MICROSOFT EXCEL TUTORIAL

GETTING STARTED

MicrosoftExcelisoneofthemostpopularspreadsheetapplicationsthathelpsyou
managedata,createvisuallypersuasivecharts,andthoughtprovokinggraphs.Excel
issupportedbybothMacandPCplatforms.MicrosoftExcelcanalsobeusedto
balanceacheckbook,createanexpensereport,buildformulas,andeditthem.

CREATING A NEW DOCUMENT

OPENING MICROSOFT EXCEL ON A PC

TobeginMicrosoftExcel,GotoStart>AllPrograms>Applications>Microsoft
Office>MicrosoftExcel(Figure1).Whenopenedanewspreadsheetwillpopup
onthescreen,ifthisdoesnothappenclickontheOfficeIcon >New.Fromhere
adialogboxwithvariousdifferenttemplateswillappearonthescreenthatyoucan
choosefrom.Onceatemplateischosen,clickCreate.

Figure1.NavigatetoMicrosoftExcelonaPC.

Figure2.Openinganewworkbook

SAVING YOUR DOCUMENT

Computerscrashanddocumentsarelostallthetime,soitisbesttosaveoften.

SAVING INITIALLY

Beforeyoubeginyoushouldsaveyourdocument.Todothis,clickonthefloppydisk
locatedatthetopofthescreen .ThenMicrosoftExcelwillopenadialogbox
(Figure3)whereyoucanspecifythenewfilesname,locationofwhereyouwantit
saved,andformatofthedocument.Onceyouhavespecifiedaname,place,and
formatforyournewfile,presstheSavebutton.

Note:SpecifyingyourfileformatwillallowyoutoopenyourdocumentonaPCas
wellasaMAC.TodothisyouusethedropdownmenunexttotheFormatoption.
Also,whenyouarespecifyingafileextension(i.e..doc)makesureyouknowwhat
youneedtouse.

Figure3.Savingdialogbox.

SAVING LATER

Afteryouhaveinitiallysavedyourblankdocumentunderanewname,youcan
beginyourproject.However,youwillstillwanttoperiodicallysaveyourworkas
insuranceagainstacomputerfreezeorapoweroutage.Tosave,justclickonthe
floppydisk,orforashortcutpressCTRL+S.

TOOLBARS

InMicrosoftExcel2007foraPC,thetoolbarsareautomaticallyplacedastabsatthe
topofthescreen.Withinthesetabsyouwillfindallofyouroptionstochangetext,
data,pagelayout,andmore.Tobeableaccessallofthecertaintoolbarsyouneedto
clickonacertaintabthatislocatedtowardsthetopofthescreen.

THREE COMMONLY USED TABS

TheHomeTab:(Figure4).ThisisoneofthemostcommontabsusedinExcel.You
areabletoformatthetextinyourdocument,cut,copy,andpasteinformation.
Changethealignmentofyourdata,insert,delete,andformatcells.TheHomeTab
alsoallowsyoutochangethenumberofyourdata(i.e.currency,time,date).

Figure4.HomeTab.

TheInsertTab:(Figure5).Thistabismainlyusedforinsertingvisualsandgraphics
intoyourdocument.Therearevariousdifferentthingsthatcanbeinsertedfrom
thistabsuchaspictures,clipart,charts,links,headersandfooters,andwordart.

Figure5.InsertTab.

ThePageLayoutTab:(Figure6).Hereyouareabletoaddmargins,themestoyour
document,changetheorientation,pagebreaks,andtitles.Thescalefitofyour
documentisalsoincludedasafeaturewithinthistab,ifneeded.

Figure6.PageLayoutTab.

FORMATTING

WORKING WITH CELLS

CellsareanimportantpartofanyprojectbeingusedinMicrosoftExcel.Cellshold
allofthedatathatisbeingusedtocreatethespreadsheetorworkbook.Toenter
dataintoacellyousimplyclickonceinsideofthedesiredcell,ablackborderwill
appeararoundthecell(Figure7).Thisborderindicatesthatitisaselectedcell.You
maythenbegintypinginthedataforthatcell.

Figure7.EnteringData.

CHANGING AN ENTRY WITHIN A CELL

Youmaychangeanentrywithinacelltwodifferentways:
Clickthecellonetimeandbegintyping.Thenewinformationwillreplace
anyinformationthatwaspreviouslyentered.
Doubleclickthecellandacursorwillappearinside.Thisallowsyoutoedit
certainpiecesofinformationwithinthecellsinsteadofreplacingallofthe
data.

CUT, COPY, AND PASTE

YoucanusetheCut,CopyandPastefeaturesofExceltochangethedatawithin
yourspreadsheet,tomovedatafromotherspreadsheetsintonewspreadsheets,and
tosaveyourselfthetimeofreenteringinformationinaspreadsheet.Cutwill
actuallyremovetheselectionfromtheoriginallocationandallowittobeplaced
somewhereelse.Copyallowsyoutoleavetheoriginalselectionwhereitisand
insertacopyelsewhere.Pasteisusedtoinsertdatathathasbeencutorcopied.

To Cut or Copy:

Highlightthedataortextbyselectingthecellsthattheyareheldwithin.
GototheHomeTab>Copy(CTRL+C)orHomeTab>Cut(CTRL+X).
Clickthelocationwheretheinformationshouldbeplaced.
GotoHomeTab>Paste(CTRL+V)tobeabletopasteyourinformation.

FORMATTING CELLS

Therearevariousdifferentoptionsthatcanbechangedtoformatthespreadsheets
cellsdifferently.Whenchangingtheformatwithincellsyoumustselectthecells
thatyouwishtoformat.

TogettotheFormatCellsdialogboxselectthecellsyouwishtochangethengoto
HomeTab>Format>FormatCells.Aboxwillappearonthescreenwithsix
differenttaboptions(Figure8).Explanationsofthebasicoptionsintheformat
dialogboxarebulletedbelow.

Figure8.FormattingCells

Number:Allowsyoutochangethemeasurementinwhichyourdataisused.(If
yourdataisconcernedwithmoneythenumberthatyouwoulduseiscurrency)
Alignment:Thisallowsyoutochangethehorizontalandverticalalignmentofyour
textwithineachcell.Youcanalsochangetheorientationofthetextwithinthecells
andthecontrolofthetextwithinthecellsaswell.
Font:Givestheoptiontochangethesize,style,color,andeffects.
Border:Givestheoptiontochangethedesignoftheborderaroundorthroughthe
cells.

FORMATTING ROWS AND COLUMNS

Whenformattingrowsandcolumnsyoucanchangetheheight,chooseforyour
informationtoautofittothecells,hideinformationwithinaroworcolumn,unhide
theinformation.ToformataroworcolumngotoHomeTab>RowHeight(or
ColumnHeight),thenchoosewhichheightyouaregoingtouse(Figure9).Thecell
orcellsthataregoingtobeformattedneedtobeselectedbeforedoingthis.When

changingtheroworcolumnvisibility(hidden,unhidden)orautofit,youwillgoto
theHomeTabandclickFormat.Thedropdownmenuwillshowtheseoptions

Figure9.FormattingRowsandColumnsHeight

ADDING ROWS AND COLUMNS

Whenaddingaroworcolumnyouareinsertingablankroworcolumnnexttoyour
alreadyentereddata.BeforeyoucanaddaRowyouaregoingtohavetoselectthe
rowthatyouwishforyournewrowtobeplaced.(Rowsareonthelefthandsideof
thespreadsheet)oncetherowisselecteditisgoingtohighlighttheentirerowthat
youchose.ToinserttherowyouhavetogotoHomeTab>Insert>InsertSheet
Rows(Figure10).Therowwillautomaticallybeplacedonthespreadsheetandany
datathatwasselectedintheoriginalrowwillbemoveddownbelowthenewrow.

Figure10.InsertingRows

BeforeyoucanaddaColumnyouaregoingtohavetoselectacolumnonthe
spreadsheetthatislocatedintheareathatyouwanttoenterthenewcolumn.
(Columnsareonthetoppartofthespreadsheet.)Oncethecolumnisselecteditis
goingtohighlighttheentirerowthatyouchose.Toinsertacolumnyouhavetogo
toHomeTab>Insert>InsertSheetColumn(Figure11).Thecolumnwill
automaticallybeplaceonthespreadsheetandanydatatotherightofthenew
columnwillbemovedmoretotheright.

Figure11.InsertingColumns

WORKING WITH CHARTS

Chartsareanimportantparttobeingabletocreateavisualforspreadsheetdata.In
ordertocreateachartwithinExcelthedatathatisgoingtobeusedforitneedsto
beenteredalreadyintothespreadsheetdocument.Oncethedataisentered,the
cellsthataregoingtobeusedforthechartneedtobehighlightedsothatthe
softwareknowswhattoinclude.Next,clickontheInsertTabthatislocatedatthe
topofthescreen.(Figure12).

Figure12.ChartsTab

Youmaychoosethechartthatisdesiredbyclickingthecategoryofthechartyou
willuse.Oncethecategoryischosenthechartswillappearassmallgraphicswithin
adropdownmenu.Tochooseaparticularchartjustclickonitsiconanditwillbe
placedwithinthespreadsheetyouareworkingon.Tomovethecharttoapageofits
own,selecttheborderofthechartandRightClick.Thiswillbringupadropdown
menu,navigatetotheoptionthatsaysMoveChart.Thiswillbringupadialogbox
thatsaysChartLocation.FromhereyouwillneedtoselectthecirclenexttoAsA
NewSheetandnamethesheetthatwillholdyourchart.Thechartwillpopup
largerinaseparatesheet(Figure13),butinthesameworkbookasyourentered
data.

Figure13.Chartinnewsheet

CHART DESIGN

Therearevariousdifferentfeaturesthatyoucanchangetomakeyourchartmore
appealing.Tobeabletomakethesechangesyouwillneedtohavethechartselected
orbeviewingthechartpagethatiswithinyourworkbook.Onceyouhavedonethat
theDesignTabwillappearhighlightedwithvariousdifferentoptionstoformat
yourgraphic(Figure14).

Figure14.DesignTabforchartdesign.

CHART OPTIONS:
Titles:ToaddtitlestoachartofgraphicyouhavetoclickontheInsertTab.Once
youhavedonethis,clickontheTextBoxIcon.Thiswillinsertatextboxthatyoucan
typethetitleandplaceanywhereyouwishonthechart.
ChangeChartType:Youcanchangeyourcharteasilybyselectingthisiconand
navigatingtoamoredesirablechart.Thisfeatureisveryconvenientforsomeone
whochosethewrongchartanddoesntwishtoreselectalltheirdataandgothrough
theprocessasecondtime.
FormatChartArea:Thisallowsforchangestobemadetothechardsborder,style,
fill,shadows,andmore.Togetthisoptionyouwillneedtorightclickonthecharts
borderandnavigatetotheFormatChartAreaoption.Oncethisisclickedadialog
boxwillappear.

CHART STYLE:
Hereyouareabletochangethecolorofthebarsthatarewithinyourchart.

INSERTING SMART ART GRAPHICS

PICTURES

ToinsertPictures:
GototheInsertTab>Picture,adialogboxwillappearandthenyoucanselectthe
desiredpicturefromthelocationthatisitstored(Figure15).Thepicturewillbe
inserteddirectlyontoyourdocument,whereyoucanchangethesizeofitasdesired.

Figure15.Insertingapicture

InsertingClipart:
ToinsertClipArtyouwillneedtogototheInsertTab>ClipArt.Anavigation
panewillappearonthelefthandsideofthescreenwhereyoucansearchforwords
thatpertaintothepictureyouarelookingfor.

Figure16.ClipArt

CREATING FUNCTIONS

WhencreatingafunctioninExcelyoumustfirsthavethedatathatyouwishto
performthefunctionwithselected.
Selectthecellthatyouwishforthecalculationtobeenteredin(i.e.:ifIwant
toknowthesumofB1:B5IwillhighlightcellB6formysumtobeentered
into)(Figure17).

Figure17.Choosingcalculationcell
OnceyouhavedonethisyouwillneedtoselecttheFormulasTablocatedat
thetopofthescreen.
AlistofMostRecentlyUsed,Financial,Logical,Text,DateandTime,
MathandTrigformulaswillappear.Tochooseoneoftheformulasclickthe
iconthatholdstheformulayouarelookingfor.
Onceyouhaveclickedyourformulathiswilldisplayadialogboxonyour
screen.(Figure18)

Figure18.Firstcalculationdisplay

Inthisscreenitliststhecellsthatarebeingcalculated,thevalueswithinthecells,
andtheendresult.

ToacceptthatcalculationyoucanpressOKandtheresultwillshowupinthe
selectedcell.

PRINTING

Itisimportanttoalwayssaveyourdocumentbeforeyouprint!

PRINTING

Toprintyourdocument,gototheOfficeIcon>Print,selectyourdesiredsettings,
andthenclickOK.YoucanalsodothisbyusingtheshortcutCTRL+P

Tobeabletochangetheorientationofyourpageforprintingyoucanclickonthe
PropertiesbuttonundertheoptiontoPrintthenclicktheLayoutTab(Figure19).

Figure19.PageSetupbuttonandprinting

OTHER HELPFUL FUNCTIONS

UNDO AND REDO

Inordertoundoanaction,youcanclickonthebluearrowiconthatispointingto
theleftatthetopofthescreen.Toredoanaction,youcanclickonthebluearrow
iconpointingtotheright.Itisimportanttonotethatnotallactionsareundoable,
thusitisimportanttosavebeforeyoumakeanymajorchangesinyourdocumentso
youcanrevertbacktoyoursaveddocument.

QUITTING

Beforeyouquit,it'sagoodideatosaveyourdocumentonefinaltime.Youwillneed
tochoosetheOfficeIconandchooseExitExcel.Thisisbetterthanjustclosingthe
window,asitinsuresyourdocumentquitscorrectly.