EXCEL Introduction

Excel graphic interface

FILE Tab: When clicked, this button opens the Office menu, from which you can open, save, print, and exit as well as the Excel Options button that enables you to change Excel's default settings. Quick Access Toolbar: A small toolbar next to the Office button contains shortcuts for some of the most common commands such as Save, Undo, and Redo buttons. You also can customize quick access toolbar. Ribbon: A combination of old versions menu bar and toolbar, arranged into a series of tabs ranging from Home through View. Each tab contains buttons, lists, and commands. Name box: Displays the address of the current active cell where you work in the worksheet. Formula bar: Displays the address of the active cell on the left edge, and it also shows you the current cell's contents. Worksheet area: This area contains all the cells of the current worksheet identified by column headings, using letters along the top, and row headings, using numbers along the left edge with tabs for selecting new worksheets. Sheet tabs: Excel 2013 contains 1 blank worksheet tab by default.

To enter numbers into a worksheet Select the cell in which you want to enter a number. Type in the number into the cell and press Enter. If you want to enter a negative number, type a minus sign in front of it or enclose it in parentheses (bracket), e.g. -15 or (15). To indicate decimal places, you type a full stop such as 125.89. The numbers will be right aligned by default. To enter dates and times into a worksheet Select the cell in which you want to enter the date or time. Type in the date or time. Separate the date with either hyphens (-) or slashes (/). Press Enter. To enter the current date, press Ctrl+; To enter the current time, press Ctrl+: You may utilize the keyboard to help you speed up the data entry process. Below is a list of keys that you can use when you want to quickly enter your data. To speed up your data entry Enter key: Pressing the key will enters the data and moves the active cell highlight down to the next cell in the current column. Tab key: Pressing the key will enters the data and moves the active cell highlight to the next cell in the current row. Arrow keys: Pressing the key will enters the data and moves the active cell highlight to the next cell in the direction of the specific arrow key pressed. Esc key: Pressing the key will will cancels the current data entry.

Cells, worksheets, workbooks Spreadsheets A spreadsheet is an electronic document that stores various types of data.  There are vertical columns and horizontal rows.  A cell is where the column and row intersect.  A cell can contain data and can be used in calculations of data within the spreadsheet.  An Excel spreadsheet can contain workbooks and worksheets.  The workbook is the holder for related worksheets.

Create a Chart Charts allow you to present information contained in the worksheet in a graphic format. Excel offers many types of charts including: Column, Line, Pie, Bar, Area, Scatter and more.  To view the charts available click the Insert Tab on the Ribbon. To create a chart: Select the cells that contain the data you want to use in the chart Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon Click the type of Chart you want to create