Excel

Fundamentals
 Microsoft Excel

Contents
Understanding Workbooks ................................................................................................................................ 1
Navigating in a File ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Typing Text or Numbers Into A Worksheet ....................................................................................................... 3
Typing Simple Formulas In A Worksheet .......................................................................................................... 4
Filling A Series ................................................................................................................................................... 5
Inserting And Deleting Worksheets ................................................................................................................... 6
Copying A Worksheet ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Renaming A Worksheet ..................................................................................................................................... 8
Moving or Copying A Sheet To Another Workbook ........................................................................................... 9
Changing Worksheet Tab Colours .................................................................................................................. 10
Grouping Worksheets ...................................................................................................................................... 11
Freezing Rows And Columns .......................................................................................................................... 12
Selecting Ranges .............................................................................................................................................................. 13
Selecting Rows ................................................................................................................................................ 14
Selecting Columns ........................................................................................................................................... 15
Understanding Formatting................................................................................................................................................. 16
Applying General Formatting ........................................................................................................................... 17
Changing Fonts ............................................................................................................................................... 18
Changing Font Size ......................................................................................................................................... 19
Understanding Borders .................................................................................................................................... 20
Applying A Border To A Range ....................................................................................................................... 21
Wrapping And Merging Text ............................................................................................................................ 22
PRACTICE EXERCISE .......................................................................................................................................... 23
PRACTICE EXERCISE .......................................................................................................................................... 24
PRACTICE EXERCISE .......................................................................................................................................... 25
Understanding Functions .................................................................................................................................................. 26
Using The SUM Function To Add .................................................................................................................... 27
Calculating An Average ................................................................................................................................... 28
Finding A Minimum Value ................................................................................................................................ 29
Common Error Messages ................................................................................................................................ 30
PRACTICE EXERCISE .......................................................................................................................................... 31
Understanding Quick Analysis .......................................................................................................................................... 32
Quick Formatting ............................................................................................................................................. 33
Quick Charting ................................................................................................................................................. 34
Quick Totals ..................................................................................................................................................... 35
Quick Sparklines .............................................................................................................................................. 36
Quick Tables .................................................................................................................................................... 37
Practice Exercise ............................................................................................................................................. 38
Printing A Worksheet ........................................................................................................................................................ 39

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The Charting Process ....................................................................................................................................................... 40

Choosing The Right Chart ............................................................................................................................... 41
Using A Recommended Chart ......................................................................................................................... 42
Creating A New Chart From Scratch ............................................................................................................... 43
Working With An Embedded Chart .................................................................................................................. 44
Resizing A Chart .............................................................................................................................................. 45
Repositioning A Chart ...................................................................................................................................... 46
Printing An Embedded Chart ........................................................................................................................... 47
Creating A Chart Sheet.................................................................................................................................... 48
Changing The Chart Type ............................................................................................................................... 49
Changing The Chart Layout ............................................................................................................................ 50
Changing The Chart Style ............................................................................................................................... 51
Printing A Chart Sheet ..................................................................................................................................... 52
Embedding A Chart Into A Worksheet ............................................................................................................. 53
Deleting A Chart .............................................................................................................................................. 54
PRACTICE EXERCISE .......................................................................................................................................... 55
PRACTICE EXERCISE SAMPLE ............................................................................................................................ 56

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 Microsoft Excel

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 Microsoft Excel

UNDERSTANDING WORKBOOKS
In Microsoft Excel the data you enter, whether it sheets) that have been ruled into columns and
consists of numbers, text, or formulas, is stored rows. Before using Excel it is helpful to know what
in a file known as a workbook. Workbooks are the various parts and elements that make up a
just like huge electronic books with pages (or workbook are.

5 6

 A worksheet (or page) in a workbook contains 16,384 columns that are labelled using letters of
the alphabet. The first column in a worksheet is labelled column A, while the last is labelled XFD

 A worksheet (or page) in a workbook contains 1,048,576 rows that are labelled using numbers
from 1 to 1,048,576

 Where a column and row intersect we get what is known as a cell. You enter your data into
these cells. Each cell in a worksheet can hold up to 32,767 characters – although it would be
unrealistic to ever push it this far. Cells are referred to by their column and row labels. For
example, in the screen above the cell we are pointing to is C11 – this reference is known as the
cell address and is most important as it is frequently used in commands and formulas

 When you start typing something, you want it to appear somewhere in the worksheet. As a
consequence when the Status Bar shows Ready mode, at least one cell in the worksheet will be
highlighted – this is known as the active cell. In the screen above, the active cell is cell A1 –
notice that the column label and the row label also appears coloured to indicate the active cell.
You can have more than one active cell – when this occurs you have what is known as a range

 A workbook (as you would expect) is made up of pages known as worksheets. You can have as
many sheets in a workbook as your computer resources can accommodate. As a default, a new
blank workbook normally has 3 worksheets labelled Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3. Of course
these labels are pretty boring and meaningless and can be changed to something more relevant

 The Insert Worksheet button here will insert another worksheet into the current workbook
should you need it

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NAVIGATING IN A FILE

Arrow Move one cell to the right, left, up or down

Keys

Tab Move once cell to the right

Ctrl+Home To beginning file

Ctrl+End To end of typed information

Home Beginning of a line

End End of a line

Page Down Down one screen

Page Up Up one screen

F5 To a specific page

Appear at the right and on the bottom of the screen. You may click
Scroll bars
the scroll arrows, drag the scroll box or click the scroll bar to move
through the document.

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