Week 1: Keyboard Shortcuts, Terminology,

and Ninja Tips

Week 1: Toolbox
Keyboard Shortcuts

If a shortcut requires pressing two or more keys at the same time, keys are separated by a + sign.
An exhaustive list of shortcuts is available on the Microsoft Office Support pages

. Below are a small number of shortcuts that we have selected to improve your speed and
efficiency. The list is by no means exhaustive. If different, Mac shortcuts are listed in second
position. For a list of Mac specific keyboard shortcuts see the Microsoft Office ( for Mac)
Support page

Undo/Redo

Possibly some of the most frequently used keyboard shortcuts ever are CTRL+Z and CTRL+Y |
CMD+Z or CMD+Y. Z stands for undo and Y for redo. Both operate on multiple levels,
meaning that you can go back in time a long way. As always there are of course exceptions to the
rule and some actions cannot be undone. In some of these cases, Excel will give you a warning
(e.g., deleting a worksheet that has content in it, cannot be undone and Excel will warn you about
this) and then there are other events that you cannot undo and no warning message is displayed
(e.g. using the 'Move Chart' tool - more on this in Week 6).

CTRL-Y will redo your most recent action which comes in really handy if/when you want to
apply a certain step more than once.

New File/ New Workbook

To create a new workbook or new file, you do not need to go into any menu's. You can simply
press: CTRL+N | CMD+N

Open file / Open Workbook

To open the dialogue box and select an existing file (workbook) you can use the shortcut:
CTRL+O | CMD+O
Close file / Close Workbook

To close your current Workbook, you can click on the 'x' located at the top right (Windows) or
top left (Mac), But as shortcut keys are sometimes quicker, you can press: CTRL+W | CMD+W

Save file / Save Workbook

Saving your work regularly should become second nature. This shortcut will help. If you haven't
saved your file beforehand, Excel will ask you to assign a name and storage location to your file.
If you have, this shortcut will quickly save your file. CTRL+S | CMD+S

Select all

The select all shortcut actually behaves differently based on context. If you are in an empty cell
and select all, you will select the entire worksheet. If the active cell contains data that is part of a
group (cells containing contiguous data) select all will just select the group of cells instead. You
can press it again to select the entire worksheet. The shortcut for select all is: CTRL+A |
CMD+A)

Enter a new line of Text

Sometimes when entering data into a cell, you may want to go to a new line below your current
one, within the same cell. Rather than let Excel choose when this happens you can use this key
press combination to force this behaviour. When editing a cell, press: ALT + Enter

Moving around the worksheet

You can use the arrow keys to move a single cell in any direction. Page Up and Page Down
will move one "page" (the number of rows shown on the screen) up or down. CTRL+arrow
keys will move to the next blank cell in that direction. If you have a large dataset with no gaps
this will move to the edges of the dataset. CTRL+Home takes you to the first cell that contains
data in the top-left corner of the sheet. CTRL+End goes to the last cell in the bottom-right. On
certain keyboards without a Home key, you might need to use CTRL+Fn+Home to use this
shortcut.

Using the keyboard can make your work faster and smoother.

------------------------------------------------

Windows Shortcuts: Microsoft Office Support pages

| Mac Shortcuts: Microsoft Office Support pages

Terminology
Active Cell

The cell in the spreadsheet that is currently selected. It looks like this:

Cell

A cell is at the intersection between a row and a column. A cell is referenced by the column letter
and row number. The example below show cell B3:

Fill handle

The fill handle is the small black square on the bottom right-hand corner of the active cell.

You can display or hide the fill handle by:

1. Click File > Options. In Excel 2007 only: Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then
click Excel Options.
2. In the Advanced category, under Editing options, select or clear the Enable fill handle
and cell drag-and-drop check box.

For more information, go to https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Display-or-hide-the-fill-

handle-80918200-9ae9-4615-93c9-13d4f1496f81

Ribbon
The ribbon is the main menu bar at the top of the Excel screen. The ribbon is several tabs. The
HOME tab has some of the most frequently used tools. You can collapse the ribbon to allow
more space for the spreadsheet in the main window by double-clicking on any of the tab labels
(single-click for Mac users). When you repeat the action, the ribbon will re-appear. Once your
ribbon is hidden, you can bring it back temporarily with a single-click, use the tools you needed,
and then make it disappear again with another single-click on the tab or anywhere in the
spreadsheet.

Row

The rows are counted in numbers. There are 1,048,576 rows in an Excel spreadsheet. You can
read more about the specifications and limits of Excel spreadsheets

Column

The columns are listed in letters. There are 16,384 columns in an Excel spreadsheet. You can
read more about the specifications and limits of Excel spreadsheets

Quick Access Toolbar

The Quick Access Toolbar sits above the ribbon (can also be customized to sit below the ribbon).
Tools from any of the ribbon tabs can be added for quick access without switching between tabs.

Status bar

The Status Bar is below the spreadsheet. It contains several useful areas. The Zoom tool, access
to three different view options as well as, by default, several calculation results which display
dynamically whenever data is selected in the spreadsheet:
Workbook

The term workbook refers to the entire Excel file. The file name of each workbook is at the top
of the file window.

Worksheet

A workbook can contain several worksheets. You can add worksheets at the bottom left by
clicking on the plus sign next to the last worksheet tab. Right-click on the worksheet tab and you
can rename the worksheet and execute a range of other commands.

Ninja Tips for the Week:

Take charge of those endless rows and columns

One of the amazing features of Excel is the sheer endless number of rows and columns.
However, sometimes they add to the confusion more than they help. You can actually hide the
ones you don't need. Open one of this week's workbooks and try this out step-by-step. Here is
how

 Select the first column you don't need to see and then press the keyboard shortcut
CTRL+SHIFT+right arrow (for Mac use Command+Shift+right arrow). Right-click
anywhere in this new selection and select Hide.
 Select the first row you don't need to see and then press the keyboard shortcut
CTRL+SHIFT+down arrow (for Mac use Command+Shift+down arrow). Right-click
anywhere in this new selection and select Hide.

Tada :)

P.S: Just in case you want them back, select the last visible row and drag down into the hidden
area, or the last visible column and drag right, and click on Unhide. Everything is back to the
way it was.
Windows Shortcuts: Microsoft Office Support pages

| Mac Shortcuts: Microsoft Office Support pages

CTRL + Z — Undo previous action

F4 (fn + F4 / CMD + T) — Cycle through all 4 types of cell references. (Absolute, Mixed x2,
Relative)

CTRL + ~ (CTRL + `) — Show formulas in the worksheet

SHIFT + F3 (CTRL + A) — Open Formula Builder/ Function Wizard

CTRL + PgUp (CMD + PgUp) — Go to the previous sheet.

CTRL + PgDn (CMD + PgDn) — Go to the next sheet.

Excel Terminology

Formula

A formula is entered into a cell to perform a calculation. A formula always starts with an equal
sign (=) and once committed (press Enter), the result is displayed in that cell. At its most basic,
formulas can be simple mathematical calculations with values much like you would type into a
calculator. An example of a formula would be: =A1+B1 which would take whatever value was
entered into cell A1 and add it to the value that was typed into B1. After typing the formula and
pressing the Enter key, the resulting value will be displayed in the cell in which you entered the
formula.

Function

A function is what we referred to in the videos a 'mini-program' that you can use to make more
complex calculations. Functions are used inside formulas and therefore, you need to start with an
equal sign (=). Formulas operate with cell references and are very powerful. One commonly used
function is SUM, which will add up the values in a defined range. The function:
=SUM(A1:A12) will sum up all values contained in cells A1through to A12 and return the result
once you commit the function by pressing the ENTER key.

Formula Bar
The formula bar is located underneath the ribbon. The first edit line shows cell reference of the
currently active cell - this is called the Name Box. The second edit line provides space to enter
cell content and a helper tool to enter formulas:

Once you enter an equal sign into the active cell, frequently used functions appear in the Name
Box on the left - a drop-down menu offers more options.

Value

Values are numeric data that is entered into a cell. When text is entered into a cell without being
assigned a number format, we refer to them as labels. When data is formatted as a value type, it
can be referred to in formulas and functions and used in calculations.

Range

A range refers to two or more cells. When these cells are together, we call this an adjacent range.
Consider this example:

This adjacent range covers all the cells from A1 through to C2 - or in Excel syntax this is written
as A1:C2. The colon (:) basically stands for 'through to'. Whenever we want to define a range of
cells that are not all in one place, we talk about non-adjacent ranges:

This range includes cells A1:A2 and C1:C2. In Excel syntax this is written as A1:A2,C1:C2.

Reference, relative

A relative cell reference is one that changes relative to the direction in which it is copied.
Consider this example:
A2 and B2 are relative cell references. When we copy the formula in C2 downwards into C3 and
C4 with the fill handle, then Excel will assume that you want to conduct the same calculation in
rows 3 and 4 as you did in row 2. In other words, Excel will perform the calculation A3*B3 in
C3 and A4*B4 in C4. Excel effectively updates the row number in each of the cell references for
every row that you copy your formula downwards.

Reference, absolute

Or, as we like to fondly call it, the dollar thingy. A cell reference is absolute when it does not
change whenever it is copied. To make a cell reference absolute, you must include a $ before
each element of the cell reference: $A$1. This can be a bit cumbersome. The keyboard shortcut
to turn a cell reference into an absolute cell reference is to press F4.

Ninja Tip for the Week

Order of basic mathematical operations

Calculations in Excel follow the general mathematical rules for calculations, in other words,
Multiplication (*) and Division (/) come before Addition (+) and Subtraction (-). So, when you
are using these arithmetic operators in your calculations, you need to keep these general rules in
mind.

Example: =3+4*5

Excel reads the formula from left to right, so one might assume that it adds 3 and 4 together
before it multiplies the result by 5. However, as multiplication takes precedence over addition,
Excel will calculate 3 plus the result of 4 multiplied by 5. If you wanted Excel to choose the first
path, you need to 'tell' this to Excel with the help of parentheses. The formula should look like
this: =(3+4)*5

Windows Shortcuts: Microsoft Office Support pages

| Mac Shortcuts: Microsoft Office Support pages

CTRL + Z — Undo previous action

F4 (fn + F4 / CMD + T) — Cycle through all 4 types of cell references. (Absolute, Mixed x2,
Relative)

CTRL + ~ (CTRL + `) — Show formulas in the worksheet

SHIFT + F3 (CTRL + A) — Open Formula Builder/ Function Wizard

CTRL + PgUp (CMD + PgUp) — Go to the previous sheet.

CTRL + PgDn (CMD + PgDn) — Go to the next sheet.

Excel Terminology

Formula

A formula is entered into a cell to perform a calculation. A formula always starts with an equal
sign (=) and once committed (press Enter), the result is displayed in that cell. At its most basic,
formulas can be simple mathematical calculations with values much like you would type into a
calculator. An example of a formula would be: =A1+B1 which would take whatever value was
entered into cell A1 and add it to the value that was typed into B1. After typing the formula and
pressing the Enter key, the resulting value will be displayed in the cell in which you entered the
formula.

Function

A function is what we referred to in the videos a 'mini-program' that you can use to make more
complex calculations. Functions are used inside formulas and therefore, you need to start with an
equal sign (=). Formulas operate with cell references and are very powerful. One commonly used
function is SUM, which will add up the values in a defined range. The function:
=SUM(A1:A12) will sum up all values contained in cells A1through to A12 and return the result
once you commit the function by pressing the ENTER key.

Formula Bar
The formula bar is located underneath the ribbon. The first edit line shows cell reference of the
currently active cell - this is called the Name Box. The second edit line provides space to enter
cell content and a helper tool to enter formulas:

Once you enter an equal sign into the active cell, frequently used functions appear in the Name
Box on the left - a drop-down menu offers more options.

Value

Values are numeric data that is entered into a cell. When text is entered into a cell without being
assigned a number format, we refer to them as labels. When data is formatted as a value type, it
can be referred to in formulas and functions and used in calculations.

Range

A range refers to two or more cells. When these cells are together, we call this an adjacent range.
Consider this example:

This adjacent range covers all the cells from A1 through to C2 - or in Excel syntax this is written
as A1:C2. The colon (:) basically stands for 'through to'. Whenever we want to define a range of
cells that are not all in one place, we talk about non-adjacent ranges:

This range includes cells A1:A2 and C1:C2. In Excel syntax this is written as A1:A2,C1:C2.

Reference, relative

A relative cell reference is one that changes relative to the direction in which it is copied.
Consider this example:
A2 and B2 are relative cell references. When we copy the formula in C2 downwards into C3 and
C4 with the fill handle, then Excel will assume that you want to conduct the same calculation in
rows 3 and 4 as you did in row 2. In other words, Excel will perform the calculation A3*B3 in
C3 and A4*B4 in C4. Excel effectively updates the row number in each of the cell references for
every row that you copy your formula downwards.

Reference, absolute

Or, as we like to fondly call it, the dollar thingy. A cell reference is absolute when it does not
change whenever it is copied. To make a cell reference absolute, you must include a $ before
each element of the cell reference: $A$1. This can be a bit cumbersome. The keyboard shortcut
to turn a cell reference into an absolute cell reference is to press F4.

Ninja Tip for the Week

Order of basic mathematical operations

Calculations in Excel follow the general mathematical rules for calculations, in other words,
Multiplication (*) and Division (/) come before Addition (+) and Subtraction (-). So, when you
are using these arithmetic operators in your calculations, you need to keep these general rules in
mind.

Example: =3+4*5

Excel reads the formula from left to right, so one might assume that it adds 3 and 4 together
before it multiplies the result by 5. However, as multiplication takes precedence over addition,
Excel will calculate 3 plus the result of 4 multiplied by 5. If you wanted Excel to choose the first
path, you need to 'tell' this to Excel with the help of parentheses. The formula should look like
this: =(3+4)*5