Introduction To Excel

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Introduction To Excel
Open the Excel workbook Introduction To Excel Workbook which you can download
from the Moodle module Dealing With Data by following the links from the Excel Topic.
In cell A1 type the number 1 then press the enter key or press the arrow key  or use the
mouse key to move into cell A2. Continue to enter the rest of the information into column
A, as shown below.
Note that the default column width

may not be large enough for all the
information in a cell.
Note that by default Excel
right aligns numbers and left aligns text.
We will see later how to change this.
From the above screen shot you can see that the Home tab has been selected and this
allows access to seven menus – Clipboard, Font, Alignment, Number, Styles, Cells and
Editing. We will see how to use these menus later.
Moving around the spreadsheet
To move the cursor to any particular cell it is simply a case of pointing and left clicking the
mouse. The scroll bars (horizontal scroll bar at the foot of the screen and vertical scroll
bar at right hand of the screen) can be used if needed to display further rows and/or
columns.
Home Key The Home key is towards the top right of the keyboard. Pressing this
key moves the cursor to the start of the current row.
eg Click the cursor in cell G8 (This contains Clark Kent’s birthday

30/06/1938). Now press Home; the cursor will move to the start of
row 8  to cell A8.
Ctrl + Home Key Holding down the Ctrl key and then pressing the Home key (usually
written Ctrl + Home) moves the cursor to cell A1.
Introduction To Excel 2010 Sep 2013 University Of The West of Scotland

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Statistics and Mathematics Group
Page 1
eg Click the cursor in cell G8 again. Now use Ctrl + Home (as above);
the cursor will be in cell A1.
PageUp The PageUp and Page Down keys are also useful for moving the
Page Down cursor in larger but controlled jumps.
To do things to or with the information in cells it is often necessary to select and highlight
the appropriate cells. As there are several ways of doing this, we will first illustrate these
without actually doing anything with the information.
If things go wrong, click on the Undo button as necessary to

reverse Excel operation(s).
Selecting cells
Selecting a column Click the mouse on the header

containing the capital letter which
identifies the column.
Click here on the A at the

top of the first column to
select that whole column.
Selecting a row Click the mouse on the grey header containing the number which
identifies the row.
Click on the 7 at the far left of the

7th row to select that whole row.

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Selecting all cells Click the mouse on the rectangle at the top left of the worksheet,
above the row number 1, to the left of the column letter A.
Click here to select all cells.
Selecting a range #1 To select a range of cells which are next to one another click the
mouse into the cell at the top left of the range and hold down the left
mouse button. Drag the mouse to the bottom right cell of the range.
Example 1 Click on cell E2 (containing

the name Scott) and hold down the
mouse button; drag the mouse down to
cell E5 (containing the name Gordon).
Example 2 Click on cell E2

(containing the name Scott) and
hold down the mouse button;
drag the mouse down and across
to cell G4 (containing the date
08/08/2008).
[In actual fact, you can start in any corner of the range and drag to
the opposite corner.]
Selecting a range #2 To select ranges of cells which are not next to one another select
the first range as described above. Now hold down the Ctrl key;
select a second range and third range etc. as necessary.
Example 3 Select cells C1

down to C5 (Morse to Quincy).
Hold down the Ctrl key and

select cells E2 down to E6
(Scott to Campbell).

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Copying cells
The following is the general outline of the process. We will then apply the procedure in
the Exercises below. To copy a range of cells :
 select the range of cells to be copied
 click the Copy button on the clipboard or use Ctrl+C
 click on the top left cell of the range to be copied into
 click on the Paste button or use Ctrl+V
To use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, hold down the Ctrl key and press the
appropriate letter.
The following Exercises will involve the application of the techniques outlined above.
If things go wrong, remember the magic Undo button!!!!!
Exercise 1 Select the names from Duncan to Clark; copy and paste these names under
the Surname heading.
Select the column of first names from Duncan to Clark.
Click on the button Copy.
Note that the cells will be enclosed by a moving dotted border.
Click the cursor into cell F2.
Click on the button Paste.
Notice that the moving dotted border remains in place.
The copied information could be pasted again somewhere

else.
To remove the dotted border, press the Esc key at the top left
of the keyboard.

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Exercise 2 Make a copy of the information in cells E1 to G8. Paste the copy so that
there is one blank row between the copy and the original.
Select the range of cells E1 to G8

(containing First Name to 30/06/1938).
Click on Copy.
Click the cursor into cell E10, which is where you want
the top left in the copied cells to go.
Click on Paste.
Notice that the moving dotted border remains.

The cells already copied can be pasted again, if required.
Some Fancy Copying
Click into cell J1 (Containing the number 3.141593)
Move the mouse to point at the bottom right hand corner of the cell.
The cursor will change from being a large white cross to a smaller
black cross. 
With the cursor displaying this black cross, click and hold down the left
mouse button while dragging the mouse down to cell J5.
Cells J1 to J5 should now all be filled with the number 3.141593.

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Some Fancy Filling
Dragging with the small black cross displayed also allows some fancy filling of cells.
Enter the values 2 and 4 into cells K1 and K2.
Select BOTH cells.
Again with the cursor displaying the black cross at the bottom
right hand corner of cell K2, click and hold down the left mouse button
while dragging the mouse down to cell K5.
Excel automatically continues the pattern.
Changing the Column Width
Select columns C and E.
Note that this requires a multiple range

selection using the CTRL key as described on Page 3.
From the Cells menu:
Click on Format then Autofit Column Width from

the drop down list.
The width of columns C and E should now

be adjusted so that all the text in these columns
is clearly visible.

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Column width can also be adjusted by moving the cursor to the boundary line to the right
of the column header. The symbol changes as shown.
The width of column F can now be:
 automatically adjusted by double clicking the left mouse button

 manually adjusted by holding down the left mouse button and dragging left or right
Exercise 3 Adjust the widths of columns G

and I automatically and
manually widen column J by
about half as much again.
Formatting Cells
The way in which the information in a single cell or range of cells is displayed can be
altered using Format then Format Cells from the bottom of the dropdown list.
Dates
Select column G (Containing Dates of Birth).
From the Cells menu:
Click on Format then Format Cells from the bottom of the dropdown list.
Click on the Number tab and complete

the dialogue box as shown opposite.
Click OK.
The dates shown in column G should now be displayed in the format

selected.
Notice that the column width adjusted automatically.

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Varying the Number of Decimal Places Displayed
There are buttons on the Number menu

which can be used to increase or decrease
the number of decimal places displayed.
Increase Decimal
Decrease Decimal
Click in cell J2.

Click once on the Decrease Decimal button.
Click in cell J3.

Click twice on the Decrease Decimal button.
Click in cell J4.

Click three times on the Decrease Decimal button.
Click in cell J5.

Click four times on the Decrease Decimal button.
Note that all cells still contain the same information – only the display has changed.
Displaying Numbers As Percentages
The % button on the Number menu can be used to

quickly format numbers as percentages.
Select the numbers in cells I1to I4.
Click on the % button on the Number menu.
Exercise 4
Enter the value 0.997456 into cell J7. Copy the value in cell J7 and paste this into cell J8.
Format cell J7 to display the number as a % with one decimal place.
Format cell J8 to display the number as a % with two decimal places.

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Sorting Information In A Single Column
Select cells B1 to B4.

(Containing the numbers 10, 1, 1000, 100)
From the Editing menu:
Click on the Sort & Filter button then

Sort Largest to Smallest from the dropdown list.
If the Sort Warning appears select

Continue with the current selection.
The cells selected (and only those cells) are sorted in descending order of size
(if they contain numbers) or in reverse alphabetic order (if they contain text).
Exercise 5
Select the cells C1 to C7. (Containing the text Morse, …, DCI Gene Hunt).
Sort these names, and only these names into alphabetical order.
Sorting Information In Multiple Columns
Often we require to sort a block of data involving several columns; if cells are moved in
one column we expect the corresponding cells in the other columns to move as well.
Sort the first block of the names and dates of birth (from E1 to G8) by surname.
Select cells E1 to G8.

Custom Sort from the dropdown list.

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Excel automatically
recognises that the
block of data has
headers in the first row.
Complete the Sort box

which appears by
selecting Surname
from the drop down list
in the Sort by section.
Click on OK.
The cells selected should now be sorted as shown

opposite. Note that the First Names and Dates of
Birth have moved along with the Surnames as
required.
Sorting Information Using Multiple Sort Keys
First click into cell F16 and change the surname from Clark to Duncan.
Sort this second block of the names and dates of birth (from E10 to G17) by surname as
the first criterion then by dates of birth if people have the same surname.
Select the cells E10 to G17.

Custom Sort from the dropdown list.

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Complete the Sort box
which appears by
selecting Surname from
the drop down list in the
Sort by section.
Click on Add Level and

select Date Of Birth
from the drop down list
in the Then by section.
Click on OK.
The resulting sort is shown opposite.

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Renaming a Worksheet
Worksheets have default names Sheet1, Sheet2 etc..
To change these to something more meaningful:
Point the mouse at the name Sheet 1 and click the right
mouse button. Select Rename from the list which appears.
The name Sheet1 is highlighted so simply

overtype this to rename the worksheet First Steps
and hit enter.
[As an alternative, double click on the sheet name

to highlight it.]
Extra Worksheets
Note that this Excel Workbook contains tabs for Worksheets Sheet 2 and Sheet 3 which
we have not used here. A Workbook can contain many Worksheets. If more than three
Worksheets are needed, blank Worksheets can be created one at a time by clicking on the
Insert worksheet button as shown below.

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Creating a Copy of a Worksheet
Often it is useful to create a copy of a Worksheet containing all the data. We could Copy
all of the cells in the Worksheet and Paste them into another Worksheet. There is
however an easier and more efficient method.
Make a copy of the worksheet named First Steps.
Point the mouse at the name First Steps and click the right
mouse button. Select Move or Copy… from the list which
appears.
Complete the Move or Copy box as below.
Click to highlight Sheet 2. This will place the copy

before Sheet 2.
Check the Create a copy box.
Click on OK.
A copy called First Steps (2) is created which

can be renamed.
Exercise 6
Rename this sheet Second Steps.

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Moving a Worksheet
The above works for moving a worksheet, simply do not check the Create a copy box.
Alternatively, point the mouse at a worksheet

name, click
and drag left or right to reposition the

worksheet.
Entering Formulae Into A Worksheet
Using your own or supplied Excel formulae in conjunction with cell references rather than
fixed numbers starts to release the full power of a spread sheet. Note that formula
specification should always start with an equals sign, ‘= ‘.
Click into cell L5 and type = K5 - K4. Press enter.
As you type the formula

will appear in the formula
bar.
Click into cell L5. Copy and paste into cells L1 to L4.
You should get an error in cell L1 since the formula pattern

can’t be continued into this cell.

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Click into cell M1 and type =K1. Press enter.
Into cell M2 type = M1 + K2. Press Enter.
Click into cell M2. Copy and paste into cells M3 to M5.
This now gives you a running total of the values in the

K column.
Now change the values in K1 to K5 to be 0, 1, 4, 9 and

16 respectively.
Note how the other formulae automatically update.
Set up cells in columns O, P and Q as shown

opposite.
Click into cell P3 and type
= $P$2*O3+$Q$2
Press enter.
Click into cell P3. Copy and paste into cells P4 to P5.
This evaluates the equation Y = 3X + 4 for X values

of 1, 2 and 3.

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Note:
 The * character is used to denote multiplication. [The / character can be used to

denote division and the ^ character for powers.]
 The use of $ signs fixes both the row and column references within the formula so
the entries in cells P2 and Q2 are always used as the slope and intercept when the
formula is copied.
Entering Excel Supplied Formulae
Excel has many supplied formulae that can be used.
Click into cell B5 and type =SUM(B1:B4). Press enter.
Note:
 The colon, :, character is used to specify a range of cells.

 The range of cells can be selected with the cursor.
Click into cell A9 and type =AVERAGEA(A1:A8). Press enter.
Note:
 The average is not 2.5 as might be expected! AVERAGEA is a

special averaging function which allocates 0 values to the text in
the column.
So it is finding the average of 1, 2, 3, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0.

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Note that the default column width

Moving around the spreadsheet

eg Click the cursor in cell G8 (This contains Clark Kent’s birthday

Introduction To Excel 2010 Sep 2013 University Of The West of Scotland

If things go wrong, click on the Undo button as necessary to

Selecting a column Click the mouse on the header

Click here on the A at the

Click on the 7 at the far left of the

Introduction To Excel 2010 Sep 2013 University Of The West of Scotland

Click here to select all cells.

Example 1 Click on cell E2 (containing

Example 2 Click on cell E2

Example 3 Select cells C1

Hold down the Ctrl key and

Introduction To Excel 2010 Sep 2013 University Of The West of Scotland

 select the range of cells to be copied

 click the Copy button on the clipboard or use Ctrl+C

 click on the top left cell of the range to be copied into

 click on the Paste button or use Ctrl+V

If things go wrong, remember the magic Undo button!!!!!

Select the column of first names from Duncan to Clark.

Click on the button Copy.

Note that the cells will be enclosed by a moving dotted border.

Click the cursor into cell F2.

Click on the button Paste.

Notice that the moving dotted border remains in place.

The copied information could be pasted again somewhere

Introduction To Excel 2010 Sep 2013 University Of The West of Scotland

Select the range of cells E1 to G8

Notice that the moving dotted border remains.

Some Fancy Copying

Click into cell J1 (Containing the number 3.141593)

Cells J1 to J5 should now all be filled with the number 3.141593.

Introduction To Excel 2010 Sep 2013 University Of The West of Scotland

Enter the values 2 and 4 into cells K1 and K2.

Select BOTH cells.

Excel automatically continues the pattern.

Changing the Column Width

Select columns C and E.

Note that this requires a multiple range

From the Cells menu:

Click on Format then Autofit Column Width from

The width of columns C and E should now

Introduction To Excel 2010 Sep 2013 University Of The West of Scotland

 automatically adjusted by double clicking the left mouse button

Exercise 3 Adjust the widths of columns G

Select column G (Containing Dates of Birth).

From the Cells menu:

Click on the Number tab and complete

The dates shown in column G should now be displayed in the format

Notice that the column width adjusted automatically.

Introduction To Excel 2010 Sep 2013 University Of The West of Scotland

There are buttons on the Number menu

Click in cell J2.

Click in cell J3.

Click in cell J4.

Click in cell J5.

Displaying Numbers As Percentages

The % button on the Number menu can be used to

Select the numbers in cells I1to I4.

Click on the % button on the Number menu.