Lecture 2

Topic 2: Introduction to MS
Excel
Lecture Overview
 MS Excel
•A spreadsheet app product of Microsoft.
•Versions: Excel 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010,
2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 (later this year)
•Others: Excel 365 (Cloud version), Excel
Android version.
Starting Excel 2016 (Windows 10)
Steps
1. Type Excel in the Search Box on the
Task Bar.
2. Click the Excel 2016 App option
3. Select Blank Workbook from a list of
templates.
A new MS Excel session launches
 Excel Terminologies
1. Cell – intersection of a row and a
column.
2. Active Cell - the currently selected cell.
•Has thick borders
3. Cell address – unique cell identity.
4. Range – a group of cells
 Excel Terminology Cont’d
5. Worksheet- Ms Excel’s working area.
• Consists of cells.
• Contains 1,048,576 rows and 16,384
columns.
6. Workbook
• an Ms Excel file.
• Holds one or more worksheets.
The Excel Cell Referencing System

•An address consists of column letter and

row number e.g. B3, D2 etc.
The Excel Window Elements

Column Header

Row Header
Sheet Tabs
1. File Button
• Holds the Backstage View.
• Back Stage View – acts a central place
for managing your workbooks.
• contains most frequently used
commands e.g. New, Open, Save, Print,
Close etc.
2. Quick Access Toolbar
•Provides a quick access to commands
icons
•By default it contains 3 buttons: Save,
Undo, and Redo.
•It is customizable to user preference.
3. Title bar – displays the name of the
workbook and the software.
4. Microsoft Office Excel Help button –
used to access Excel Help.
5. Control pane – Minimize,
Maximize/Restore and Close Buttons.
6. The ribbon -a task oriented command
center.
•Consists of 3 parts:
i. Tab – a task oriented main grouping
of tasks.
ii. tab group – divides a task into
subgroups.
• Each Tab has got its own set of Tab groups
iii. Command – carries out a computer
operation.
• Each Tab group has got its own set of commands
 Excel Window Elements Cont’d

7. Name Box- displays the address of the

active cell.
8. Formula Bar- displays the contents of
the active cell.
9. Column Headers – letters acting as
column identifier.
10. Row Headers – numbers acting as
row identifiers.
 Excel Window Elements Cont’d

11. Mouse pointer – used to select a

cell(s), commands.
12. Sheet Tabs – Used to navigate from
one worksheet to another.
13. status bar – displays the current
status of the worksheet e.g. Ready, Error
etc.
14. scroll bars – vertical and horizontal scroll
bars used to change the vertical or horizontal
view of worksheet areas.
15. View Shortcuts – used to change the view
of the active worksheet
16. Zoom button –used to change the
magnification (zoom) of the worksheet view
17. Zoom Slider – used to change the
magnification of the worksheet view
 Navigating in a Worksheet

•N/B: Home cell – cell A1.

 Navigating in a Worksheet

Can use:
i. Arrow keys – move one cell: left,
right, down or up.
ii. Tab key – move one cell to the right
iii. Enter key – move one cell down
• Home cell – cell A1.
•Keyboard shortcuts
 Excel Data Types
1. Labels/Text
• Any text or alphanumeric data
• Makes a worksheet more readable
2. Numbers
• Numerical values that can be
manipulated mathematically
3. Date
•Calendar values
 Excel Data Types Cont’d
4. Time
• Clock data
5. Formula
• User defined mathematical expression
6. Function
• Excel inbuilt mathematical/text
operation
Entering Text and Numbers
Video clip
•Observation: By default, an Excel 2016
aligns text to the left of a cell while
numbers to the right.
 Adding a Worksheet
• By default, excel 2016 starts with one
worksheet.
• To add, Click the New Sheet button.

New Sheet Button

Video clip
 Entering Fractions
•Create a space between the number and
the fraction.
Example 1: 6 ¼: 6 1/4
•N/B: a fraction must align to the right.
•Entering simple fraction:
Example 2: ¾ : 0 3/4
•N/B: Excel automatically simplifies
fractions
•i.e. 2 4/8  2 ½
Video Clip
 Navigating Worksheets
•Click on the Sheet Tab of choice to open
it.

Click on sheet Tab

Clip
Using AutoFill to enter a series
of values
•AutoFill- feature that inserts a series of
values or text items in a range of cells.
1. Key in the initial value e.g. 1
2. Drag the Autofill Handle with Right
Button up to the last cell in the range
The Short Cut menu appears
3. Select the Fill Series command
The values fill the range
 Entering Numbers as Text
•Precede the number with an
apostrophe (‘) e.g ‘001, ‘002.
•N/B: Such numbers are aligned to the
left of the of the cell.
 Saving a Workbook
1. Click File tab and select Save As option.
•Step 2: Select the Browse option.
•the Save As Dialog Box appears.
•This windows allows you to:
i. Specify location
ii. File (Workbook) name
iii.Save (File) type
N/B: By default, Excel’s Save as type
is .xlsx format
Step 3 − Select a folder where you would
like to save the sheet
Step 4: Enter file name e.g. hello or HELLO
Step 4: Leave the Save Type option at the
default i.e. Excel Workbook
Step 5: click on Save button
•The file is saved as: hello.xlsx
 Saving Updates

•Press Ctrl + S keys
 Closing a Workbook
•Click the close button.
 Opening an Existing Workbook
1. Open File Explorer
2. select location (drive)
3. Double-Click the file name