments.
3. Excel inserts the current date taken from your system clock in the format
mm/dd/yyyy.

Note
the
following:

Page 256

1. The date is not updated continuously. It gets updated only when the worksheet is
computed.
2. The date entered by the function is taken from the computer's system clock.
3. Though Excel displays the date in conventional format, it actually stores dates as
sequential serial numbers so that they can be used in calculations. By default,
January 1, 1900 is serial number 1, and January 1, 2000 is serial number 36526
because it is 36,526 days after January 1, 1900. The value in cell B8 shows the
serial number 40372 of the date 7/13/2010 entered. (To convert the date into its
serial number, format the cell containing date as number).
Inserting updatable Current date and Time with NOW()
Syntax

=NOW()

1. Select cell A9. Type =NOW() and press Enter key.


2. Excel inserts both date and time. Observe that the date is in mm/dd/yyyy format
while the time is in hh:mm 24-hour format.
3. Cell B9 shows the same date and time when the cell is formatted as a number.
40374 refers to the serial number of the current date elapsed since 1st Jan 1900,
while .52 refers to the fractional serial number of time elapsed since 0000 hours
midnight.

Note the following:


1. The date and time are not updated continuously. They get updated only when
the worksheet is computed.
2. The date and time entered by the function are taken from the computer's
system clock.
3. Excel stores time as fractional serial numbers. 0000 or 2400 hours is 0, 0300
hrs is 0.125, 0600 hrs is .250, 0900 hrs is .375 and 1200 hours in the noon is
0.5, 15 hrs is 0.625, 18 hrs is .750 and 21 hrs is .875.

Date Formats accepted by Excel

Page 257

Though you can enter and display dates in various conventional formats, it is very
important to note that to Excel 2010, a date is just a serial number that represents the
number of days elapsed since January 1, 1900. If you want to work with dates and
perform date arithmetic, it is very important how you enter them. The default date format
is mm/dd/yyyy. The date 13th of July 2010 should be entered by default as 13/7/2010.
Valid dates are right aligned in the cell. If you enter this date as per Indian practice of
dd/mm/yyyy as 7/13/2010, Excel accepts it as a text and not as a date. Such invalid
dates are left aligned.

You can enter dates in Excel 2010 in many formats. The screen shot shows these
formats. The A15 to A33 shows dates entered in different formats, while cells B15 to
B33 shows how Excel accepts and displays the same.

Using Date related Functions

Page 258

Excel provides a number of functions that can be operated on dates.


Entering a date with DATE()
The DATE() function converts dates entered in text format to date format in the form of
mm/dd/yy. If the cells are pre-formatted as numbers, the converted date will be
displayed as serial numbers. DATE function is especially useful for calculating the
difference between two dates by converting them as serial numbers.
Syntax:

DATE(year, month, day)

DATE function requires three arguments separated by commas. These are the year,
month and day of the date to be converted. These are to be entered as integer
numbers.
Year can be specified either as a 2-year or 4-year digit. But it is always a good
habit to enter year as a 4-digit number.
Month can be entered as a number 1 to 12. January is 1 or 01, February is 2 or
02 and so on.
Day can be entered as a number between 1 to 31.
Practical demonstrations
Lets create a date 13th July 2010 in a Worksheet cell using DATE().
Select cell A36. Type the Date function as =DATE(2010,7,13).
Excel displays the date as 7/13/2010.
Computing the number of days between two dates
Lets find the difference in days between the Republic Day and the Independence Day
of the year 2009.
1. Select cell A39. Type the DATE function as =DATE(2009,1,26) and press Enter.
Excel displays the result as 1/26/2009 in mm/dd/yyyy format.
2. Select cell B39. Type =DATE(2009,8,15) and press Enter. Excel displays the
date as 8/15/2009.

3. Select cell C39. Enter the formula =B39-A39. Press Enter key.
4. Excel displays the result as 201.

Page 259

Computing the difference in days after converting dates to serial numbers


You can also first convert entered dates to their corresponding serial numbers and then
evaluate the difference in dates.
1. Copy dates in cells A39 and B39 to A40 and B40
2. Select Cells A40 and B40.
3. Right click anywhere on the selection. In the displayed shortcut menu, click on
Format Cells option. A Format Cells dialog box appears.
4. Make sure that Number tab is selected. In the Category list box, click on
Number. In the Decimal places text box, overwrite 2 with 0.
5. Click OK. Excel converts the
dates to serial numbers and
displays them as 39839 and
40040 respectively.
6. Select cell C40. Enter the
formula =B40-A40. Press Enter
key.
7. Excel displays the result as 201.

Though the computer has evaluated the difference in dates as illustrated in the above
examples, the results are infact incorrect. To understand this, lets find the number of
days in January 2010 using the dates 1/1/2010 and 1/31/2010.
1. Select cell A41 and enter date as 1/1/2010.
2. Select cell B41 and enter date as 1/31/2010.
3. Select cell C41 and enter the formula =B41-A41. Excel computes the difference
in dates in referenced cells and displays the result as 30!
4. Obviously this is incorrect. This is a typical example which proves that computer
is really a dumb machine! Even a child knows that there are 31 days in January
month.
Page 260

A common sense approach for this would be to add a single number to the formula
which evaluates the difference as =B41-A41 + 1. Now you should get the result as 31.

This example demonstrates that blindly taking the evaluated results by computer as
correct particularly when dealing with dates and times could often be misleading. One
must check the validity of the results.
Converting date entered as a text to a date value with DATEVALUE()
DATEVALUE() function converts dates entered as text string to valid date serial
numbers. You can then perform date arithmetic on such numbers.
Syntax:

=DATEVALUE(date_text)

Date_text is an argument. It should be entered as text within quotes. When this function
is called, it analyzes the text provided as argument. If the argument holds a valid date
value, the function returns it as a serial number. If the argument is not a valid date, an
error (#VALUE) is displayed.
Practical Demonstration
Select cell A43 and enter the function as =DATEVALUE(1/26/2010)
Excel returns the date as 40204.

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Extracting date Values from dates


In a real world spreadsheet application such as payrolls, scheduling etc, you may have
to extract various parameters from the dates entered in the worksheet. Excel provides a
number of useful functions for this specific purpose. These functions are:
=DAY(date_value) returns the day of the date_value as a number.
=MONTH(date_value) returns the month of the date_value as a number.
=YEAR(date_value) returns the year of the date_value as a number.
=WEEKDAY(date_value) returns the day of the week as a number.
Note that these functions accept only one argument. The argument could be a
reference to a cell containing date or an actual date within quotes such as for example
1/26/2010.
Practical Demonstration
As an example, lets extract various date parameters from the date 26 th Jan 2010.
1. Select a blank cell, say in A45. Type the date in mm/dd/yyyy format as
1/26/2010. Press Enter key. Excel accepts and displays this date as
1/26/2010.
2. To extract the day of the selected date, select cell B45 and enter the function
=DAY(A45).
3. Press Enter key. Excel returns 26 which is 26th day of the selected date.
4. To extract the month of the selected date, select cell A46 and enter the
function =MONTH(A46).
5. Press Enter key. Excel returns 1. Note that MONTH function returns month
as a number. January is 1 and December is 12.
6. To extract the year of the selected date, select cell A47 and enter the function
=YEAR(A47).
7. Press Enter key. Excel returns 2010.
8. To extract the weekday of the selected date, select cell A48 and enter the
function =WEEKDAY(A48). Press Enter key. Excel returns 3. Note that
WEEKDAY function returns weekday as a number. Sunday is 1, Monday is 2,
Saturday is 7. So 3 is Tuesday.
Verify these returned results by looking at the calendar for that 26th January 2010.

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Using Special DATE Functions


In versions of Excel prior to 2007, some special functions were included in a separate
add-in package known as Analysis Toolpak. Now most of these functions have been
included in the Excel 2010 library of functions itself. A couple of these functions which
deal with dates are discussed below.
Using WORKDAY()
WORKDAY() returns the serial number of the date before or after a specified number of
workdays. Working days exclude weekends and any dates identified as holidays. This
function is useful to calculate invoice due dates, expected delivery dates, or the number
of days within which a work is to be completed.
Syntax:

=WORKDAY(start_date,days,[holidays])

Where

start_date
Days

is the starting date


is the number of non-weekend and non-holiday days before
or after the start_date.
Holdiays
This is an optional list of one or more dates to be excluded
from the working calendar, such as state holidays.
Note that if the argument is not a valid date, the function returns #VALUE! Error.
Suppose you have to deliver a product within 180 days of receiving a supply order. For
specifying the delivery date, you need to add 180 days to the supply order date
excluding weekdays and any known holidays within this period of 180 days.
WORKDAY() helps you in determining this date.
In cell B51 enter the start_date (or the supply order date)
In cell B52 enter the delivery period, 180 days
Enter a list of known holiday dates within the delivery period in cells B53 and
B54. You may add more number of holidays if you want.
In cell B55 enter the function as =WORKDAY(B51,B52). Excel returns a serial
number 40066. Convert this number to date. This date represents the delivery
date without considering the holidays.
In cell B55 enter the function as =WORKDAY(B51,B52,B53:B54). Excel
returns a serial number 40070. Convert this number to date. This date
represents the delivery date after considering the specified holidays.

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Note that the start_date must be a valid date. You can ensure this by entering the date
using the DATE() function as =DATE(2009,1,1) in the cell.
Another alternative to make sure of your result is to use DATE function within the
WORKDAY function as = WORKDAY(DATE(2009,1,1),A55).
Converting serial dates to date formats
Note that the WORKDAY() function returns the date as a serial number. To format the
numbers that are returned as dates follow this procedure:
1. Select the serial number representing the date
2. Click on the Dialog Box Launcher of the Number group in Home tab.
3. In the displayed Format Cells dialog box, select the Number tab.
4. In the Category list, click Date, and then in the Type list, click the date format that
you want to use.
Using NETWORKDAYS()
NETWORKDAYS() returns the number of whole working days between any two days.
Working days exclude weekends and any dates identified as holidays. A typical use of
NETWORKDAYS() is to calculate how many number of days an employee has worked
during a specific period, if he is paid on day basis.
Syntax:

=NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date, [holidays])

Where

start_date
End_date
Holidays

is the starting date


is the end date
is a list of holidays entered as dates in individual cells. This
is an optional argument.

Note that if the argument is not a valid date, the function returns #VALUE! Error.
Screen shot shows the computed number of days using the NETWORKDAYS function.
Enter starting date in cell B59
Enter Ending date in cell B60
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Enter dates of holidays in cells B61 and B62. You may add more number of
holidays if you want.
In cell B65 type =NETWORKDAYS(B59,B60) and press Enter.
The function returns the number of days between the specified dates
including holidays.
In cell B66 type =NETWORKDAYS(B59,B60,B61:B62) and press Enter.
The function returns the number of days between the specified dates
excluding holidays.

Entering time with TIME() function


The TIME() function returns a time value.
Syntax:

TIME(hour, minute, seconds)

TIME function requires three arguments separated by commas. These are the hour,
minute and seconds of the time to be converted. These are to be entered as integer
numbers.
Hours need to be entered as a number in the range 0 to 23.
Minutes need to be entered as a number in the range 0 to 59.
Seconds need to be entered as a number in the range 0 to 59.
Practical Demonstration
Select cell A69. Enter time function as =TIME(8,30,45). Press Enter key.
Excel displays the time as 8:30 AM.

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Calculating the elapsed time


Calculation of elapsed time is often required in many situations, such as billing of mobile
charges, working out wages based on hours of working, etc. Lets find the time elapsed
between the starting time entered in cells B73 and ending time entered in cell B74.
Select cell B73. Enter time as =TIME(9,30,0). Excel displays time as 9:30 AM.
Select cell B74. Enter time as =TIME(18,0,0). Excel displays time as 6:00 PM.
To find the elapsed time, select cell B75 and type =B74-B73. Excel returns
8:30 AM. This is somewhat misleading so lets convert this into a number.
Right click on cell B75. In the displayed shortcut menu click on Format Cells
option. Format Cells dialog box appears.
Make sure that Number tab is selected. Click on Time option.
In the Type listings, select 13:30 format.
Click OK to exit from the dialog box.
Observe that now Excel displays the time as 8:30, which is the time difference
between the selected times.

Converting time entered as a text to a time value with TIMEVALUE()

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TIMEVALUE() returns the decimal number of the time represented by a text string. The
decimal number is a value ranging from 0 (zero) to 0.99999999, representing the times
from 0:00:00 (12:00:00 AM) to 23:59:59 (11:59:59 P.M.).
Syntax:

=TIMEVALUE(time_text)

Time_text is an argument. It could be the content of a cell or time entered as text within
quotes.
Practical demonstration
1. Select cell A77. Enter time as =TIME(11:30:20)
2. Select cell B77. Enter time as =TIMEVALUE(11:30:20)
3. Excel returns time as a fractional number 0.479398148.

Converting time as a number


1. Right click the cell containing time.
2. In the displayed shortcut menu, click on Format Cells option.
3. In the Format Cells dialog box, click Number tab. Click on Number option in the
category box.
To view the number as a time
1. Right click the cell containing time as a number
2. In the displayed shortcut menu, click on Format Cells option.
3. In the Format Cells dialog box, click Number tab, and then click Time in the
Category box.
Using DATEDIF() Function
Excel 2010 provides one more function in the form of DATEDIF() to compute the
number of days, months, or years between two specified dates. But it does not
document this function so many users are not aware of this function.
Syntax:
Where

DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, code)


start_date is the starting date
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end_date is the end date, and


Code is one or two alphabetic characters enclosed in quotes as below:
y
computes number of years between given dates
m
computes number of months between given dates
d
computes number of days between given dates
md computes number of days between given dates ignoring the
months as if the specified dates are in the same year.
ym computes number of months between given dates ignoring
the years as if the specified dates are in the same year.
yd computes number of days between given dates ignoring the
years as if the specified dates are in the same year.
Note that start_date must be earlier than end_date, else DATEDIF() function returns an
#NUM! error message.
Screen shot illustrates the various DATEDIF() functions.

Recap
Excel 2010 provides a number of mathematical functions which are frequently required
to evaluate many results. In this lesson, you learnt a number of useful functions which
enables you to round up the numbers to the required number of decimal places,
functions which returns square roots, absolute values, powers, and so on. You also got
acquainted with trigonometric functions. You also explored various functions that deal
with dates and times both as static as well as dynamic, and how to evaluate number of
days between two given dates, difference in time between two given times, and so on.

Page 268

Lesson 16: Creating Simple Charts in Excel 2010 (Part 1)


Overview
There is an old saying, a picture is worth thousand words. This is particularly true of
Charts and graphs created using Excel 2010 application. An Excel chart or a graph can
convey a lot more information visually than a statement full of worksheet data. The
popularity of Microsoft Excel is its built-in capability of easily representing your data in
worksheets as charts. You can create a wide variety of charts using charting tools in
Excel. After creating charts you can change chart types, layouts, and styles to further
enhance them. In this lesson you will explore all about creating charts for presenting
your worksheet data.
Skills you will learn in this lesson
Concept of Charts and Types of Charts in Excel
Creating a Simple Column Chart
Changing the Default Chart type
Choosing the location of chart
Embedded Chart Vs Chart sheet
Getting Acquainted with Chart Elements
Editing of Charts
What is a Chart?
Chart is a graphical representation of data entered in worksheets. Charts allow you to
analyze data graphically. At a glance of the chart, you can visualize the trends and other
important information that your data is trying to tell you. Excel creates a chart based on
the range of data you select in the worksheet. You can create any number of charts
based on the same data. Excel has a variety of chart types Column, Line, Bar, Pie,
Area, Doughnut, etc. just to name a few. A chart is usually created on a twodimensional basis, which relates to data on columns and rows of a worksheet. You can
also represent data in 3D charts. Each chart has some specific and useful
characteristics which helps you to look for a trend or interpret the data in an
understandable manner. You can embed the chart within the worksheet or create it on a
separate chart sheet but within the same workbook.
One major change in Excel 2010 is that it no longer provides a Chart Wizard for helping
you in creating your charts. However, the process of creation of charts has been
considerably simplified in Excel 2010, and it is very unlikely that you will miss the Chart
Wizard.
Types of Charts
Excel 2010 allows to you create as many as 12 different categories of charts, and in
each category you have many types of variations. Apart from the conventional basic
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categories such as Column, Line, Bar, XY, and Pie, you can also create special types of
charts such as Area, Stock, Doughnut, Scatter, Surface, Bubble and Radar. The table
shows the available categories and sub types of charts that you can create in Excel.

S.No.
1

Chart
Category
Columns

Sub
types
19

Line

Pie

Bar

15

Area

XY (Scatter)

Description of Chart Sub types


Column - Clustered, Stacked, 100% Stacked, 3-D
Clustered, 3-D Stacked, 3D Stacked, 3D Column,
Cylinder - Clustered, Stacked, 100% Stacked, 3D
Cone - Clustered, Stacked, 100% Stacked, 3D
Pyramid Clustered, Stacked, 100% Stacked, 3D
Line, Stacked Line, 100% Stacked, Line with
Markers, Stacked line with Markers, 100% Stacked
line with Markers, 3D Line.
Pie, 3D Pie, Pie of Pie, Exploded Pie, 3D Exploded
Pie, Bar of Pie.
Bar Clustered, Stacked, 100% Stacked, 3D
Clustered, 3D Stacked, 100% 3D Stacked, Cylinder
- Clustered Horizontal, Stacked Horizontal, 100%
Stacked Horizontal.
Cone - Clustered Horizontal, Stacked Horizontal,
100% Stacked Horizontal.
Pyramid Clustered Horizontal, Stacked Horizontal,
100% Stacked Horizontal.
Area, Stacked Area, 100% Stacked Area, 3D Area,
3D Stacked Area, 100% 3D Stacked
Scatter with only Markers, Scatter with Smooth
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Stock

Surface

9
10
11

Doughnut
Bubble
Radar

2
2
3

Lines and Makers, Scatter with Smooth Lines,


Scatter with Straight Lines and Markers, Scatter with
Straight Lines
High-Low-Close, Open-High-Low-Close, VolumeHigh-Low-Close, Volume-Open-High-Low-Close.
3D Surface, 3D Surface Wireframe, Contour,
Wireframe Contour
Doughnut, Exploded Doughnut
Bubble, 3D Bubble
Radar, Radar with Markers, Filled Radar

In addition to above you can also create combination charts, such as for example a
combination chart of Column and line chart types.
Creating Simple Column Chart
To create a chart you must first enter the data in the worksheet and select it. Lets use
the following sample data of the Sales worksheet for this purpose.
Start a new workbook and save it as SalesData
Enter the following data in the worksheet. The worksheet shows the sales data of
a product of a fictious company in the four regions of the country for the four
quarters of a particular year.
For most types of charts the data should be arranged either in rows or columns.
Excel automatically determines the best way to plot the data in a chart. It does
this by comparing the number of rows and columns selected. It assumes lesser
numbers to be the data series and the greater numbers to be the Categories that
are plotted on the horizontal as x-axis. If both are equal, it then plots Categories
along the x-axis.
Select the data to be included in the Chart. In the present case we want to create
a chart showing the performance of each quarter as against the various regions.
So select the data in cells A1 to E5. Observe that we have selected the Column
labels as well as the Region names to be included in the Chart.

Category Series

Data Series

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Click on Insert tab to display its groups. Click on Charts group. A menu of chart
icons representing various categories of charts that can be created get displayed.
These include Column, Lines, Pie, Bar, Area, and Scatter. Clicking on Other
Charts option, you can access many other forms of charts such as Stock,
Surface, Doughnut, Bubble and Radar.

Clicking on All Chart Types option, displays an Insert Chart dialog box showing
all categories and sub-types of charts.

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Each of these Chart categories in the menu when selected drops down a gallery
of icons of Chart sub-types of that category.
Lets create a Column chart. Column charts are used to compare values across
categories. Click on the Columns category. Various sub types of Column charts
appear in a drop down gallery. The sub types include 2-D, 3-D, Cylinder,
pyramid, and Cone.
If you point to any of these sub-types,
a screen tip appears displaying a short
description of the Chart sub-type.
For our present example, click on the
Clustered column sub type of 2-D
Column chart.

Excel creates the Clustered column chart and places it on the worksheet itself
as an embedded chart. You can also create a chart on a separate sheet of
workbook known as Chart sheet.

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Chart Tools menu option appears in the Ribbon displaying three tabs
Design, Layout and Format. Each of these tabs when selected displays their
own set of Groups.

Creating a Chart Quickly


If you are in a hurry and want to create a default chart quickly, Excel gives you an
instant option. The default chart type is 2D Clustered Column sub type.
1. Select any cell in the range of data.
2. Press Alt+F1 key combination.
3. Excel creates an embedded default Column chart almost instantly.

4. Instead of Alt+F1, if you press F11, Excel creates the same chart in a separate
chart sheet.
Changing the Default Chart type
As noted, the default chart type that will be created is 2D Clustered Column sub type.
You may however change this to any chart of your type as below:
Right click anywhere on the chart you have created.
Change Chart type dialog box is displayed.
Select the chart sub type that you want to set as default Chart.
Click on Set as Default Chart option at the bottom of the dialog box.

Page 274

Choosing the location of chart


By default, Excel creates the chart as an embedded chart in the Worksheet containing
the data itself. You may however move it to a separate sheet known as Chart sheet.
1. If the Ribbon is not displaying Chart Tool tabs, click anywhere on the chart to
display them.
2. Click on the Design tab to display its tabs.
3. Click on Move Chart option in the Location group.

4. A Move Chart dialog box appears. As you can see, the default location of the
Chart object is in current Sheet2 Worksheet.
5. To move its location, click on the New sheet radio button and change the default
Chart1 name to an appropriate name, sat SalesChart.
6. Click OK. Excel moves the embedded chart to a new inserted chart sheet and
names it as SalesChart.

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Embedded Chart Vs Chart sheet


By default, when you create a chart, Excel embeds it as an object in the same
Worksheet that contains data used for creating the chart. The chart will be enclosed
within a border. When you click on the chart proper, handles appear on the borders of
the chart. You can then move the embedded chart anywhere on the worksheet or resize
it to the size you want. You can also delete it by selecting the chart and pressing the
Delete key.
The chart created on the Chart sheet is stand alone in the sense that it is placed on a
separate sheet on its own. The chart can be resized and moved within the chart sheet.
Other objects such as WordArt, Clipart and SmartArt can be added to the chart sheet to
enhance its look. You can also delete the whole chart sheet just by right clicking on the
Chart sheet name tab and choosing Delete option from the shortcut menu.
Getting acquainted with Chart elements
Creating a chart is very easy. Once you have created a chart, you can then modify and
format it to make it look attractive and professional. This requires an understanding of
the various elements of a chart.

Chart Area

Chart main title


Y-axis title
Grid lines

Plot Area
Legend

Data Series

Category axis or
X-axis labels
Value axis
or Y-axis
data

X-axis title

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A Chart is actually made up of a number of elements each one of which can be


formatted. They can also be removed or suppressed if not required. The various
elements of a typical chart are shown in figure. Lets get acquainted with these.
Titles: You can specify three types of titles:
o A chart title which appears at the top
o X-axis Horizontal title, and
o Y-axis Vertical title.
Axes: Conventional Charts have two axes displaying data - X-axis and Yaxis. You can hide or display either or both the axes.
Grid lines: Grid Lines are the horizontal and vertical lines appearing at scale
marks. There are two types of grid lines Major and Minor. You can specify
whether you want to display either or both Major and Minor gridlines for both
X-axis as well as for Y-axis.
Legends: Legends are the references to the plotted data. You can specify the
location where you want to display the legends. By default it is displayed on
the right side of the chart.
Data Labels: Data Labels are the actual data values plotted on the chart. By
default, Chart Wizard does not display any values within the chart. You can
optionally choose to display either the data values or the Series/Category
names to be associated with the displayed chart.
Data Table: By default, Chart Wizard does not display the actual selected
range of data of the worksheet in the chart. You can however, optionally
display this table of data at the bottom of the chart.
Selecting Chart Objects
Basically a chart is composed of the following parts.
The Chart area, that is, all the area within the border but excluding the Chart
proper
The Plot area which includes the chart proper and its constituent data
The Legend box
The Titles including category X and Y
Plot area

Chart area

Legend

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You can select any of these elements by just clicking on it. You can then edit or format
it.
Resizing the Chart area or Plot area
You can resize the chart to any size you want.
Double click any where in the Chart area or Plot area. Black handles appear
around the boundary lines.
Position the mouse pointer on any of these handles. The cursor changes into a
double headed arrow shape.
Holding down the mouse pointer, drag it in the direction in which you want to
resize.
Release the button when the chart is of required size.
Moving the Chart
You can move the chart anywhere within the worksheet.
Double click any where in the Chart area. Handles appear around the boundary
lines.
Holding down the left mouse button, drag the chart to the required location on the
worksheet and release the button.
You can also move the Plot area within the Chart area using the above
procedure. Note that the axes titles also move with the plot.
You can also move the Legend, Chart title as well as the axes titles by clicking on
them and dragging to new locations.
Deleting a Chart element
You can easily delete any object of the Chart including the whole chart, by selecting it
and pressing the Del key. You can also right click on the object to be deleted and
select Clear option from the shortcut menu that pops up.
Editing data in chart
You cannot directly change any data or label in the chart. However, since the chart is
linked to the worksheet data, any changes you do in the worksheet data gets
automatically reflected in the chart as well. Lets verify this.
Changing the data or labels
The Category axis or the X-axis labels are shown as Qtr 1, Qtr 2, etc. Lets shorten
these as Q1, Q2, etc.

Click on the worksheet cell C2 containing the column label Qtr1. Change it to
Q1. Observe that in the chart, Qtr1 gets changed to Q1.
Similarly change the other column labels to Q2, Q3 and Q4.
Page 278

Similarly, if you change any data in


Worksheet,
the
Chart
also
automatically gets updated. You
verify this by making changes in the
and observing the chart.

the
can
data

Select Data Source


When you right click on the Plot area and choose Select Data Source from the shortcut
menu, Excel selects the data in the Worksheet and also displays a Select Data Source
dialog box.
The various options in
Source Data Source
dialog box allow you to
perform several tasks.

the

You can switch row and


column labels, add new
data series to the chart,
the existing data used in
chart, remove one or
more data series from
chart, rearrange the data
series in chart and so on.

edit
the
the

Interchanging Category
Data series

and

Clicking on the Switch


Row/Column
option
recreates the chart by
switching the Category
Data series. Presently
chart plots quarterwise
that is, each cluster
shows the regions data
single quarter. When you
interchange

and
the
data,
for a

Page 279

Row/Column, the x-axis displays the Region-wise cluster rather than the Quarterwise
clusters. Each column in the Region cluster now represents Quarterwise data for a
single region.
Adding new data series to the chart
Suppose you want to add a new series of data to the created chart. In the worksheet
data lets add a new data series, say Central data series as shown in cells A6 to E6 of
the worksheet.

1. Right click on the chart and in the shortcut menu choose Source data option.
2. Click on Add tab in Legend Entries (Series) pane.
3. An Edit Series dialog box appears.

4. In
the Series name text box, click on the label name of the new series you want to
add. In this case it is cell A6 which contains Central. The cell address appears
in the Series name text box.
5. Click on the Collapse dialog button of the Series Values Selection text box. The
dialog box collapses to its compact form. Drag select cells B6 to E6. Cell address
of this range of cells appear in the text box. Click on the Expand dialog button to
return the Edit Series dialog box to its original size.
Collapse dialog
button

Expand dialog
button

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6. Click
OK
to

return to Select Data Source dialog box. Observe that a new entry now appears
in the Legend Entries (Series) pane.
7. Click OK. Observe that the new series appears in the chart as shown. The
Legend also shows this series.

Newly added
Series label
Newly added
Series Data
Newly added
data series

Newly added
data series

Deleting a Data series


Lets delete the newly added Center data series from the chart.
1. Right click on the chart and choose Source data from the shortcut menu.
2. In the displayed Select Source Data dialog box, select the data series you want
to delete under Legend Entries (Series) pane.
3. Click Remove tab. The corresponding data series in the Chart gets removed.
Modifying a Data series
1. Right click on the chart and choose Source data from the shortcut menu.
2. In the displayed Select Source Data dialog box, click on Edit tab under Legend
Entries (Series) pane.
3. In the displayed Edit Series dialog box, make necessary changes and click OK.
4. The display of data series in the Chart gets modified accordingly.
Rearranging the Data Series

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You can change the order in which the data series is displayed in the chart without
modifying the data in the worksheet.
1. Display the Select Source Data dialog box.
2. Click on the Data series whose order you want to change in the Legend Entry
(Series) pane to select it.
3. Click on the Up or Down
arrows to move the data series.
Observe that as you click on
these arrows, the data series
graphic element in the chart
representing the selected data
series also moves in the chart.

Position of East data


series changed

Fig: Column chart showing the original order

Fig: Column chart showing the changed


order of East data series.

Chart Options
The Layout tab of the Chart Tools option shows various groups that allow customizing
of various Chart elements that include Titles, Axes, Grid Lines, Legend, Data Labels
and Data Table.

Providing Chart Title


When you create a chart, by default it does not show Chart titles or axes titles. You can
however provide them.

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Click anywhere on the


chart to display the
Chart Tools option in
the Ribbon.
Click on Layout tab to
display its set of groups.
Click on Chart Title
option in the Labels
group. A drop down
menu appears with few
options.
None option does not
provide a Title. If a Chart
title
already
exists,
choosing this option
removes the Chart title.
When
you
select
Centered Overlay Title option, a place holder text box appears at the top part of
the Plot area of the chart. Type the Chart Title text and press Enter. The title
appears on the existing chart without resizing.
When you select Above Chart option, the chart is resized to make space for a
place holder text box that appears at the top center of the Chart area. Type the
Chart Title text and press Enter.
Centered Overlay Title

Above Chart option

Providing Axes Titles


Click on Axis Titles option in the Label group of Chart Tools Layout tab. A drop
down menu appears with separate options for providing X-axis and Y-axis titles.
To provide X-axis title:

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o Point to Primary Horizontal Axis Title option. One more side menu
appears with couple of options: - None, and Title Below Axis

Choose None option if you dont want to provide X-axis title.


Choose Title Below X-axis to display the X-axis title placeholder
text box below the Horizontal axis. Excel automatically resizes the
chart to make space for the X-axis title. Enter the X-axis title you
want, say Quarters in the Address bar and press Enter. This title
appears at the bottom of the chart area.

To provide Vertical axis title:


o Point to Primary Vertical Axis Title option. One more side menu appears
with following four options:
None. Choose this if you dont want to provide Y-axis title.
Rotated Title: Choose this option to display Rotated axis title and
resize chart.
Vertical Title: Choose this option to display Axis title with Vertical
text and resize the chart.
Horizontal Title: Choose this to display Axis title horizontally and
resize the chart.
In all cases Excel automatically resizes the chart to make space for
the y-axis title
o Enter the Y-axis title in the Address bar and press Enter. Excel replaces
the place holder text box, with Sales as Y-axis title.

Click OK.

Page 284

Adding Axes Labels


By default, Horizontal axis labels are displayed below the x-axis from left to right. You
can format this in following ways.
1. Click on the Axes option under Axes group of Layout tab of Chart Tools.
2. A drop down menu appears listing Primary Horizontal axis and Primary
Vertical Axis options.

3. To customize the Horizontal axis labels, point to the Primary Horizontal axis
option. A side menu appears with following choices:
a. None: Select this to suppress x-axis and x-axis labels

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b. Show Left to Right Axis: The labels are displayed below the x-axis from
left to right. This is the default setting.
c. Show Axis without labeling: Select this option if you want to show X-axis
without labels.
d. Show Right to Left Axis: Select this to display the labels from right to left.
4. Screen shots show how the X-axis labels appear with these options.
5. To customize Vertical axis labels, point to the Primary Vertical Axis option in

the drop down menu. A side menu appears with following choices:
a. None: Select this to suppress y-axis labels.
b. Show Default Axis: Select this option to display Axis with default order
and labels.
c. Show Axis in Thousands: Select this option to display Axis with numbers
represented in thousands.
d. Show Axis in Millions: Select this option to display Axis with numbers
represented in Millions.
e. Show Axis in Billions: Select this option to display Axis with numbers
represented in Billions.
f. Show Axis with Log Scale: Select this option to display Axis using a log
10 based scale.
Options in Thousands, Millions, Billions and Log Scale enable you to display the Y-axis
labels of huge numbers by suitable converting them.
If you click on More Primary Vertical Axis and More Primary Horizontal Axis options
in their respective drop down list boxes, a Format Axis dialog box appears. You can
use the various settings in this dialog box to further customize the look and feel of the
axes. Options are self-explanatory.
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Displaying Grid lines


Grid lines help you to evaluate or interpolate a points data value. Excel by default,
displays only horizontal grid lines. You may however, choose to display two sets of grid
lines known as Major and Minor, both in horizontal and vertical directions. Gridlines
option allows you to add or remove Major and Minor gridlines to category X and Y
axes.

Click on Gridlines group of Layout tab of Chart Tools. A drop down menu
displaying Horizontal and Vertical Gridlines options appear.

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To customize Horizontal gridlines, point to Primary Horizontal Gridlines


options. A sub menu with following options appear:
o None: Choose this to suppress both Major and Minor Horizontal grid lines.
o Major Gridlines: Choose this to display just the Major gridlines. This is
the default.
o Minor Gridlines: Choose this to display just the Minor gridlines.
o Major and Minor Gridlines: Choose this to display both Major and Minor
gridlines.

The
screen shot shows how the chart appears with both Major and Minor gridlines applied in
both directions.
Note that when you select Minor gridlines, Excel divides the Major axis interval into a
suitable number of divisions and draws lines along these divisions.
Note that displaying Minor grid lines makes your chart somewhat congested. So you
must use your judgment in selecting these grid lines.
By default, Excel does not display vertical grid lines in the chart. You may however
display just the Major vertical gridlines, just the Minor vertical gridlines or both Major and
Minor vertical gridlines.

Chart with Major Vertical Gridlines

Chart with Major & Minor Vertical Gridlines

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Displaying Legend
Legend is the identifying tags for the displayed series of the chart. By default, the
Legend box is displayed on the right side of the chart. You can however choose to
display it anywhere within the Chart area or even suppress its display.

Click on Legend option under Labels group of Layout tab of Chart Tools.
A drop down menu lists various available options.
o None: Choose this to suppress the display of Legends
o Show Legend at Right: Choose this option to display Legend at right of
the Chart. This is the default layout.
o Show Legend at Top: Choose this option to display Legend at Top of the
Chart.
o Show Legend at Bottom: Choose this option to display Legend at Bottom
of the Chart.
o Overlay Legend at Right: Choose this option to display Legend at Right
without resizing the chart
o Overlay Legend at Left: Choose this option to display Legend at Left
without resizing the chart

Note that the options 2 to


resize the chart to make
space for displaying the
Legend.

The last two Overlay


options allow you to
overlay
the
legend
without
resizing
the
chart.

Which location you choose for the displaying of Legend depends on the Chart size and
the available space. If you want to expand the chart horizontally, then displaying at top
or bottom or even overlaying of legend may be appropriate. Note that after placing the
Legend, you can also move it anywhere by selecting and dragging it.

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Displaying Data Labels


Data labels are the categories or the values represented by graphic elements. By
default, Excel does not display any Data labels in its chart. You can however display
these in the chart using Data Labels options.
Click on Data labels option under Labels group. A drop down menu appears
listing all available choices.
o None: Choose this option to not to display the Data labels. This is the
default.
o Center: Choose this
option to display
Data
Labels
centered on data
points.
o Inside End: Choose
this option to display
Data Labels inside
the end of Data
points.
o Inside
Base:
Choose this option
to
display
Data
Labels inside the
base of Data points.
o Outside
End:
Choose this option
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to display Data Labels Outside the end of Data points.

You can further format the Data labels, by clicking on the More Data Label Options at
the bottom of the drop down menu.

When you select Data labels,


Excel by default displays only
the Data Values. You may
however display the Series
name as well as the Category
name with the actual values
represented by the graphic
elements. Default is Value.

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Fig: Category name and Data values

Fig: Series name, Category name and


Data values

When you are displaying the data labels with Series Name, Category Name and
Data values, you need to separate them with a separator symbol. Excel suggest
comma (,) as the separator. You my change this to any other symbol such as
semi colon, period, space, or use New line, for display of different associated
values. Just click the check box Include legend key in label and choose the
required symbol.

Note that specifying data labels to be displayed makes your chart somewhat congested,
as they occupy considerable space. You can choose Alignment option from the
Format Data Labels dialog box to align the Data labels in vertical direction as shown in
the screen shot.

Displaying Data Table


Sometimes you may like to display the
selected data range also with the chart for ready references. Data Table option allows
you to do this.

Click on Data Table option in the Layout tab. A drop down menu displays
following options.
None: Choose this to not to display the Data Table. This is the default setting.
Show Data Table: Choose this option to display the Data Table. It appears at the
bottom of the chart.

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Show Data Table with Legend Keys: Choose this option to display the Data
Table with the Legend keys. It appears at the bottom of the chart.

Recap
As compared to a statement of numbers, charts of data help you to grasp the salient
features of the data at a visual glance almost immediately. Microsoft Excel has a
number of Charting facilities for representing your data in a wide variety of attractive
charts.
In this lesson:
You learnt the importance of charts
You created a simple clustered 2D bar chart
You got acquainted with the various parts of a typical chart
You learnt how to edit and format various elements of charts

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Lesson 17: Formatting Charts in Excel 2010


Overview
In the previous lesson you created a simple column chart. You can also create a
number of different types of charts. While Microsoft Excel creates nice and presentable
charts, there is vast scope for improving their appearance by formatting them. By
formatting them you can customize their appearance as per your requirement. You can
apply Styles and background colors to the plot as well as chart areas, format axes, data
elements, etc. Applying 3D effects adds to their visual appearance. In this lesson you
will learn how to format 2D as well as 3D charts.
Skills you will learn in this lesson
Modify and Enhance Charts
Changing Chart Types
Formatting your Charts with various Chart options
o Using Quick Layouts
o Using Quick Styles
o Using Shape Styles and Shape Fill tools
o Using Pictures, Gradients and Texture as Solid fill formats
o Using Shape Outline and Shape Effects
Formatting Axes, Scales, Grid Lines, etc
Lets use the 2D column chart created in the previous lesson to explore the Formatting
features available in Excel 2010.

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Modifying and Enhancing Charts


You can edit and enhance the chart in many ways. For example you can:
Change the Chart type and its size
Add, remove or modify chart titles as well as chart axes titles
Toggle axis values on and off
Toggle Gridlines on and off - both horizontal and/or vertical
Toggle Legend on and off
Add or remove data labels
Add or remove source data to the chart
You can format the Chart area and Plot area independent of each other.

To try out these, you must first select the chart.


Right click anywhere in the plot area of the chart. Make sure you dont right click
in the Chart area which is outside the actual plot area.
A shortcut menu pops up. You can edit and format the chart using the options
presented here. Lets briefly look at these options.
Changing Chart types
If you are not satisfied with the present Chart type, you can change it easily by clicking
on Chart Type option in the displayed shortcut menu. When you do so, a Change Chart
Type dialog box appears displaying all chart types. You can try out how the same data
looks in different types of charts. Just click on the desired chart in the sub-chart type
and click OK. The chart appears in the selected chart sub-type.

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The
screen shot
shows how the chart
appears in 2-D stacked bar, 3-D Clustered
column and 3-D Column types.
Not just the Column types; you can also change the chart type to any other category
type such as Line, Bar, Area etc. Note however that some types of charts are not
suitable for all types of data.

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Formatting the Chart using Quick Layout Styles


Every chart you create in Excel 2010 has a default Chart layout. Once you have created
the chart, you can then change the layout or the various elements of the chart using
layout and formatting options. Excel also provides a set of Quick Layouts which enable
you to change the chart layout to one of the predefined layouts. Dont confuse Quick
Layouts with Quick Styles group though they are displayed side by side in the Design
tab. They are different.
1. Click on the chart to display the Chart Tools with its tabs.
2. Click on Design tab to display its groups.

3. Click on Quick Layout. A drop down menu displays a gallery of layouts which
you can apply to the chart.
4. Screen shots show several views of the Chart with different Quick Layout styles
applied.

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Applying Quick Styles to Charts


A Style is a set of formats applied all at once to the selected Chart. Excel 2010 comes
with a gallery of Chart Styles that you can apply to your created charts.

1. Click on the chart to display the Chart Tools with its tabs.
2. Click on Design tab to display its groups.
3. If you have a wide monitor, you may finds a few Quick Styles displayed in the
Ribbon. If not click on the Quick Styles tool.
4. The whole gallery of Quick Styles available in Excel 2010 appears.
5. When you click on any of these displayed styles, Excel immediately shows your
chart in that Style as shown in the screen shot.

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Screen shots show several views of the Chart with different Quick Styles applied to it.

Page 299

Formatting the Chart


The Format tab of the Chart Tools provides a number of formatting tools to enhance
the appearance of your chart. Lets explore some of these.
1. Click on the chart to activate Chart Tools.
2. Click on Format tab. The Format tab associated groups are displayed in the
ribbon.

1. From the Chart


Elements list box in
the
Current
Selection
group,
you can choose the
element of the Chart
you want to format.
By default, Plot Area
is displayed as the
selected
chart
element
for
formatting. Clicking
on its down arrow,
lists various other
elements of the
chart that can be
formatted. As you
can see, you can format Chart area, Chart Title, Plot Area, Axes and their titles
and Legend independent of each other.
Lets explore the various formatting features available for Plot Area element.
Changing the background of the Plot Area
By default, Excel does not provide any background color to the Plot area of the
chart. You may however format the background with a variety of options such as
Solid fill, Gradient fill, Pictures or photos, Texture, and so on. Excel provides a
couple of ways to format the background of Plot area of the chart.
1. Using the Shape Styles
2. Using Shape Fill, Shape Outline and Shape Effects

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Applying Shape Styles


You can apply various Shape Styles to the Plot Area of the chart. Shape Styles are a
set of pre-formatting changes that include border, background and so on. Excel comes
with a large gallery of Shape Styles. A few of these are displayed in the ribbon. When
you point to any of these displayed Shape styles in the ribbon, a screen tip informs you
the name of the style and you will also get a live preview of how your Plot area appears
with that shape style. Clicking on the down arrow of the Shape Styles box drops down a
gallery of Shape styles. You can point and look at a Live Preview any of these listed
styles. Just click on the one you want.
Note that when you use a Shape style, you can format either the plot area border or its
background but not both.

Observe that the styles in the first


row of the styles gallery is meant
to format the Plot area border with
different colors. You can use the
rest of the styles to format the Plot area background. Note that
only the background of the Plot area is formatted and all other
elements of the Chart are not formatted.
Using Shape Fill tool
You can use the Shape Fill tool to fill the selected shape with a solid color, gradient,
picture or texture. With this tool you can only format the background but not the borders
of the plot area. If you have already applied the border, you can then use this to fill in
the border area with a variety of colors. You first use the Shape style to format the plot
area border and then use the Shape Fill to format its background. Screen shots show
several combinations.

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Plot area background


formatted without
border
Plot area background
formatted without
border

Border and background of Plot area formatted separately

Using Pictures, Gradients and Texture as Solid fill formats


Besides colors you can also Pictures, Gradients and Textures as shape fills for the plot
area.
Using Pictures
You can use any clipart picture, photo as a background for the plot area of the chart.
1. Click on the Picture Fill option in the drop down menu of Shape Fill option.
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2. Excel displays your Pictures Library folder. If your required photo is not in this
folder, navigate to the folder that contains it, and select it. Click on Insert. The
selected photo fills the background of the Plot area of the chart.
Screen shot shows a couple of examples with plot area formatted with photos.
Using

Gradient Fills
Gradient fill covers the background with the selected color gradually fading in a
particular direction.
1. Point to the Gradient
option in the drop down
menu of Shape Fill
option.
2. A side menu appears
with various light and
dark gradient options. If
you point to any of the
displayed
icons,
a
screen
tip
appears
showing the direction in
which the gradient takes
place.
3. Select the gradient fill
you want. The selected
color gradient fills the
background of the Plot area of the chart.
Screen shot shows a couple of example with plot area formatted with gradient fills.
Using Texture Fill
You
can
also
use
a

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texture for filling in the selected element such as Plot area.


1. Point to the Texture
option on the drop
down
menu
of
Shape Fill tool.
2. A
side
menu
appears
with
a
gallery of Texture
samples.
3. When you point to
any
of
these
samples, a screen
tips
informs
the
name of the texture
and you will also get
to
see
a
Live
Preview of how the
Plot
area
background appears with that texture.
Screen shot shows a couple of Texture filled backgrounds of the Plot area of Chart.
Using Shape Outline

Shape Outline tool allows you to format the border of the Plot area.
1. Click on the Shape Outline. A drop down menu lists various choices including a
palette of Theme colors, a set of standard colors, and choices for changing the
Weight and type of border.
2. When you point to any of the colors, a live preview of the Plot area border with
that color appears.
3. The default border line is very thin. You can increase its weight by pointing to the
Weight option and choosing an appropriate weight from the displayed menu.
4. You can also change the type of border line by pointing to the Dashes option and
picking up an appropriate type from the menu.

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If
you
dont
like
any
of

these borders, you can just suppress it by choosing No Border option from the Shape
Outline drop down menu.

Using Shape Effects


You can enhance the Plot area of your chart with various effects such as Shadow,
Reflection, Glow, Soft Edges, Bevel and 3-D Rotation.
1. Select the Plot area of
your chart by clicking
on it.
2. Click on the Shape
Effects tool of the
Shape Style group.
3. A drop down menu
appears with a list of
options.

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4. Pointing to any of these categories of Effects options, displays various categories


of effects that you can apply. These include Shadow, Reflections, Glow, Soft
Edges, Bevel and 3D Rotation.
5. When you point to any of these available categories, a list of effects of that
category gets displayed. When you point to any of these effects, you will get to
see a Live Preview of how the selected element appears with that effect.
Fine-tuning the Formats
The various preset formats allow you to format the Plot area just by pointing to the
format you want from the various galleries, have a Live Preview and confirm by clicking
on
the

selected option. However, some times you may want to tweak the formats a bit to get
the format to your satisfaction. Excel 2010 provides a Format Selection option to fine
tune the applied formats.
1. Select the element whose format you want to fine tune.
2. Click on the Format Selection option in the Current Selection group.
3. Format Plot Area dialog box appears with various options for fine tuning the
selection.

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For solid background:


Click on the Solid Fill option in the Format Plot Area
dialog box.
Select the color you want for the background.
Adjust the Transparency slider for the required
transparency.
For Gradient Fill:
Click on the Gradient Fill option in the Format Plot Area dialog box.
Choose the various parameters such as color, Position, Brightness and
Transparency for the background color.
Click Close.
Observe that a color gradient now fills the Plot area of the chart.
You can also choose Picture or Texture Fill, or Pattern Fill from the Fill options.
The screen shot shows the chart with various background fills for the Plot area.

Solid Fill

Gradient Fill

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Picture or Texture Fill

Pattern Fill

You can also format the Borders of the Plot area by applying colors, using the various
options provided in the Format Plot Area dialog box. You can format Borders
with solid colors, gradient colors
with different Border styles
With Shadow effects
With Glow and Soft Edges effects
You can also use 3-D Formats
Removing the Formats
If you are not satisfied with the applied formats, you can just remove them and re-apply
them if necessary.
1. Select the element whose format you want to remove, say the Plot Area from the
Current Selection group.
2. Click on the Reset to Match Style. This option clears the custom formatting of the
selected chart element back to the overall visual style applied to the chart.

Formatting the Chart Area


Chart area is the area outside of the Plot area but within the overall chart borders. As
you move the pointer over this area, a screen tip identifies the Chart area. You can
format the Chart Area of the chart in exactly the same way as for the Plot area.
Following illustrations confirm this.
Formatting the Border of the Chart Area
1. Select the Chart area as the element to format from the Current Selection group
in the Format tab of Chart Tools.
2. Point to any of the displayed Shape Styles in the ribbon. A Live Preview of the
Border of Chart area in selected color appears.

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3. If you want a wider choice of colors for filling in the Chart area, click on the drop
down arrow of the Shape Styles and choose from the displayed gallery of styles.

Shape Fill, Shape Outline and Shape Effect tools provide the same sort of formatting

choices as discussed under Plot area formatting. Following screen shot illustrates
these.

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Formatting the Axes


Both horizontal and vertical axes display the data values and labels as defined in the
worksheet. Excel assigns default characteristics such as patterns, font, color, alignment
etc to the lines and text associated with these axes. You can however format any or all
these to make your chart much more colorful and attractive.
You can format the Vertical (Value) axis as well as Horizontal (Category) axis using the
Format axis dialog box. An easy way of displaying the Format Axis dialog box is to
double click on the Vertical (Value) or Horizontal (Category) axis in the chart. You can
make sure that you are clicking at the proper location by positioning the pointer
somewhere near the value labels when a tip appears showing the name of the axis.

Defining Scales
Axis Options displays the options available for formatting the numbers and labels which
appear as scales along Value and Category Axes. Microsoft Excel defines zero as the
Minimum data value along the Value axis scale which is normally the Y-axis. It then
finds out the Maximum data value defined in the selected range of cells, rounds it
upwards for an appropriate number and displays it as the Maximum value. The interval
in-between is divided into equal intervals and shown along the value axis as Major
units. Excel further divides the interval between major units into appropriate smaller
units and marks them as Minor units. All these worked out values are then displayed in
the Axis Options. By default only the Major unit scale are displayed in the Chart. You
can choose to change any or all of these. You can also suppress them.
If you feel that these are not appropriate, you can change them. Observe that the
current settings are Automatic. To change the Minimum and Maximum values click on
the Fixed option and enter the minimum as 5 and Maximum value as 35. You can also
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change the Major and Minor Units if you want. Excel reworks out all the associated
scales and modifies the axes of the chart accordingly.

You can change the axes line


color as well as its weight using
the Line Color and Line Style
options.
You can change the position of
tick marks and how the value
labels are displayed. You can
also suppress the display of ticks
marks as well as labels. The
default
You can change the format of the number using the Number option.

Tick marks
Insideshots
and Axis
labelsseveral
High
Tick marks
and Axisthe
labels
High as well as
Following
screen
shows
possibilities
of Inside
customizing
Vertical
Horizontal axes.

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Formatting Grid lines


1. Double click on the grid line (Major or Minor either Horizontal or Vertical) to
display Format Major Gridlines dialog box.
2. Click on the Line Color and select an appropriate color for the selected grid line.
3. Click on the Line Style option and select an appropriate style (Width and type) for
the gridlines.

Recap
Creating a chart in Microsoft Excel is very simple. While Excel does a fairly good job of
creating various types of charts, you can further improve their appearance by formatting
them.
In this lesson:
You learnt how to apply background colors to plot area as well as chart area.
You learnt how to format charts using Quick Layouts, Quick Styles, Shape
Styles, Shape Fill, Shape Outline and Shape Effect tools.
You learnt how to format data values, grid lines, and other elements displayed on
charts.

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