EXCEL XP

Beginner's Guide

IT SERVICES,
The Robert Gordon University
St Andrew Street Aberdeen AB25 1HG
 Excel XP
Beginner's Guide

First Edition: October 2003

Written by: Jeanne Holt

Based on the Course Notes

for the ITNS Beginners
course for Excel

EXCEL XP BEGINNER’S GUIDE

 CONTENTS

1. Basic Excel Terminology...............................................................................1

2. The Workbook Screen ...................................................................................2

To select a group of cells: ....................................................................................3
To select groups of non-adjacent cells:................................................................3
To move to another sheet: ...................................................................................3
To rename a sheet: ..............................................................................................3
To alter the proportion of the display given to the sheet tabs and the screen
scroll bars:............................................................................................................3

3. Opening and Saving Workbooks ..................................................................4

To open an existing workbook .............................................................................4
To save your workbook ........................................................................................4
To exit from Excel.................................................................................................4

4. Entering and Editing Data .............................................................................5

To enter data into a cell........................................................................................5
To edit a cell.........................................................................................................5
To clear a cell.......................................................................................................5
To delete a cell.....................................................................................................5
To undo an action ................................................................................................6
To redo an action .................................................................................................6
To insert a completely new row............................................................................6
To insert a completely new column ......................................................................6

5. Shortcuts for Entering Data ..........................................................................7

To repeat data across rows or columns (Autofill) .................................................7
To undo part of an Autofill ....................................................................................7
To Autofill a complete column(s) ..........................................................................7
To make a new Custom List.................................................................................7

6. Formulae .........................................................................................................8
To calculate the sum of a set of numbers ............................................................8
To use Insert Function .........................................................................................8

7. Formatting the Display ..................................................................................9

To magnify or reduce the display size..................................................................9
To freeze a column or row ...................................................................................9
To unfreeze the display........................................................................................9
To sort data ........................................................................................................10
To change the format of a cell(s) ......................................................................10
To change the size of columns and rows ...........................................................10
To change font and alignment within a cell ........................................................11
To add borders ...................................................................................................11
To change the colour of a cell ............................................................................11
To change the colour of text in a cell .................................................................11
To autoformat a table or range of cells ..............................................................11
To add graphic objects to a worksheet ..............................................................12
To add a text box to a worksheet .......................................................................12

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 8. Conditional Formatting................................................................................12
To apply conditional formatting ..........................................................................12

9. Printing Worksheets ....................................................................................13

To print ...............................................................................................................13
To preview, before printing.................................................................................13
To see page breaks ...........................................................................................13
To adjust page breaks for printing......................................................................13
To change page size, orientation, margins, headers and footers, printing of
gridlines etc ........................................................................................................13

10. Creating a Chart .......................................................................................14

To create a chart ................................................................................................14
To move a chart .................................................................................................14

11. Editing a Chart..........................................................................................14

To select a chart.................................................................................................15
To resize a chart ................................................................................................15
Using the Chart toolbar ......................................................................................15
To alter a component of a chart .........................................................................16

12. Data Analysis ............................................................................................17

To use Goal Seek ..............................................................................................17
To use Solver .....................................................................................................17

13. Excel On-line Help....................................................................................18

To get help on a topic.........................................................................................18
To get help in dialogue boxes ............................................................................18
Using the Screen Tips pointer............................................................................18
Using the Office Assistant ..................................................................................18

EXCEL XP BEGINNER’S GUIDE

1. Basic Excel Terminology

An Excel file is called a workbook. You can work on a number of workbooks at any
time.

Each workbook contains one or more worksheets. The worksheet on which you are
currently working is termed the active worksheet.

Worksheets are made up of cells, arranged in columns (vertically), and rows

(horizontally).

Cells contain labels (text), values (numbers), or formulae.

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2. The Workbook Screen

When you first enter Excel the screen will look like the following:

b. Menu Bar
a.Title Bar
c. Tool Bar

e. Name box

g. Fill Handle

d. Active Cell f. Formula Bar

h. Column and
Row Headings

k. Task Pane

i Sheet Tabs
j. Tab Split Line

a. Title Bar. This contains the name of your workbook. For new workbooks
Excel gives default names, Book 1, Book 2, etc.

b. Menu Bar. The list of Excel commands. For example the Save command is
found in the File menu to the far left of the menu bar.

c. Tool Bars. Shortcut versions of commands. For example simply clicking the
appropriate button can access the Save command.

Note: If you are uncertain of what a button does, simply position the pointer
over it and a small box will appear giving a description of its function.

d. Active Cell. The active cell, or range of cells, indicates where data you are
entering or editing will be put.

e. Name Box. Shows the column and row reference for the active cell.

f. Formula Bar. This indicates the contents of the active cell.

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g. Fill Handle. This is for using Excel’s Auto Fill features. These will be
described later.

To select a group of cells:
To select groups of non-
adjacent cells:
Click on the top leftmost cell of the group
and drag the mouse across the range of
cells.
Hold down the Ctrl key whilst selecting the
cells with the mouse.

h. Column and Row Headings. Worksheets contain up to 256 columns, coded

A to Z, AA to AZ, ... IA to IV, and up to 65,536 rows, and accept 255
characters in a cell. This is unchanged from Excel97.

i. Sheet Tabs. Used to mark individual worksheets in the workbook. Excel

gives worksheets default names, Sheet 1, Sheet 2, etc.

To move to another sheet: Click on the required sheet tab.

To rename a sheet: Double-click on the sheet tab name.

Alternatively, right click once on the tab with
the mouse to display a pop-up menu of
options associated with sheet tabs. The
use of the right-hand button in this manner
is common throughout Excel and will
always give you a shortcut menu of options
associated awith that portion of the display
at which the mouse is currently pointing.

j. Tab Split Line.

To alter the proportion of the Point at the Tab Split line and click
display given to the sheet tabs and and drag to slide it along.
the screen scroll bars:

k. Task Pane
This may be visible and contains common commands or tasks that you may want
to do. The pane can be closed with the X, and can be opened from the View
menu.

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3. Opening and Saving Workbooks

To open an existing workbook File...Open from the menu bar and

select the name of your workbook
OR
the Open button on the
Standard toolbar may also be used.
OR
Use the New Workbook Task Pane

Note that the default extension for an Excel file is .XLS.

To save your workbook

the Save button , on the
Standard toolbar
OR
File...Save or ...Save As. from the
menu bar.

As with any program where you are inputting data you should get into the habit of
regularly saving your workbooks. If you try and exit from Excel, without first saving
your work you will be asked if you want to save the changes. If you choose not to,
your work will be irretrievably lost.

To exit from Excel File...Exit

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4. Entering and Editing Data

To enter data into a cell
To edit a cell
Click on it and type in the contents you
want.
Double-click on it and make whatever
changes you want using the standard
Windows editing features.
To enter the data into the worksheet you
can either press ‘Enter’ or simply make
another cell active.

Note how the current contents of the active cell are displayed in the formula bar.
This area can be used for editing as an alternative to editing in the cell itself. Use the
tick to accept the edits, or the X to cancel them.
Pressing Enter moves you down a row, whereas Tab moves you along a column.
(The Enter default can be changed in Tools… Options, Edit if wanted.) If groups of
cells are selected, Tab will also move you through each selected cell in turn.

To remove the contents of a cell you need to understand the distinction between
clearing a cell and deleting it. Clearing simply clears the contents of the cell from
the worksheet. It is identical to selecting the cell for editing and repeatedly pressing
the delete key to remove all the characters in it. Deleting is more drastic and actually
deletes the cell itself as well as its contents. Having removed a cell in this way Excel
will shuffle adjacent cells along to fill the gap that has been left.

To clear a cell Right mouse click on it, and choose

Clear Contents
OR
Click on it and
press the Delete or Backspace key
OR
Edit.. Clear.. Contents
To delete a cell Right mouse click on it, and choose
Delete
OR
Click on it and
Edit.. Delete
Then choose how to shift the
remaining cells.

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 To undo an action
Click on the Undo button
once to undo the previous action and
repeat to step back through previous
actions. The arrow beside the
button brings up a list of the previous
actions from which one can choose
how far back to undo.
OR
Edit…. Undo…
To redo an action
The redo button . Works
similarly to the Undo button but in
reverse.
OR
Edit… Redo…

To insert a completely new row
To insert a completely new column
Select the one before which you
want to make the insertion (by
clicking on the row heading), and
Insert...Rows.
Select the one before which you
want to make the insertion (by
clicking on the column heading), and
Insert... Columns.

More than one row or column at a time can be inserted in this way by selecting the
required number of rows or columns before Inserting.

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5. Shortcuts for Entering Data

It is quite likely that whenever you are creating worksheets much of the data you are
entering is similar in character.
As well as having copy and paste operations, Excel provides a quick way of entering
repetitive data using Auto-Fill.

To repeat data across rows or
columns (Autofill)
To undo part of an Autofill
To Autofill a complete
column(s)
Select one or more cells, click and drag
the fill handle (the square at the bottom
right-hand corner of a selected cell)
across the rows or columns
you want to fill.
Select the cells you want to clear, and
click and drag the fill handle back over the
selection.
Select the whole column(s) and drag the
fill handle.

It is often quicker to repeat fairly repetitive data in this fashion and then edit the
differences, than enter the raw data from scratch.
As well as simply copying data in this manner Excel can also automatically change
data as it proceeds with the Autofill.
• If a cell contains text and a number, the number will automatically be incremented
when autofilling i.e. Week 1 will become Week 2, Week 3 etc. as it autofills; 1st
Quarter will become 2nd Quarter, 3rd Quarter etc.
• If the content of the cell is part of a Custom List, then the values from the list are
used to autofill i.e. Tuesday will become Wednesday, Thursday etc. as it
autofills. The lists already set up can be seen by looking under Tools…
Options, Custom Lists tab. There are lists for days of the week and months of
the year. You can make your own custom lists.

To make a new Custom List Tools… Options, Custom Lists tab,

then click on NEW LIST. Type the list in
the right-hand pane and click the Add
button.

• If a cell value is recognised as a Date or Time, then the values will be

incremented by a day or an hour on autofilling i.e. 13:30 becomes 14:30, 15:30
etc.
• If more than one cell containing data values that could be interpreted as a series
is selected, Excel will continue the series i.e. 3 and 5 will be autofilled with 7, 9
etc. (Take care with this, the sequence may not be continued as expected. Try 1
2 4 8 , to see an example.)

• Immediately after an Autofill operation, you will see a Smart tag . Clicking
on this will give options on what sort of Autofill you want, such as a series, or
copying values, which is useful if the default is not giving you what you want.

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6. Formulae

A powerful feature of spreadsheets is that as well as displaying values in cells they

can also automatically apply calculations, formulae, to those values in order to work
out sums, percentages etc. Excel provides a wide range of built-in formulae, called
functions and you can also write your own ones specific to your needs.

In particular, Excel provides a special button on the top toolbar, for calculating the
sum of a set of numbers, as that is such a commonplace requirement.

To calculate the sum of a set Select the numbers to be totalled and

of numbers
click on the AutoSum button . The
result will be put in the empty cell at the
end of the selected cells.

When positioned on a cell containing a formula, the cell shows the result of the
formula and the formula bar displays the formula itself. Note how every formula
starts with an = sign.
Simple formulas can be typed into the formula bar directly. Start it with =, and
operators such as +, -, *, /, can be used. For cell references you can click on the
appropriate cells. Click on the tick when completed.

Changing a value used in a calculation will cause the result of the calculation to be
updated.

There are a number of built-in functions within Excel that you can use.

To use Insert Function Position on the cell where you want the
function, then click on the Paste Function

button in the Formula bar. You can

search for a function or choose a category
of function, and select a function from the
pane below. Click OK. A Function
Arguments window will appear (which can
be dragged about the screen if gets in the
way). Fill in cell references or values as
appropriate, and click OK when finished.

Functions can also be copied across rows or columns by Autofill.

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7. Formatting the Display

If your worksheet on your screen does not quite fit into the space available for
display; Excel offers a way around the problem.

To magnify or reduce the

display size Use the Zoom button , on the
top toolbar. Either choose a value from
the drop-down menu or type in a percent
value between 10 and 400. Choosing
‘selection’ will resize the selected cells to
fit the display
OR
View...Zoom.

Another problem commonly encountered is that as you enter or view data a long way
down or across the worksheet, you will lose from the display your column and row
headings. It can thus become difficult to determine to what the various cells refer.
Excel has a way around this by enabling you to freeze columns and rows so that
they stay on the screen as you move around the worksheet.

To freeze a column or row To freeze a column you first select the

To unfreeze the display
column to the right of it. Then select
Window...Freeze Panes from the menu.
Likewise, to freeze a row, first select the
row beneath it.
You can freeze a row and a column
together by first selecting the top-left cell
in the block to be ‘not frozen’.
Window...Unfreeze Panes

Excel also has a wide range of features to allow you to change the format of your
worksheet. The following is a brief overview of these functions:

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 To sort data To the right of the AutoSum button are
two buttons, ,that
sort cells into ascending and descending
order. . Click in the column
that you want sorted, and click on one of
these buttons. (Note that selecting the
data will sort only that data; selecting the
column heading of the data or clicking in
the column of data will rearrange the rows
based on the values of the sorted column
data in order to keep associated data
together.)
OR
Data… Sort. You can choose multiple
levels of sort from here.

On the Formatting toolbar are a set of five buttons that change the
way in which numeric information is displayed. From left to right they display
currency symbols, percent style, comma style (when displaying thousands),
increase zeros and decrease zeros after a decimal point.

To change the format of a Select a cell(s) and if it is numeric data

cell(s) you could use one of the buttons above
OR
Format… Cells, and choose a Category
and type.

You might find that some operations result in the number being displayed as a series
of ‘hash marks’; ########. This is Excel’s way of telling you that the number in that
cell is too long to fit into the space available. You can change the format until it does
fit, or change the size of the cells as described below.

To change the size of
columns and rows
Point the cursor at the thin line dividing
the column and row headings. The cursor
will change to a small bar marker and can
be dragged along the heading bars to
change the size of the column or row.
Double clicking on the divider at the right
of a column heading will AutoFit the
column width to accommodate the data.

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 To change font and Select a cell(s) and use the set of buttons on the
alignment within a Formatting toolbar:
cell

OR
Format...Cells , Font and Alignment tabs, both of
which also provide further features.
To add borders
Select a cell(s) and use the Borders button
The drop-down list will give a choice of where the
border will be applied
OR
Format...Cells , Border tab
OR draw borders using the Borders toolbar.
To change the
colour of a cell Select a cell(s) and use the Fill Color button
OR
Format...Cells , Patterns tab
To change the Select a cell(s) and use the Font Color button
colour of text in a
cell
OR
Format...Cells , Font tab

Drastic changes to the look of the whole worksheet can be made by autoformatting it.

To autoformat a Select a range of cells or click in a table of data,

table or range of then Format...Auto Format and choose a table
cells format style.
To use only parts of the autoformat, click Options,
and clear the check boxes for the formats you don't
want.

The ‘drawing’ button brings up the Drawing toolbar, which can be used to add
a variety of graphic objects such as shapes, arrows and WordArt etc.

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 To add graphic Use the Drawing toolbar, see above. Click on a
objects to a shape and drag it out on your worksheet.
worksheet
To add a text box to
a worksheet Use the. .button on the Drawing toolbar. Click
on it and drag out a box, then type. Such a box can
be used to hold comments about the data on the
worksheet.

8. Conditional Formatting

When conditional formatting is applied to a cell or range of cells then Excel can
automatically apply formatting to the cells if the values match criteria you specify (i.e.
the values fall within or outwith set limits). You are able to set multiple conditions on
the cells, for example all values below 0 may appear in red, while all values over a
thousand may have a blue background. Formatting can change the font, background
and border of the cells.

To apply conditional Select the cells to which you want to apply the
formatting conditional formatting, and choose Format...
Conditional Formatting from the menu.

Set the condition you require by filling in the

boxes. Click on the Format button and specify
the formatting to apply should the condition be
true.

Additional conditions (up to three) can be set by

clicking on the Add button.

The conditions themselves may refer to absolute

values or to other cells (e.g. that all cells with a
value greater than that in A5 will have the
formatting applied.)

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9. Printing Worksheets

To print
Use the print button on the Standard toolbar
OR
the menu option File...Print (or press Ctrl-P), and
choose the appropriate options.

To first see what your output will look like, use Print Preview.

To preview, before
printing Use the Print Preview button,
OR
the menu option File...Print Preview

You may often find that the worksheets you have produced will not physically fit on
the printed page without some adjustment, similar to the way in which you had to
shrink them to fit on the screen

To see page breaks In the Print Preview screen, there is a button named
Page Break Preview
OR
The menu option View… Page Break Preview.
When you change to this view the page breaks on
your worksheet appear as blue lines and each page
is clearly numbered in grey.
To adjust page Drag the blue lines to include the data you want
breaks for printing printed on each page. Excel automatically scales
the information on the page to fit. You can see the
results of this in the Print Preview window.

To change page size, orientation, The menu option File… Page

margins, headers and footers, Setup , and choose options from
printing of gridlines etc under the appropriate tab.

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10. Creating a Chart

Another useful feature of spreadsheet programs is that they allow you to display your
data in the form of graphs and charts very easily. In Excel, charts can be placed
anywhere in a workbook, and can be easily moved and modified.

To create a chart Use the Chart Wizard.

First select the cells containing the data you want to
display. Then click on the Chart Wizard icon from the

button on the Standard toolbar.

You are then given a list of the types of chart you may
want to use, along with a list of sub-types. Choose a
type appropriate to the data. After you have made your
selections by clicking on them, select Next> to proceed
to the next stage. (If you want to change your mind,
select <Back to go back a step.)
Step 2 gives you the chance, under the Data Range
tab, to check the data range and the choice of viewing
the chart source data by rows or columns. You can
see the difference between the two options by
choosing the other. Under the Series tab you can also
choose to exclude a series from the chart.
Click Next to proceed.
Step 3 gives you a range of options, under different
tabs, to edit labels, titles and legend options etc..
Click Next to proceed.
Step4 allows you to choose where to locate the chart
i.e. as a new sheet, or as an object on the sheet.
When you have chosen, click on the Finish button and
your chart will appear.

To move a chart Click on a blank area on the chart and drag to the
required position.

11. Editing a Chart

Each element of a chart, the type of chart, the title etc. can easily be changed. To
make changes the chart first has to be selected.

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 To select a chart Click anywhere on it, akin to making a cell active by
clicking on it. The chart will then be surrounded by
a small border with ‘frame handles’, small black
squares at the corners and along the sides.
To resize a chart Drag a frame handle.

Having used the Chart Wizard or having selected a chart, a small ‘Chart toolbar’ will
be displayed on the screen.

Using the Chart toolbar

The Chart Objects list allows different parts of the

chart to be selected, such as the legend or
individual segments. This allows specific changes
to font style or legend position for example to, be
made.
This brings up a Format screen appropriate to
whatever part of the chart is selected.

Can be used to change the type of the chart, for

example making a pie chart into a bar chart.
Click on the arrow to see the range of chart-types
available..

Places a legend on the chart. It is a toggle that

can be used to turn the legend off or on.

Inserts a Data Table so you can view the data

that makes up the chart.

Buttons used for altering the view of the data

series , either by Row or by Column.

If a text item on the chart is selected these

buttons can be used to position the text at an
angle.

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The components of the chart, the title, colour, legend etc., can all be formatted
individually from appropriate formatting screens.

To alter a component Double-click on the component and a menu of

of a chart options associated with it will appear
OR
Right click on a chart item to bring up a context
sensitive menu with formatting options
OR
Select a component (a single click) and use the
Format.. menu
OR
Use the Chart toolbar as described above to
select and format an item.

Note that if a value changes in the table upon which the chart is based, the chart will
reflect the change and be automatically redrawn.
Further if an extra row of data is inserted with a new label within the data range, this
also will be added to the chart.

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12. Data Analysis

Spreadsheets also allow you to perform analysis of your data, exploring different
permutations of values to see what effect they have etc. You have already
encountered some examples of this when you saw how Excel automatically
recalculates formulae and redraws graphs whenever the data on which they depend
changes. Excel also however offers some more powerful tools to examine the effect
of changes.

Firstly, there is Goal Seek, which adjusts the value of a single cell until a formula
dependant on that cell reaches the result you specify. Thus if you are seeking an
answer to a question like ‘In order for this formula, which depends on values I, J and
K, to have value X, what would the value of I have to be?’.

To use Select Tools...Goal Seek from the menu.

Goal Seek Select the cell whose value you want to change. You can
specify cells by typing in the reference or, more easily, clicking
on them with the mouse. Enter the value you are seeking.
Then select the cell you want to change to achieve the result.
Clicking OK will set Excel off to find a solution, which it will
then enter on the worksheet. A status box allows you to
choose OK to keep the change, or Cancel will restore the
sheet to its former values.

A limitation of Goal Seek is that it only allows you to change one cell in order to reach
the goal. Another tool, Solver, is more flexible.

To use Select Tools...Solver from the menu. (If it is not there, you
Solver may need to go to Tools Addins, and add it in.)
Select the cell whose value you want to change. (It must
contain a formula).
To have the value of this cell be as large as possible, click
Max.
To have the value be as small as possible, click Min.
To have a particular value, click Value of, and type the value in
the box.
Then select the cell(s) you want to change to achieve the
result. You can specify up to 200. Clicking the Guess button
will suggest possible cells.
Enter any constraints you want to apply in the Subject to the
Constraints box.
Click Solve to set Excel off to find a solution.
You will be offered a choice of keeping the solution or
restoring the original values.

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13. Excel On-line Help

The on-line help facilities give detailed help on all of Excel’s features.

To get help on a topic Key words or a question can be typed into the Ask a
Question box at the top right of the screen.
Alternatively, go to the menu, Help, Microsoft Excel
Help .
Click the Contents tab to get a table of contents of help
files.
Click the Answer Wizard tab to bring up a search screen
for Help. Type what you want to know about and click on
the Search button. Select a topic from the list that
appears, in order to display it.
Click the Index tab to bring up a search screen for Help.
Type a keyword(s) or choose from the list of keywords
and click on the Search button. Select a topic, from the
list that appears, to display it.
When you are viewing a help screen, you could choose
from the toolbar buttons to print the topic or go back to
earlier help screens displayed, or X to close it down.

The Help icon on the Standard toolbar,

OR F1 will also bring up the Help screens.
To get help in dialogue Click on the ? button at the top right of a dialogue box
boxes and then click on the area you need help on.
Click away from the help text to remove it from the
screen.
Using the Screen Tips Help menu,
pointer
What’s This?
Click on the area you need help on. (as above)
Click away from the help text to remove it from the
screen.
Using the Office If the Office Assistant is not displayed, then the Help
Assistant menu, Show the Office Assistant will turn it on.
You can click on it and then type-in keywords for the area
on which you require help.
If a light bulb is displayed, clicking on it will bring up a tip
related to what you are doing.
When the Office Assistant is active, all help requests will
appear via it.
To turn Office Assistant off, click on Options and untick
Use the Office Assistant.

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