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Excel 2007

Training Manual
for Auditors
Peter Elolo Darrah
Upon completing this tutorial, you
Take a tour in

Create new workbook, move


around in a worksheet, enter, select,

Discover the power of Microsoft

set page and print using the


options available.

(Microsoft, 2007)

Email: elodarah@yahoo.com

Mobile: +233244592866
Excel 2007 Training Manual for Auditors

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Starting the Excel ............................................................................................................................. 5


The Excel Screen .............................................................................................................................. 6
Moving Around .................................................................................................................................. 8
Select cells, ranges, rows, or columns .................................................................... 8
Move or copy cells and cell contents ...................................................................................... 10
Insert moved or copied cells between existing cells ........................................................ 15
Copy cell values, cell formats, or formulas only ................................................................ 19
Insert blank cells on a worksheet ............................................................................................ 20
Insert rows on a worksheet ....................................................................................................... 21
Insert columns on a worksheet ................................................................................................ 22
Delete cells, rows, or columns .................................................................................................. 23
Hide a row or column....................................................................................................... 25
Display a hidden row or column ............................................................................................... 25
Freeze or lock rows and columns ............................................................................................. 26
Freeze panes to lock specific rows or columns ................................................ 27
Split panes to lock rows or columns in separate worksheet areas ...... 28
Insert or delete a worksheet ..................................................................................................... 28
Insert a new worksheet ................................................................................................. 29
Insert multiple worksheets at once ........................................................................ 29
Insert a new sheet that's based on a custom template ............................. 30
Rename a worksheet .................................................................................................................... 31
Delete a worksheet ........................................................................................................................ 32
Create a new workbook ............................................................................................................... 32
Open a new, blank workbook ............................................................................................ 32
Base a new workbook on an existing workbook ........................................................ 33
Base a new workbook on a template ............................................................................. 33
Enter data manually in worksheet cells ................................................................................. 34
Enter text or a number in a cell ....................................................................................... 35
Enter a number that has a fixed decimal point .......................................................... 35
Enter a dates or a time in a cell ....................................................................................... 35

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Excel 2007 Training Manual for Auditors

Enter the same data into several cells at the same time ....................................... 36
Enter the same data on several worksheets at the same time ............................ 39
Adjust worksheet settings and cell formats ................................................................. 42
Fill data automatically in worksheet cells ............................................................................. 45
Automatically repeat values that already exist in the column ............................. 45
Use the fill handle to fill data ............................................................................................. 46
Fill data into adjacent cells by using the Fill command.......................................... 47
Fill formulas into adjacent cells ........................................................................................ 48
Fill in a series of numbers, dates, or other built-in series items ......................... 49
Fill data by using a custom fill series ............................................................................. 51
APPLY DATA VALIDATION ....................................................................................................... 54
Create or delete a formula ......................................................................................................... 80
Create a simple formula by using constants and calculation operators ........... 82
Create a formula by using cell references and names ............................................ 83
Create a formula by using a function ............................................................................. 84
Create a formula by using nested functions ................................................................ 85
Create an array formula that calculates a single result .......................................... 86
Create an array formula that calculates multiple results ....................................... 87
Delete a formula ..................................................................................................................... 88
Learn tips and tricks about creating formulas ............................................................ 89
Avoid common errors when creating formulas ........................................................... 89
Create an external reference (link) to a cell range in another workbook ................ 91
Learn more about external references........................................................................... 91
Create an external reference between cells in different workbooks .................. 93
Create an external reference to a defined name in another workbook ............ 94
Define a name that contains an external reference to cells in another
workbook ................................................................................................................................... 94
Guidelines and examples for sorting and filtering data by color ................................. 95
Overview of sorting and filtering data by color and icon set ................................ 96
Using color effectively when analyzing data ................................................................ 98
Choosing the best colors for your needs..................................................................... 101
Walking through some examples ................................................................................... 102
Ways to format a worksheet.................................................................................................... 109

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Excel 2007 Training Manual for Auditors

Working with document themes ..................................................................................... 109


Using styles to quickly format data ............................................................................... 110
Formatting data manually ................................................................................................. 111
Using borders and colors to emphasize data ............................................................ 112
Changing the alignment or orientation of data ........................................................ 112
Copying an existing format to other data ................................................................... 113
Prepare a worksheet for printing ........................................................................................... 114
Making a worksheet easy to read or scan .................................................................. 114
Fine-tuning the layout of printed pages ...................................................................... 115
Fixing awkward page breaks ........................................................................................... 117
Previewing a worksheet before you print it ............................................................... 118
Printing all or part of a worksheet ................................................................................. 118
Step Up! Let's print a worksheet by using advanced settings.................................... 118
Let's preview the print layout .......................................................................................... 119
Let's set the page settings................................................................................................ 122
Let's start printing................................................................................................................ 126

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Excel 2007 Training Manual for Auditors

Starting the Excel


Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that is designed to record and
analyze numbers and data. Excel is very widely used for accounting and
financial purposes.

The files created in Excel are known as workbooks. In turn, each


workbook can contain one or more worksheet. An Excel worksheet is laid
out like grid with horizontal rows and vertical columns. Columns are
labeled with alphabets (A, B, C, etc.) while Rows are given numbers (1,
2, 3, etc.).

The intersection of a row and a column is called a Cell. A cell is referred


by a combination of column alphabet and a row number (A1, A2 etc…). A
cell is a primary unit of measure in Excel and all the information is stored
in cells. A range is a collection of continuous cells (which form a
rectangular block on which the user wants to perform similar type of
calculations. A range is referred to by a combination of the cell addresses
of the diagonally opposite cells separated by a colon (A1:D6).

In this chapter, you will be able to start the Excel application, identify the
different features in the Excel application and navigate the Excel
application.

To start Excel, follow the steps below:

a. At the windows (XP, Vista, Window 7 etc.) desktop, click the start

button on the taskbar.


b. Point to All programs.
c. Point to Microsoft Office 2007.
d. Click Microsoft Office Excel 2007.
e. To close the Excel worksheet, click office button and select

close .
f. To exit the Excel, click office button and select Exit Excel
.

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Excel 2007 Training Manual for Auditors

The Excel Screen


On loading MS-EXCEL (either through shortcut menu, or icon on the
desktop or through the start menu), the following screen appears:

12 15 16 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 8 9 10 11

13 14

The various components of the EXCEL Screen are explained in brief


below:

Sr. Contains Remarks


1 Title Bar Contains the name of the file currently opened
and also has the windows control buttons to
either close or minimize the program.
2 Menu Bar Contains the list of various commands that can
be performed in MS-EXCEL. It can be invoked
either by a mouse click or the Alt key from the
keyboard
3 Tool Bar Contains buttons for some commonly performed
tasks. The command can be activated by a mere

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Excel 2007 Training Manual for Auditors

mouse click.
4 Formula Bar Displays the content of the active cell. The left
hand side of this bar includes the name box
which contains the list of all the range names
and thereby facilitates quicker worksheet
navigation.
5 Column Labels Contain the heading of the columns. Can be used
for column-wide operations like increasing the
column width, hiding columns, formatting entire
column, etc.
6 Row Labels Contain the headings of the rows. Can be used
for row-wide operations like increasing row
height, hiding rows, formatting entire rows, etc.
7 Sheet Area The place where the actual data is entered. The
active cell is surrounded by a dark rectangle.
8 Sheet Tab Gives reference to the sheet which is currently
active. One can quickly navigate through
different sheets from here.
9 Status Bar Includes the various information sent by EXCEL.
Of particular use is the Quick Sum Feature in the
status bar which automatically displays the total
of the selected cells.
10 Scroll Bars & Split The scroll bar can be used for quick movement
Indicator within the work sheet. The extreme top of the
vertical scroll bar and the extreme right of the
horizontal scroll bar contain a split indicator
which permits the user to divide the sheet into
two parts.
11 Application These buttons are used to minimize or control
Control Buttons the size of a particular file.
12 Office Button This replaces the file button in previous MS Excel
programs. It contains the basic file management
commands including new, open, save, print and
close.
13 View Button This enables you view the page from either
normal view, page layout or page break.
14 Zoom Slider This enables you to adjust the workbook to the
level of zoom you may desire quickly without
using the formula bar.
15 Name Box Contains the identifier or location of an active
cell.
16 Tabs The Tabs contain the various tools.

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Excel 2007 Training Manual for Auditors

Moving Around
A worksheet can contain up to 65,536 rows and 256 columns whereas the
visibility of the information on the screen is restricted to the size of the
screen (generally 18-20 rows and 8-10 columns are visible at a time).
Therefore, one may need to move around different section of a
worksheet. There are various ways in which one can work with cells and
move around very efficiently:

Select cells, ranges, rows, or columns

To select Do this

A single cell Click the cell, or press the arrow keys to move to
the cell.

A range of cells Click the first cell in the range, and then drag to
the last cell, or hold down SHIFT while you press
the arrow keys to extend the selection.

You can also select the first cell in the range,


and then press F8 to extend the selection by
using the arrow keys. To stop extending the
selection, press F8 again.

A large range of Click the first cell in the range, and then hold
cells down SHIFT while you click the last cell in the
range. You can scroll to make the last cell
visible.

All cells on a Click the Select All button.


worksheet

To select the entire worksheet, you can also


press CTRL+A.

NOTE If the worksheet contains data, CTRL+A


selects the current region. Pressing CTRL+A a
second time selects the entire worksheet.

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Nonadjacent cells or Select the first cell or range of cells, and then
cell ranges hold down CTRL while you select the other cells
or ranges.

You can also select the first cell or range of cells,


and then press SHIFT+F8 to add another
nonadjacent cell or range to the selection. To
stop adding cells or ranges to the selection,
press SHIFT+F8 again.

NOTE You cannot cancel the selection of a cell


or range of cells in a nonadjacent selection
without canceling the entire selection.

An entire row or Click the row or column heading.


column

Row heading

Column heading

You can also select cells in a row or column by


selecting the first cell and then pressing
CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key (RIGHT ARROW or
LEFT ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN
ARROW for columns).

NOTE If the row or column contains data,


CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key selects the row or
column to the last used cell. Pressing
CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key a second time selects
the entire row or column.

Adjacent rows or Drag across the row or column headings. Or


columns select the first row or column; then hold down
SHIFT while you select the last row or column.

Nonadjacent rows or Click the column or row heading of the first row
columns or column in your selection; then hold down
CTRL while you click the column or row headings
of other rows or columns that you want to add to
the selection.

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Excel 2007 Training Manual for Auditors

The first or last cell Select a cell in the row or column, and then
in a row or column press CTRL+ARROW key (RIGHT ARROW or LEFT
ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW
for columns).

The first or last cell Press CTRL+HOME to select the first cell on the
on a worksheet or in worksheet or in an Excel list.
a Microsoft Office
Excel table Press CTRL+END to select the last cell on the
worksheet or in an Excel list that contains data
or formatting.

Cells to the last used Select the first cell, and then press
cell on the CTRL+SHIFT+END to extend the selection of
worksheet (lower- cells to the last used cell on the worksheet
right corner) (lower-right corner).

Cells to the Select the first cell, and then press


beginning of the CTRL+SHIFT+HOME to extend the selection of
worksheet cells to the beginning of the worksheet.

More or fewer cells Hold down SHIFT while you click the last cell that
than the active you want to include in the new selection. The
selection rectangular range between the active cell and
the cell that you click becomes the new
selection.

Move or copy cells and cell contents


Using the Cut, Copy, and Paste commands in Microsoft Office Excel, you
can move or copy entire cells or their contents. You can also copy specific
contents or attributes from the cells. For example, you can copy the
resulting value of a formula without copying the formula itself, or you can
copy only the formula.

Note: Excel displays an animated moving border around cells that


have been cut or copied. To cancel a moving border, press ESC.

Move or copy entire cells

To move cells, click Cut .

Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+X.

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Excel 2007 Training Manual for Auditors

To copy cells, click Copy .

Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+C.

Select the upper-left cell of the paste area.

Tip To move or copy a selection to a different worksheet or workbook,


click another worksheet tab or switch to another workbook, and then
select the upper-left cell of the paste area.

On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Paste .

Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+V.

Notes

To choose specific options when you paste cells, you can click the arrow
below Paste , and then click the option that you want. For example,
you can click Paste Special or Paste As Picture.

By default, Excel displays the Paste Options button on the worksheet to


provide you with special options when you paste cells, such as Keep
Source Formatting and Match Destination Formatting. If you don't want to
display this button every time that you paste cells, you can turn this

option off. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel
Options. In the Advanced category, under Cut, Copy, and Paste, clear the
Show Paste Options buttons check box.

Excel replaces existing data in the paste area when you cut and paste
cells to move them.

When you copy cells, cell references are automatically adjusted. When
you move cells, however, cell references are not adjusted, and the
contents of those cells and of any cells that point to them may be
displayed as reference errors. In this case, you will need to adjust the
references manually.

If the selected copy area includes hidden cells, Excel also copies the
hidden cells. You may need to temporarily unhide cells that you don't
want to include when you copy information.

If the paste area contains hidden rows or columns, you might need to
unhide the paste area to see all of the copied cells.

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Excel 2007 Training Manual for Auditors

Move or copy entire cells by using the mouse

By default, drag-and-drop editing is turned on so that you can use the


mouse to move and copy cells.

Select the cells or range (range: Two or more cells on a sheet. The cells in
a range can be adjacent or nonadjacent.) of cells that you want to move
or copy.

How to select cells or ranges

To select Do this

A single cell Click the cell, or press the arrow keys to move to
the cell.

A range of cells Click the first cell in the range, and then drag to
the last cell, or hold down SHIFT while you press
the arrow keys to extend the selection.

You can also select the first cell in the range, and
then press F8 to extend the selection by using the
arrow keys. To stop extending the selection, press
F8 again.

A large range of Click the first cell in the range, and then hold
cells down SHIFT while you click the last cell in the
range. You can scroll to make the last cell visible.

All cells on a Click the Select All button.


worksheet

To select the entire worksheet, you can also press


CTRL+A.

Note If the worksheet contains data, CTRL+A


selects the current region. Pressing CTRL+A a
second time selects the entire worksheet.

Nonadjacent cells Select the first cell or range of cells, and then hold

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Excel 2007 Training Manual for Auditors

or cell ranges down CTRL while you select the other cells or
ranges.

You can also select the first cell or range of cells,


and then press SHIFT+F8 to add another
nonadjacent cell or range to the selection. To stop
adding cells or ranges to the selection, press
SHIFT+F8 again.

Note You cannot cancel the selection of a cell or


range of cells in a nonadjacent selection without
canceling the entire selection.

An entire row or Click the row or column heading.


column

Row heading

Column heading

You can also select cells in a row or column by


selecting the first cell and then pressing
CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key (RIGHT ARROW or LEFT
ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW for
columns).

Note If the row or column contains data,


CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key selects the row or
column to the last used cell. Pressing
CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key a second time selects
the entire row or column.

Adjacent rows or Drag across the row or column headings. Or select


columns the first row or column; then hold down SHIFT
while you select the last row or column.

Nonadjacent rows Click the column or row heading of the first row or
or columns column in your selection; then hold down CTRL
while you click the column or row headings of
other rows or columns that you want to add to the

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selection.

The first or last cell Select a cell in the row or column, and then press
in a row or column CTRL+ARROW key (RIGHT ARROW or LEFT
ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW for
columns).

The first or last cell Press CTRL+HOME to select the first cell on the
on a worksheet or worksheet or in an Excel list.
in a Microsoft
Press CTRL+END to select the last cell on the
Office Excel table
worksheet or in an Excel list that contains data or
formatting.

Cells to the last Select the first cell, and then press
used cell on the CTRL+SHIFT+END to extend the selection of cells
worksheet (lower- to the last used cell on the worksheet (lower-right
right corner) corner).

Cells to the Select the first cell, and then press


beginning of the CTRL+SHIFT+HOME to extend the selection of
worksheet cells to the beginning of the worksheet.

More or fewer cells Hold down SHIFT while you click the last cell that
than the active you want to include in the new selection. The
selection rectangular range between the active cell (active
cell: The selected cell in which data is entered
when you begin typing. Only one cell is active at a
time. The active cell is bounded by a heavy
border.) and the cell that you click becomes the
new selection.

Tip To cancel a selection of cells, click any cell on the worksheet.

Do one of the following:

To move a cell or range of cells, point to the border of the selection.

When the pointer becomes a move pointer , drag the cell or range of
cells to another location.

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To copy a cell or range of cells, hold down CTRL while you point to the

border of the selection. When the pointer becomes a copy pointer ,


drag the cell or range of cells to another location.

Notes

Excel replaces existing data in the paste area when you move cells.

When you copy cells, cell references are automatically adjusted. When
you move cells, however, cell references are not adjusted, and the
contents of those cells and of any cells that point to them may be
displayed as reference errors. In this case, you will need to adjust the
references manually.

If the selected copy area includes hidden cells, Excel also copies the
hidden cells. You may need to temporarily unhide cells that you don't
want to include when you copy information.

If the paste area contains hidden rows or columns, you might need to
unhide the paste area to see all of the copied cells.

Insert moved or copied cells between existing cells


On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, do one of the following:

To move the selection, click Cut .

Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+X.

To copy the selection, click Copy .

Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+C.

Right-click the upper-left cell of the paste area, and then click Insert Cut
Cells or Insert Copied Cells on the shortcut menu.

Tip To move or copy a selection to a different worksheet or workbook,


click another worksheet tab or switch to another workbook, and then
select the upper-left cell of the paste area.

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In the Insert Paste dialog box, click the direction in which you want to
shift the surrounding cells.

Note If you insert entire rows or columns, the surrounding rows and
columns are shifted down and to the left.

Copy visible cells only

If some cells, rows, or columns on your worksheet are not displayed, you
have the option of copying all cells or only the visible cells. For example,
you can choose to copy only the displayed summary data on an
outlined (outline: Worksheet data in which rows or columns of detail data
are grouped so that you can create summary reports. The outline can
summarize either an entire worksheet or a selected portion of it.)
worksheet.

Select the cells that you want to copy.

On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Find & Select, and then click
Go To.

In the Go To dialog box, click Special.

Under Select, click Visible cells only, and then click OK.

On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy .

Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+C.

Select the upper-left cell of the paste area.

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Tip To move or copy a selection to a different worksheet or workbook,


click another worksheet tab or switch to another workbook, and then
select the upper-left cell of the paste area.

On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Paste .

Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+V.

Notes

Excel pastes the copied data into consecutive rows or columns. If the
paste area contains hidden rows or columns, you might need to unhide
the paste area to see all of the copied cells.

If you click the arrow below Paste , you can choose from several paste
options to apply to your selection.

When you copy or paste hidden or filtered (filter: To display only the rows
in a list that satisfy the conditions you specify. You use the AutoFilter
command to display rows that match one or more specific values,
calculated values, or conditions.) data to another application or another
instance of Excel, only visible cells are copied.

Prevent copied blank cells from replacing data

On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy .

Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+C.

Select the upper-left cell of the paste area.

On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the arrow below Paste ,
and then click Paste Special.

Select the Skip blanks check box.

Move or copy the contents of a cell

Double-click the cell that contains the data that you want to move or
copy.

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Note By default, you can edit and select cell data directly in the cell by
double-clicking it, but you can also edit and select cell data in the formula
bar (formula bar: A bar at the top of the Excel window that you use to
enter or edit values or formulas in cells or charts. Displays the constant
value or formula stored in the active cell.).

In the cell, select the characters that you want to move or copy.

How to select characters in a cell

To select the contents


of a cell Do this

In the cell Double-click the cell, and then drag across the
contents of the cell that you want to select.

In the formula Click the cell, and then drag across the
bar (formula bar: A contents of the cell that you want to select in
bar at the top of the the formula bar.
Excel window that you
use to enter or edit
values or formulas in
cells or charts.
Displays the constant
value or formula
stored in the active
cell.)

By using the keyboard Press F2 to edit the cell, use the arrow keys to
position the insertion point, and then press
SHIFT+ARROW key to select the contents.

On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, do one of the following:

To move the selection, click Cut .

Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+X.

To copy the selection, click Copy .

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Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+C.

In the cell, click where you want to paste the characters, or double-click
another cell to move or copy the data.

On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Paste .

Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+V.

Press ENTER.

Note When you double-click a cell or press F2 to edit the active cell,
the arrow keys work only within that cell. To use the arrow keys to move
to another cell, first press ENTER to complete your editing changes to the
active cell.

Copy cell values, cell formats, or formulas only


When you paste copied data, you can do any of the following:

Convert any formulas in the cell to the calculated values without


overwriting the existing formatting.

Paste only the cell formatting, such as font color or fill color (and not the
contents of the cells).

Paste only the formulas (and not the calculated values).

Select the cell or range of cells that contains the values, cell formats, or
formulas that you want to copy.

On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy .

Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+C.

Select the upper-left cell of the paste area or the cell where you want to
paste the value, cell format, or formula.

On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the arrow below Paste ,
and then do one of the following:

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To paste values only, click Paste Values.

To paste cell formats only, click Paste Special, and then click Formats
under Paste.

To paste formulas only, click Formulas.

Note If the copied formulas contain relative cell references, Excel


adjusts the references (and the relative parts of mixed cell references) in
the duplicate formulas. For example, suppose that cell B8 contains the
formula =SUM(B1:B7). If you copy the formula to cell C8, the duplicate
formula refers to the corresponding cells in that column: =SUM(C1:C7). If
the copied formulas contain absolute cell references (absolute cell
reference: In a formula, the exact address of a cell, regardless of the
position of the cell that contains the formula. An absolute cell reference
takes the form $A$1.), the references in the duplicate formulas are not
changed. If you don't get the results that you want, you can also change
the references in the original formulas to either relative or absolute cell
references and then recopy the cells.

Insert blank cells on a worksheet

1. Select the cell or the range of cells where you want to insert the
new blank cells. Select the same number of cells as you want to
insert. For example, to insert five blank cells, you need to select
five cells.

2. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click the arrow next to
Insert, and then click Insert Cells.

TIP You can also right-click the selected cells and then click
Insert on the shortcut menu.

3. In the Insert dialog box, click the direction in which you want to
shift the surrounding cells.

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NOTES

When you insert cells on your worksheet, all references that are
affected by the insertion adjust accordingly, whether they are
relative or absolute references. The same applies to deleting cells,
except when a deleted cell is directly referenced by a formula. If
you want references to adjust automatically, it's a good idea to use
range references whenever appropriate in your formulas, rather
than specifying individual cells.

You can insert cells that contain data and formulas by copying or
cutting them, right-clicking the location where you want to paste
them, and then clicking Insert Copied Cells or Insert Cut Cells
on the shortcut menu.

Tips

To quickly repeat the action of inserting a cell, click the location


where you want to insert the cell, and then press CTRL+Y.

If there is formatting, you can use Insert Options to choose


how to set the formatting of the inserted cells.

Insert rows on a worksheet

1. Do one of the following:

 To insert a single row, select the row or a cell in the row above
which you want to insert the new row. For example, to insert a
new row above row 5, click a cell in row 5.

 To insert multiple rows, select the rows above which you want
to insert rows. Select the same number of rows as you want to
insert. For example, to insert three new rows, you need to
select three rows.

 To insert nonadjacent rows, hold down CTRL while you select


nonadjacent rows.

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2. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click the arrow next to
Insert, and then click Insert Sheet Rows.

TIP You can also right-click the selected rows and then click
Insert on the shortcut menu.

NOTE When you insert rows on your worksheet, all references that are
affected by the insertion adjust accordingly, whether they are relative or
absolute references. The same applies to deleting rows, except when a
deleted cell is directly referenced by a formula. If you want references to
adjust automatically, it's a good idea to use range references whenever
appropriate in your formulas, rather than specifying individual cells.

Tips

To quickly repeat the action of inserting a row, click the location


where you want to insert the row, and then press CTRL+Y.

If there is formatting, you can use Insert Options to choose


how to set the formatting of the inserted rows.

Insert columns on a worksheet

1. Do one of the following:

 To insert a single column, select the column or a cell in the


column immediately to the right of where you want to insert
the new column. For example, to insert a new column to the
left of column B, click a cell in column B.

 To insert multiple columns, select the columns immediately to


the right of where you want to insert columns. Select the same
number of columns as you want to insert. For example, to
insert three new columns, you need to select three columns.

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 To insert nonadjacent columns, hold down CTRL while you


select nonadjacent columns.

2. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click the arrow next to
Insert, and then click Insert Sheet Columns.

TIP You can also right-click the selected cells and then click
Insert on the shortcut menu.

NOTE When you insert columns on your worksheet, all references that
are affected by the insertion adjust accordingly, whether they are relative
or absolute references. The same applies to deleting columns, except
when a deleted cell is directly referenced by a formula. If you want
references to adjust automatically, it's a good idea to use range
references whenever appropriate in your formulas, rather than specifying
individual cells.

Tips

To quickly repeat the action of inserting a column, click the location


where you want to insert the column, and then press CTRL+Y.

If there is formatting, you can use Insert Options to choose


how to set the formatting of the inserted columns.

Delete cells, rows, or columns

1. Select the cells, rows, or columns that you want to delete.

2. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, do one of the following:

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 To delete selected cells, click the arrow next to Delete, and


then click Delete Cells.

 To delete selected rows, click the arrow next to Delete, and


then click Delete Sheet Rows.

 To delete selected columns, click the arrow next to Delete, and


then click Delete Sheet Columns.

TIP You can also right-click a selection of cells, rows, or


columns, click Delete on the shortcut menu, and then click the
option that you want.

3. If you are deleting a cell or a range of cells, in the Delete dialog


box, click Shift cells left, Shift cells up, Entire row, or Entire
column.

If you are deleting rows or columns, other rows or columns


automatically shift up or to the left.

Tips

To quickly repeat deleting cells, rows, or columns, select the next


cells, rows, or columns, and then press CTRL+Y.

If needed, you can restore deleted data immediately after you


delete it. On the Quick Access toolbar menu, click Undo Delete,
or press CTRL+Z.

NOTES

Pressing DELETE deletes the contents of the selected cells only, not
the cells themselves.

Microsoft Office Excel keeps formulas up to date by adjusting


references to the shifted cells to reflect their new locations.
However, a formula that refers to a deleted cell displays the #REF!
error value.

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You can hide a row or column by using the Hide command, but a row or
column also becomes hidden when you change its row height or column
width to 0 (zero). You can display either again by using the Unhide
command.

What do you want to do?

Hide a row or column


Display a hidden row or column

Hide a row or column

1. Select the rows or columns that you want to hide.

2. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click Format.

3. Do one of the following:

 Under Visibility, point to Hide & Unhide, and then click Hide
Rows or Hide Columns.

 Under Cell Size, click Row Height or Column Width, and


then type 0 in the Row Height or Column Width box.

TIP You can also right-click a row or column (or a selection of multiple
rows or columns), and then click Hide.

Display a hidden row or column

1. Do one of the following:

 To display hidden rows, select the row above and below the
rows that you want to display.
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 To display hidden columns, select the columns adjacent to


either side of the columns that you want to display.

 To display the first hidden row or column on a worksheet,


select it by typing A1 in the Name Box next to the formula
bar.

TIP You can also select it by using the Go To dialog box. On


the Home tab, under Editing, click Find & Select, and then
click Go To. In the Reference box, type A1, and then click
OK.

3. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click Format.

4. Do one of the following:

 Under Visibility, point to Hide & Unhide, and then click


Unhide Rows or Unhide Columns.

 Under Cell Size, click Row Height or Column Width, and


then type the value that you want in the Row Height or
Column Width box.

Freeze or lock rows and columns


Hide All

You can view two areas of a worksheet and lock rows or columns in one
area by freezing or splitting panes (pane: A portion of the document
window bounded by and separated from other portions by vertical or
horizontal bars.). When you freeze panes, you select specific rows or
columns that remain visible when scrolling in the worksheet.

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For example, you would freeze panes to keep row and column labels
visible as you scroll, as shown in the following example.

Worksheet window with row 1 frozen

When you split panes, you create separate worksheet areas that you can
scroll within, while rows or columns in the non-scrolled area remain
visible.

Freeze panes to lock specific rows or columns

1. On the worksheet, do one of the following:

 To lock rows, select the row below where you want the split to
appear.

 To lock columns, select the column to the right of where you


want the split to appear.

 To lock both rows and columns, click the cell below and to the
right of where you want the split to appear.

2. On the View tab, in the Window group, click Freeze Panes, and
then click the option that you want.

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NOTE When you freeze panes, the Freeze Panes option


changes to Unfreeze Panes so that you can unlock frozen rows or
columns.

Split panes to lock rows or columns in separate worksheet areas

1. To split panes, point to the split box at the top of the vertical scroll
bar or at the right end of the horizontal scroll bar.

2. When the pointer changes to a split pointer or , drag the split


box down or to the left to the position that you want.

3. To remove the split, double-click any part of the split bar that
divides the panes.

Insert or delete a worksheet

By default, Microsoft Office Excel provides three worksheets in a


workbook, but you can insert additional worksheets (and other types of
sheets, such as a chart sheet, macro sheet, or dialog sheet) or delete
them as needed. If you have access to a worksheet template that you
created or one that's available on Office Online, you can base a new
worksheet on that template.

The name (or title) of a worksheet appears on its sheet tab at the bottom
of the screen. By default, the name is Sheet1, Sheet2, and so on, but you
can give any worksheet a more appropriate name.

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Insert a new worksheet

To insert a new worksheet, do one of the following:

To quickly insert a new worksheet at the end of the existing


worksheets, click the Insert Worksheet tab at the bottom of the
screen.

To insert a new worksheet before an existing worksheet, select that


worksheet, and then on the Home tab, in the Cells group, click
Insert, and then click Insert Sheet.

TIP You can also right-click the tab of an existing worksheet, and
then click Insert. On the General tab, click Worksheet, and then
click OK.

Top of Page

Insert multiple worksheets at once

1. Hold down SHIFT, and then select the same number of existing
sheet tabs of the worksheets that you want to insert in the open
workbook.

For example, if you want to add three new worksheets, select three
sheet tabs of existing worksheets.

2. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click Insert, and then click
Insert Sheet.

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TIP You can also right-click the selected sheet tabs, and then click
Insert. On the General tab, click Worksheet, and then click OK.

Insert a new sheet that's based on a custom template

1. If needed, create the worksheet template that you want to base a


new worksheet on.

How to create a worksheet template

1. Select the worksheet that you want to use as a template.

2. Click Microsoft Office Button , and then click Save As.

3. In the Save as type box, click Template.

4. In the Save in box, select the folder where you want to store
the template.

 To create the default worksheet template, select either the


XLStart folder or the alternate startup folder.

The XLStart folder is usually:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\XLStart

 To create a custom worksheet template, select the


Templates folder.

The Templates folder is usually:

In Microsoft Windows XP: C:\Documents and


Settings\user_name\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates

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In Microsoft Windows Vista: C:\User\user_name\Application


Data\Microsoft\Templates

5. In the File name box, type the name of the worksheet


template.

 To create a template for default worksheets, type sheet.

 To create a custom sheet template, type the file name that


you want to use.

6. Click Save.

2. Right-click the sheet tab of a worksheet, and then click Insert.

3. Double-click the template for the type of sheet that you want.

Rename a worksheet

1. On the Sheet tab bar, right-click the sheet tab that you want to
rename, and then click Rename.

2. Select the current name, and then type the new name.

TIP You can include the name of the sheet when you print the
worksheet.

How to print sheet names

1. On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Header & Footer.

2. In the Page Layout View, click the location where you want
the sheet name to appear.

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3. In the Header & Footer elements group, click Sheet Name


.

Delete a worksheet

On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click the arrow next to
Delete, and then click Delete Sheet.

TIP You can also right-click the sheet tab of the worksheet that
you want to delete, and then click Delete.

Create a new workbook

A Microsoft Office Excel workbook is a file that contains one or more


worksheets that you can use to organize various kinds of related
information. To create a new workbook, you can open a blank workbook.
You can also base a new workbook on an existing workbook, the default
workbook template, or any other template.

What do you want to do?

 Open a new, blank workbook


 Base a new workbook on an existing workbook
 Base a new workbook on a template

Open a new, blank workbook

1. Click Microsoft Office Button , and then click New.

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2. Under Templates, make sure that Blank and recent is selected, and
then under Blank and recent in the right pane, double-click Blank
Workbook.

Keyboard shortcut To quickly create a new, blank workbook, you


can also press CTRL+N.

TIPS

 By default, a new workbook contains three worksheets, but you can


change the number of worksheets that you want a new workbook to
contain under When creating new workbooks on the Popular tab in
the Excel Options dialog box (Microsoft Office Button , Excel
Options button).
 You can also add and remove worksheets as needed.

For more information about how to add or remove worksheets, see


Insert or delete a worksheet.

Base a new workbook on an existing workbook

1. Click Microsoft Office Button , and then click New.


2. Under Templates, click New from existing.
3. In the New from Existing Workbook dialog box, browse to the drive,
folder, or Internet location that contains the workbook that you want to
open.
4. Click the workbook, and then click Create New.

Base a new workbook on a template

1. Click Microsoft Office Button , and then click New.


2. Under Templates, click Installed Templates or My templates.
3. Do one of the following:
 To use an installed template, under Installed Templates, click the
template that you want, and then click Create.
 To use your own template, on the My Templates tab, double-click the
template that you want.

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NOTE The My Templates tab lists the templates that you


have created. If you do not see the template that you want to
use, make sure that it is located in the correct folder. Custom
templates are typically stored in the Templates folder, which is
usually C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Templates
in Windows Vista, and C:\Documents and
Settings\user_name\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates in
Microsoft Windows XP.

Enter data manually in worksheet cells

You have several options when you want to enter data manually in Excel.
You can enter data in one cell, in several cells at the same time, or on
more than one worksheet at once. The data that you enter can be
numbers, text, dates, or times. You can format the data in a variety of
ways. And, there are several settings that you can adjust to make data
entry easier for you.

IMPORTANT If you can't enter or edit data in a worksheet, it might


have been protected by you or someone else to prevent data from being
changed accidentally. On a protected worksheet, you can select cells to
view the data, but you won't be able to type information in cells that are
locked. In most cases, you should not remove the protection from a
worksheet unless you have permission to do so from the person who
created it. To unprotect a worksheet, click Unprotect Sheet in the
Changes group on the Review tab. If a password was set when the
worksheet protection was applied, you must first type that password to
unprotect the worksheet.

What do you want to do?

 Enter text or a number in a cell


 Enter a number that has a fixed decimal point
 Enter a date or a time in a cell
 Enter the same data into several cells at the same time
 Enter the same data on several worksheets at the same time
 Adjust worksheet settings and cell formats

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Enter text or a number in a cell

1. On the worksheet, click a cell.


2. Type the numbers or text that you want to enter, and then press ENTER
or TAB.

TIP To enter data on a new line within a cell, enter a line break by
pressing ALT+ENTER.

Enter a number that has a fixed decimal point

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel Options.
2. Click Advanced, and then under Editing options, select the
Automatically insert a decimal point check box.
3. In the Places box, enter a positive number for digits to the right of the
decimal point or a negative number for digits to the left of the decimal
point.
For example, if you enter 3 in the Places box and then type 2834 in a
cell, the value will appear as 2.834. If you enter -3 in the Places box and
then type 283, the value will be 283000.
4. On the worksheet, click a cell, and then enter the number that you want.

NOTE Data that you typed in cells before selecting the Fixed
decimal option is not affected.

TIP To temporarily override the Fixed decimal option, type a


decimal point when you enter the number.

Enter a dates or a time in a cell

1. On the worksheet, click a cell.


2. Type a date or time as follows:
 To enter a date, use a slash mark or a hyphen to separate the parts of a
date; for example, type 9/5/2002 or 5-Sep-2002.
 To enter a time that is based on the 12-hour clock, enter the time
followed by a space, and then type a or p after the time; for example,
9:00 p. Otherwise, Excel enters the time as AM.

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TIP To enter the current date and time, press CTRL+SHIFT+;


(semicolon).

NOTES

 To enter a date or time that stays current when you reopen a worksheet,
you can use the TODAY and NOW functions.
 When you enter a date or a time in a cell, it appears either in the default
date or time format for you computer or in the format that was applied to
the cell before you entered the date or time. The default date or time
format is based on the date and time settings in the Regional and
Language Options dialog box (Control Panel). If these settings on your
computer have been changed, the dates and times in your workbooks
that have not been formatted by using the Format Cells command are
displayed according to those settings.
 To apply the default date or time format, click the cell that contains the
date or time value, and then press CTRL+SHIFT+# or CTRL+SHIFT+@.

Enter the same data into several cells at the same time

1. Select the cells into which you want to enter the same data. The cells do
not have to be adjacent.
TO SELECT DO THIS

A single cell Click the cell, or press the arrow keys to move to
the cell.

A range of cells Click the first cell in the range, and then drag to
the last cell, or hold down SHIFT while you press
the arrow keys to extend the selection.

You can also select the first cell in the range, and
then press F8 to extend the selection by using the
arrow keys. To stop extending the selection, press
F8 again.

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A large range of cells Click the first cell in the range, and then hold
down SHIFT while you click the last cell in the
range. You can scroll to make the last cell visible.

All cells on a Click the Select All button.


worksheet

To select the entire worksheet, you can also press


CTRL+A.

NOTE If the worksheet contains data, CTRL+A


selects the current region. Pressing CTRL+A a
second time selects the entire worksheet.

Nonadjacent cells or Select the first cell or range of cells, and then hold
cell ranges down CTRL while you select the other cells or
ranges.

You can also select the first cell or range of cells,


and then press SHIFT+F8 to add another
nonadjacent cell or range to the selection. To stop
adding cells or ranges to the selection, press
SHIFT+F8 again.

NOTE You cannot cancel the selection of a cell


or range of cells in a nonadjacent selection without
canceling the entire selection.

An entire row or Click the row or column heading.


column

Row heading

Column heading

You can also select cells in a row or column by


selecting the first cell and then pressing
CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key (RIGHT ARROW or LEFT
ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW for
columns).

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NOTE If the row or column contains data,


CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key selects the row or
column to the last used cell. Pressing
CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key a second time selects
the entire row or column.

Adjacent rows or Drag across the row or column headings. Or select


columns the first row or column; then hold down SHIFT
while you select the last row or column.

Nonadjacent rows or Click the column or row heading of the first row or
columns column in your selection; then hold down CTRL
while you click the column or row headings of
other rows or columns that you want to add to the
selection.

The first or last cell Select a cell in the row or column, and then press
in a row or column CTRL+ARROW key (RIGHT ARROW or LEFT
ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW for
columns).

The first or last cell Press CTRL+HOME to select the first cell on the
on a worksheet or in worksheet or in an Excel list.
a Microsoft Office Press CTRL+END to select the last cell on the
Excel table worksheet or in an Excel list that contains data or
formatting.

Cells to the last used Select the first cell, and then press
cell on the worksheet CTRL+SHIFT+END to extend the selection of cells
(lower-right corner) to the last used cell on the worksheet (lower-right
corner).

Cells to the Select the first cell, and then press


beginning of the CTRL+SHIFT+HOME to extend the selection of
worksheet cells to the beginning of the worksheet.

More or fewer cells Hold down SHIFT while you click the last cell that
than the active you want to include in the new selection. The
selection rectangular range between the active cell and the
cell that you click becomes the new selection.

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TIP To cancel a selection of cells, click any cell on the worksheet.

2. In the active cell, type the data, and then press CTRL+ENTER.

TIP You can also enter the same data into several cells by using
the fill handle to automatically fill data in worksheet cells.

For more information, see the article Fill data automatically in


worksheet cells.

Enter the same data on several worksheets at the same time

By making multiple worksheets active at the same time, you can enter
new data or change existing data on one of the worksheets, and the
changes are applied to the same cells on all the selected worksheets.

1. Click the tab of the first worksheet that contains the data that you want to
edit. Then hold down CTRL while you click the tabs of other worksheets in
which you want to synchronize the data.

NOTE If you don't see the tab of the worksheet that you want,
click the tab scrolling buttons to find the worksheet and then click its
tab. If you still can't find the worksheet tabs that you want, you
might have to maximize the document window.

2. On the active worksheet, select the cell or range in which you want to edit
existing or enter new data.
TO SELECT DO THIS

A single cell Click the cell, or press the arrow keys to move to
the cell.

A range of cells Click the first cell in the range, and then drag to
the last cell, or hold down SHIFT while you press
the arrow keys to extend the selection.

You can also select the first cell in the range, and
then press F8 to extend the selection by using the
arrow keys. To stop extending the selection, press
F8 again.

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A large range of cells Click the first cell in the range, and then hold
down SHIFT while you click the last cell in the
range. You can scroll to make the last cell visible.

All cells on a Click the Select All button.


worksheet

To select the entire worksheet, you can also press


CTRL+A.

NOTE If the worksheet contains data, CTRL+A


selects the current region. Pressing CTRL+A a
second time selects the entire worksheet.

Nonadjacent cells or Select the first cell or range of cells, and then hold
cell ranges down CTRL while you select the other cells or
ranges.

You can also select the first cell or range of cells,


and then press SHIFT+F8 to add another
nonadjacent cell or range to the selection. To stop
adding cells or ranges to the selection, press
SHIFT+F8 again.

NOTE You cannot cancel the selection of a cell


or range of cells in a nonadjacent selection without
canceling the entire selection.

An entire row or Click the row or column heading.


column

Row heading

Column heading

You can also select cells in a row or column by


selecting the first cell and then pressing
CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key (RIGHT ARROW or LEFT
ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW for
columns).

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NOTE If the row or column contains data,


CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key selects the row or
column to the last used cell. Pressing
CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key a second time selects
the entire row or column.

Adjacent rows or Drag across the row or column headings. Or select


columns the first row or column; then hold down SHIFT
while you select the last row or column.

Nonadjacent rows or Click the column or row heading of the first row or
columns column in your selection; then hold down CTRL
while you click the column or row headings of
other rows or columns that you want to add to the
selection.

The first or last cell Select a cell in the row or column, and then press
in a row or column CTRL+ARROW key (RIGHT ARROW or LEFT
ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW for
columns).

The first or last cell Press CTRL+HOME to select the first cell on the
on a worksheet or in worksheet or in an Excel list.
a Microsoft Office Press CTRL+END to select the last cell on the
Excel table worksheet or in an Excel list that contains data or
formatting.

Cells to the last used Select the first cell, and then press
cell on the worksheet CTRL+SHIFT+END to extend the selection of cells
(lower-right corner) to the last used cell on the worksheet (lower-right
corner).

Cells to the Select the first cell, and then press


beginning of the CTRL+SHIFT+HOME to extend the selection of
worksheet cells to the beginning of the worksheet.

More or fewer cells Hold down SHIFT while you click the last cell that
than the active you want to include in the new selection. The
selection rectangular range between the active cell and the
cell that you click becomes the new selection.

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TIP To cancel a selection of cells, click any cell on the worksheet.

3. In the active cell, type new data or edit the existing data, and then press
ENTER or TAB to move the selection to the next cell.
4. Repeat the previous step until you have completed entering or editing
data.

NOTES

 To cancel a selection of multiple worksheets, click any unselected


worksheet. If an unselected worksheet is not visible, you can right-click
the tab of a selected worksheet, and then click Ungroup Sheets.
 When you enter or edit data, the changes affect all the selected
worksheets and can inadvertently replace data that you didn't mean to
change. To help avoid this, you can view all the worksheets at the same
time to identify potential data conflicts.
1. On the View tab, in the Window group, click New Window.
2. Switch to the new window, and then click a worksheet that you want to
view.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each worksheet that you want to view.
4. On the View tab, in the Window group, click Arrange All, and then
click the option that you want.
To view worksheets in the active workbook only, select the Windows
of active workbook check box.

Adjust worksheet settings and cell formats

There are several settings in Excel that you can change to help make
manual data entry easier. Some changes affect all workbooks, some
affect the whole worksheet, and some affect only the cells that you
specify.

CHANGE THE DIRECTION FOR THE ENTER KEY

When you press TAB to enter data in several cells in a row and then press
ENTER at the end of that row, by default, the selection moves to the
beginning of the next row.

Pressing ENTER moves the selection down one cell, and pressing TAB
moves the selection one cell to the right. You cannot change the direction

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of the move for the TAB key, but you can specify a different direction for
the ENTER key. Changing this setting affects the whole worksheet, any
other open worksheets, any other open workbooks, and all new
workbooks.

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel Options.
2. In the Advanced category, under Edit, select the After pressing Enter,
move selection check box, and then click the direction that you want in
the Direction box.

CHANGE THE WIDTH OF A COLUMN

At times, a cell might display #####. This can occur when the cell
contains a number or a date and the width of its column cannot display all
the characters that its format requires. For example, suppose a cell with
the Date format "mm/dd/yyyy" contains 12/31/2007. However, the
column is only wide enough to display six characters. The cell will display
#####. To see the entire contents of the cell with its current format,
you must increase the width of the column.

1. Click the cell for which you want to change the column width.
2. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click Format.

3. Under Cell Size, do one of the following:


 To fit all text in the cell, click AutoFit Column Width.
 To specify a larger column width, click Column Width, and then type the
width that you want in the Column width box.

NOTE As an alternative to increasing the width of a column, you can


change the format of that column or even an individual cell. For example,
you could change the date format so that a date is displayed as only the
month and day ("mm/dd" format), such as 12/31, or represent a number
in a Scientific (exponential) format, such as 4E+08.

WRAP TEXT IN A CELL

You can display multiple lines of text inside a cell by wrapping the text.
Wrapping text in a cell does not affect other cells.

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1. Click the cell in which you want to wrap the text.


2. On the Home tab, in the Alignment group, click Wrap Text.

NOTE If the text is a long word, the characters won't wrap (the
word won't be split); instead, you can widen the column or decrease
the font size to see all the text. If all the text is not visible after you
wrap the text, you might have to adjust the height of the row. On
the Home tab, in the Cells group, click Format, and then under
Cell Size click AutoFit Row.

CHANGE THE FORMAT OF A NUMBER

In Excel, the format of a cell is separate from the data that is stored in
the cell. This display difference can have a significant effect when the data
is numeric. For example, when a number that you enter is rounded,
usually only the displayed number is rounded. Calculations use the actual
number that is stored in the cell, not the formatted number that is
displayed. Hence, calculations might appear inaccurate because of
rounding in one or more cells.

After you type numbers in a cell, you can change the format in which they
are displayed.

1. Click the cell that contains the numbers that you want to format.
2. On the Home tab, in the Number group, point to General, and then
click the format that you want.

TIP To select a number format from the list of available formats,


click More, and then click the format that you want to use in the
Category list.

Format a number as text

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For numbers that should not be calculated in Excel, such as phone


numbers, you can format them as text by applying the Text format to
empty cells before typing the numbers.

1. Select an empty cell.


2. On the Home tab, in the Number group, point to General, and then
click Text.

3. Type the numbers that you want in the formatted cell.

NOTE Numbers that you entered before you applied the Text
format to the cells need to be entered again in the formatted cells.
To quickly reenter numbers as text, select each cell, press F2, and
then press ENTER.

Fill data automatically in worksheet cells

Instead of entering data manually on a worksheet, you can use the Auto
Fill feature to fill cells with data that follows a pattern or that is based on
data in other cells. This article does not explain how to enter data
manually or enter data simultaneously on multiple worksheets. For
information about how to manually enter data, see the article Enter data
manually.

What do you want to do?

 Automatically repeat values that already are found in the column


 Use the fill handle to fill data
 Fill data into adjacent cells by using the Fill command
 Fill formulas into adjacent cells
 Fill in a series of numbers, dates, or other built-in series items
 Fill data by using a custom fill series

Automatically repeat values that already exist in the column

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If the first few characters that you type in a cell match an existing entry
in that column, Excel automatically enters the remaining characters for
you. Excel automatically completes only those entries that contain text or
a combination of text and numbers. Entries that contain only numbers,
dates, or times are not automatically completed.

After Excel completes what you started typing, do one of the following:

 To accept a proposed entry, press ENTER.

The completed entry exactly matches the pattern of uppercase and


lowercase letters of the existing entry.

 To replace the automatically entered characters, continue typing.


 To delete the automatically entered characters, press BACKSPACE.

NOTES

 Excel completes an entry only when the cursor is at the end of the current
cell contents.
 Excel bases the list of potential AutoComplete entries on the column that
contains the active cell. Entries that are repeated within a row are not
automatically completed.

TURN OFF AUTOMATIC COMPLETION OF CELL VALUES

If you don't want Excel to automatically complete cell values, you can
turn off this feature.

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel Options.
2. Click Advanced, and then under Editing options, clear or select the
Enable AutoComplete for cell values check box to turn automatic
completion of cell values on or off.

Use the fill handle to fill data

To quickly fill in several types of data series, you can select cells and drag
the fill handle . To use the fill handle, you select the cells that you
want to use as a basis for filling additional cells, and then drag the fill
handle across or down the cells that you want to fill.

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HIDE OR DISPLAY THE FILL HANDLE

By default, the fill handle is displayed, but you can hide it, or show it if it's
hidden.

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel Options.
2. Click Advanced, and then under Editing options, clear or select the
Enable Fill handle and cell drag-and-drop check box to hide or show
the fill handle.
3. To avoid replacing existing data when you drag the fill handle, make sure
that the Alert before overwriting cells check box is selected. If you
don't want to see a message about overwriting nonblank cells, you can
clear this check box.

USE AUTO FILL OPTIONS TO CHANGE HOW THE SELECTION IS FILLED

After you drag the fill handle, the Auto Fill Options button appears so
that you can change how the selection is filled. For example, you can
choose to fill just cell formats by clicking Fill Formatting Only, or you
can choose to fill just the contents of a cell by clicking Fill Without
Formatting.

TURN AUTO FILL OPTIONS ON OR OFF

If you don't want to display the Auto Fill Options button every time you
drag the fill handle, you can turn it off. Likewise, if the Auto Fill Options
button does not appear when you drag the fill handle, you might want to
turn it on.

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel Options.
2. Click Advanced, and then under Cut, Copy, and Paste, clear the Show
Paste Options buttons check box.

Fill data into adjacent cells by using the Fill command

You can use the Fill command to fill the active cell or a selected range
with the contents of an adjacent cell or range, or you can quickly fill
adjacent cells by dragging the fill handle .

FILL THE ACTIVE CELL WITH THE CONTENTS OF AN ADJACENT CELL

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1. Select an empty cell that is below, to the right, above, or to the left of the
cell that contains the data that you want to use to fill the empty cell.
2. On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Fill, and then click Down,
Right, Up, or Left.

TIP To quickly fill a cell with the contents of an adjacent cell, you can
press CTRL+D to fill from the cell above or CTRL+R to fill from the cell to
the left. To fill a cell with the contents of a cell below it (that is, to fill up),
on the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Fill, and then click Up. To
fill a cell with the contents of a cell to the right (fill left), on the Home
tab, in the Editing group, click Fill, and then click Left.

DRAG THE FILL HANDLE TO FILL DATA INTO ADJACENT CELLS


1. Select the cells that contain the data that you want to fill into adjacent
cells.
2. Drag the fill handle across the cells that you want to fill.
3. To change how you want to fill the selection, click Auto Fill Options ,
and then click the option that you want.

NOTE If you drag the fill handle up or to the left of a selection and stop
in the selected cells without going past the first column or the top row in
the selection, Excel deletes the data within the selection. You must drag
the fill handle out of the selected area before releasing the mouse button.

Fill formulas into adjacent cells

1. Select the cell that contains the formula that you want to fill into adjacent
cells.
2. Drag the fill handle across the cells that you want to fill.
3. To choose how you want to fill the selection, click Auto Fill Options ,
and then click the option that you want.

NOTE If automatic workbook calculation is not enabled, formulas will


not recalculate when you fill cells. To check your workbook calculation
options, do the following:

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1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , click Excel Options, and then
click the Formulas category.
2. Under Calculation options, look under Workbook Calculation.
 Automatic Formulas automatically recalculate.
 Automatic except for data tables Formulas recalculate, unless the
formula is in a data table.
 Manual Formulas never recalculate automatically.
 Recalculate workbook before saving This option is available only if
Workbook Calculation is set to Manual. If this check box is selected,
formulas do not automatically recalculate until you save the workbook.
Note that several other actions can cause the workbook to be saved, such
as using the Send To command.

TIPS

 You can also fill the active cell with the formula of an adjacent cell by
using the Fill command (on the Home tab in the Editing group) or by
pressing CTRL+D to fill a cell below or CTRL+R to fill a cell to the right of
the cell containing the formula.
 You can automatically fill a formula downward, for all adjacent cells that it
applies to, by double-clicking the fill handle of the first cell that contains
the formula. For example, cells A1:A15 and B1:B15 contain numbers, and
you type the formula =A1+B1 in cell C1. To copy that formula into cells
C2:C15, select cell C1 and double-click the fill handle.

Fill in a series of numbers, dates, or other built-in series items

Using the fill handle, you can quickly fill cells in a range with a series of
numbers or dates, or with a built-in series for days, weekdays, months, or
years.

1. Select the first cell in the range that you want to fill.
2. Type the starting value for the series.
3. Type a value in the next cell to establish a pattern.

For example, if you want the series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..., type 1 and 2 in


the first two cells. If you want the series 2, 4, 6, 8..., type 2 and 4.

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If you want the series 2, 2, 2, 2..., you can leave the second cell
blank.

MORE EXAMPLES OF SERIES THAT YOU CAN FILL

When you fill a series, the selections are extended as shown in the
following table. In this table, items that are separated by commas
are contained in individual adjacent cells on the worksheet.

INITIAL SELECTION EXTENDED SERIES

1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6,...

9:00 10:00, 11:00, 12:00,...

Mon Tue, Wed, Thu,...

Monday Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,...

Jan Feb, Mar, Apr,...

Jan, Apr Jul, Oct, Jan,...

Jan-07, Apr-07 Jul-07, Oct-07, Jan-08,...

15-Jan, 15-Apr 15-Jul, 15-Oct,...

2007, 2008 2009, 2010, 2011,...

1-Jan, 1-Mar 1-May, 1-Jul, 1-Sep,...

Qtr3 (or Q3 or Quarter3) Qtr4, Qtr1, Qtr2,...

text1, textA text2, textA, text3, textA,...

1st Period 2nd Period, 3rd Period,...

Product 1 Product 2, Product 3,...

4. Select the cell or cells that contain the starting values.


5. Drag the fill handle across the range that you want to fill.

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To fill in increasing order, drag down or to the right. To fill in


decreasing order, drag up or to the left.

TIPS

 You can also specify the type of series by using the right mouse button to
drag the fill handle over the range and then clicking the appropriate
command on the shortcut menu. For example, if the starting value is the
date JAN-2007, click Fill Months for the series FEB-2007, MAR-2007, and
so on; or click Fill Years for the series JAN-2007, JAN-2008, and so on.
 If the selection contains numbers, you can control the type of series that
you want to create.

Fill cells with a series of numbers


1. On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Fill, and then click
Series.

2. Under Type, click one of the following options:


 Linear Creates a series that is calculated by adding the value in the
Step value box to each cell value in turn.
 Growth Creates a series that is calculated by multiplying the value
in the Step value box by each cell value in turn.
 Date Creates a series that fills date values incrementally by the
value in the Step value box and dependent on the unit specified
under Date unit.
 AutoFill Creates a series that produces the same results as
dragging the fill handle.

 You can suppress series AutoFill by holding down CTRL as you drag the
fill handle of a selection of two or more cells. The selected values are then
copied to the adjacent cells, and Excel does not extend a series.

Fill data by using a custom fill series

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To make entering a particular sequence of data (such as a list of names


or sales regions) easier, you can create a custom fill series. A custom fill
series can be based on a list of existing items on a worksheet, or you can
type the list from scratch. You cannot edit or delete a built-in fill series
(such as a fill series for months and days), but you can edit or delete a
custom fill series.

NOTE A custom list can only contain text or text mixed with numbers.
For a custom list that contains numbers only, such as 0 through 100, you
must first create a list of numbers that is formatted as text.

FORMAT NUMBERS AS TEXT


1. Select enough cells for the list of numbers that you want to format as
text.
2. On the Home tab, in the Number group, click the arrow on the Number
Format box, and then click Text.

TIP You might have to click More to see the Text format in the
list.

3. In the formatted cells, type the list of numbers.

USE A CUSTOM FILL SERIES BASED ON AN EXISTING LIST OF ITEMS


1. On the worksheet, select the list of items that you want to use in the fill
series.

2. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel Options.
3. Click Popular, and then under Top options for working with Excel,
click Edit Custom Lists.
4. Verify that the cell reference of the list of items that you selected is
displayed in the Import list from cells box, and then click Import.

The items in the list that you selected are added to the Custom lists
box.

5. Click OK twice.
6. On the worksheet, click a cell, and then type the item in the custom fill
series that you want to use to start the list.

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7. Drag the fill handle across the cells that you want to fill.

USE A CUSTOM FILL SERIES BASED ON A NEW LIST OF ITEMS

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel Options.
2. Click Popular, and then under Top options for working with Excel,
click Edit Custom Lists.
3. In the Custom lists box, click NEW LIST, and then type the entries in
the List entries box, starting with the first entry.

Press ENTER after each entry.

4. When the list is complete, click Add, and then click OK twice.
5. On the worksheet, click a cell, and then type the item in the custom fill
series that you want to use to start the list.
6. Drag the fill handle across the cells that you want to fill.

EDIT OR DELETE A CUSTOM FILL SERIES

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel Options.
2. Click Popular category, and then under Top options for working with
Excel, click Edit Custom Lists.
3. In the Custom lists box, select the list that you want to edit or delete,
and then do one of the following:
 To edit the fill series, make the changes that you want in the List entries
box, and then click Add.
 To delete the fill series, click Delete.

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APPLY DATA VALIDATION

You use data validation to control the type of data or the values that
users enter into a cell. For example, you may want to restrict data entry
to a certain range of dates, limit choices by using a list, or make sure that
only positive whole numbers are entered.

This article describes how data validation works in Excel and outlines the
different data validation techniques available to you. It does not cover cell
protection, which is a feature that lets you "lock" or hide certain cells in a
worksheet so that they can't be edited or overwritten. For more
information about how to protect cells, see the links in the See Also
section.

In this article

Overview of data validation

What is data validation?

When is data validation useful?

Data validation messages

Tips for working with data validation

How to handle a data validation alert

Add data validation to a cell or range

Restrict data entry to values in a drop-down list

Restrict data entry to a whole number within limits

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Restrict data entry to a decimal number within limits

Restrict data entry to a date within a time frame

Restrict data entry to a time within a time frame

Restrict data entry to text of a specified length

Calculate what is allowed based on the content of another cell

Use a formula to calculate what is allowed

What is data validation?

Data validation is an Excel feature that you can use to define restrictions
on what data can or should be entered in a cell. You can configure data
validation to prevent users from entering data that is not valid. If you
prefer, you can allow users to enter invalid data but warn them when they
try to type it in the cell. You can also provide messages to define what
input you expect for the cell, and instructions to help users correct any
errors.

For example, in a marketing workbook, you can set up a cell to allow only
account numbers that are exactly three characters long. When users
select the cell, you can show them a message such as this one:

If users ignore this message and type invalid data in the cell, such as a
two-digit or five-digit number, you can show them an actual error
message.

In a slightly more advanced scenario, you might use data validation to


calculate the maximum allowed value in a cell based on a value elsewhere

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in the workbook. In the following example, the user has typed $4,000 in
cell E7, which exceeds the maximum limit specified for commissions and
bonuses.

If the payroll budget were to increase or decrease, the allowed maximum


in E7 would automatically increase or decrease with it.

Data validation options are located in the Data Tools group.

You configure data validation in the Data Validation dialog box.

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When is data validation useful?

Data validation is invaluable when you want to share a workbook with


others in your organization, and you want the data entered in the
workbook to be accurate and consistent.

Among other things, you can use data validation to do the following:

Restrict data to predefined items in a list For example, you can limit
types of departments to Sales, Finance, R&D, and IT. Similarly, you can
create a list of values from a range of cells elsewhere in the worksheet.
For more information, see Create a drop-down list from a range of cells.

Restrict numbers outside a specified range For example, you can specify
a minimum limit of deductions to two times the number of children in a
particular cell.

Restrict dates outside a certain time frame For example, you can
specify a time frame between today's date and 3 days from today's date.

Restrict times outside a certain time frame For example, you can
specify a time frame for serving breakfast between the time when the
restaurant opens and 5 hours after the restaurant opens.

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Limit the number of text characters For example, you can limit the
allowed text in a cell to 10 or fewer characters. Similarly, you can set the
specific length for a full name field (C1) to be the current length of a first
name field (A1) and a last name field (B1), plus 10 characters.

Validate data based on formulas or values in other cells For example,


you can use data validation to set a maximum limit for commissions and
bonuses of $3,600, based on the overall projected payroll value. If users
enter more than $3,600 in the cell, they see a validation message.

Data validation messages

What users see when they enter invalid data into a cell depends on how
you have configured the data validation. You can choose to show an input
message when the user selects the cell. This type of message appears
near the cell. You can move this message, if you want to, and it remains
until you move to another cell or press ESC.

Input messages are generally used to offer users guidance about the type
of data that you want entered in the cell.

You can also choose to show an error alert that appears only after users
enter invalid data.

You can choose from three types of error alerts:

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Icon Type Use to

Stop Prevent users from entering invalid data in a cell. A


Stop alert message has two options: Retry or Cancel.

Warning Warn users that the data they entered is invalid,


without preventing them from entering it. When a
Warning alert message appears, users can click Yes to
accept the invalid entry, No to edit the invalid entry,
or Cancel to remove the invalid entry.

Information Inform users that the data they entered is invalid,


without preventing them from entering it. This type of
error alert is the most flexible. When an Information
alert message appears, users can click OK to accept
the invalid value or Cancel to reject it.

You can customize the text that users see in an error alert message. If
you choose not to do so, users see a default message.

Input messages and error alerts appear only when data is typed directly
into the cells. They do not appear under the following conditions:

A user enters data in the cell by copying or filling.

A formula in the cell calculates a result that is not valid.

A macro (macro: An action or a set of actions that you can use to


automate tasks. Macros are recorded in the Visual Basic for Applications
programming language.) enters invalid data in the cell.

Top of Page

How to handle a data validation alert

When you try to enter or change data in a worksheet (worksheet: The


primary document that you use in Excel to store and work with data. Also
called a spreadsheet. A worksheet consists of cells that are organized into
columns and rows; a worksheet is always stored in a workbook.) cell, you
see a data validation error alert. This alert signifies that the owner of the
workbook applied data validation (data validation: An Excel feature that
you can use to define restrictions on what data can or should be entered
in a cell, and to display messages that prompt users for correct entries
and notify users about incorrect entries.) to the cell to prevent users from

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entering invalid data, and implemented the error alert to let you know
that the data you entered is invalid.

You can enter only valid data in cells that have data validation applied. If
you are not clear about the validity of the data that you can enter, you
should contact the owner of the workbook.

If you inherited the workbook, you can modify or remove the data
validation unless the worksheet is protected with a password that you do
not know. If possible, you can contact the previous owner to help you
unprotect the worksheet. You can also copy the data to another
worksheet, and then remove the data validation. For more information
about how to change or remove data validation, see Change data
validation settings or Remove data validation.

Tips for working with data validation

In the following list, you will find tips and tricks for working with data
validation in Excel.

If you plan to protect (protect: To make settings for a worksheet or


workbook that prevent users from viewing or gaining access to the
specified worksheet or workbook elements.) the worksheet or workbook,
protect it after you have finished specifying any validation settings. Make
sure that you unlock any validated cells before you protect the worksheet.
Otherwise, users will not be able to type any data in the cells.

If you plan to share the workbook, share it only after you have finished
specifying data validation and protection settings. After you share a
workbook, you won't be able to change the validation settings unless you
stop sharing, but Excel will continue to validate the cells that you have
designated while the workbook is being shared.

You can apply data validation to cells that already have data entered in
them. However, Excel does not automatically notify you that the existing
cells contain invalid data. In this scenario, you can highlight invalid data
by instructing Excel to circle it on the worksheet. Once you have identified
the invalid data, you can hide the circles again. If you correct an invalid
entry, the circle disappears automatically.

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To quickly remove data validation for a cell, select it, and then open the
Data Validation dialog box (Data tab, Data Tools group). On the Settings
tab, click Clear All.

To find the cells on the worksheet that have data validation, on the Home
tab, in the Editing group, click Find & Select, and then click Data
Validation. After you have found the cells that have data validation, you
can change, copy, or remove validation settings.

When creating a drop-down list, you can use the Define Name command
(Formulas tab, Defined Names group) to define a name for the range that
contains the list. After you create the list on another worksheet, you can
hide the worksheet that contains the list and then protect the workbook
so that users won't have access to the list.

If data validation isn't working, make sure that:

Users are not copying or filling data Data validation is designed to


show messages and prevent invalid entries only when users type data
directly in a cell. When data is copied or filled, the messages do not
appear. To prevent users from copying and filling data by dragging and
dropping cells, clear the Enable fill handle and cell drag-and-drop check
box (Excel Options dialog box, Advanced options), and then protect the
worksheet.

Manual recalculation is turned off If manual recalculation is turned on,


uncalculated cells can prevent data from being validated correctly. To turn
off manual recalculation, on the Formulas tab, in the Calculation group,
click Calculation Options, and then click Automatic.

Formulas are error free Make sure that formulas in validated cells do
not cause errors, such as #REF! or #DIV/0!. Excel ignores the data
validation until you correct the error.

Cells referenced in formulas are correct If a referenced cell changes so


that a formula in a validated cell calculates an invalid result, the validation
message for the cell won't appear.

Add data validation to a cell or range

In the next sections, you will learn the different techniques for adding
validation to cells in a worksheet.

Restrict data entry to values in a drop-down list

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Restrict data entry to a whole number within limits

Restrict data entry to a decimal number within limits

Restrict data entry to a date within a time frame

Restrict data entry to a time within a time frame

Restrict data entry to text of a specified length

Calculate what is allowed based on the content of another cell

Use a formula to calculate what is allowed

Restrict data entry to values in a drop-down list

It is not possible to change the font or font size for items in a list.

Select one or more cells to validate.

On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Data Validation.

Issue: The Data Validation command is unavailable.

An Excel table might be linked to a SharePoint site You cannot add


data validation to an Excel table that is linked to a SharePoint site. To add
data validation, you must unlink the Excel table or convert the Excel table
to a range.

You might currently be entering data The Data Validation command is


not available on the Data tab while you are entering data in a cell. To
finish entering data, press ENTER or ESC.

The worksheet might be protected or shared You cannot change data


validation settings if your workbook is shared or protected. To learn how
to stop sharing or protecting a workbook, see the links in the See Also
section.

In the Data Validation dialog box, click the Settings tab.

In the Allow box, select List.

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Click the Source box and then type the list values separated by the
Microsoft Windows list separator character (commas by default).

For example:

To limit entry to a question, such as "Do you have children?", to two


choices, type Yes, No.

To limit a vendor's quality reputation to three ratings, type Low, Average,


High.

You can also create the list entries by referring to a range of cells
elsewhere in the workbook. For more information, see Create a drop-
down list from a range of cells.

Note The width of the drop-down list is determined by the width of the
cell that has the data validation. You might need to adjust the width of
that cell to prevent truncating the width of valid entries that are wider
than the width of the drop-down list.

Make sure that the In-cell dropdown check box is selected. Otherwise,
you won't be able to see the drop-down arrow next to the cell.

To specify how you want to handle blank (null) values, select or clear the
Ignore blank check box.

Note If your allowed values are based on a cell range that has a defined
name and there is a blank cell anywhere in that range, selecting the
Ignore blank check box allows any value to be entered in the validated
cell. This is also true for any cells that are referenced by validation
formulas: if any referenced cell is blank, selecting the Ignore blank check
box allows any value to be entered in the validated cell.

Optionally, display an input message when the cell is clicked.

How to display an input message

Click the Input Message tab.

Make sure the Show input message when cell is selected check box is
selected.

Fill in the title and text for the message.

Specify how you want Microsoft Office Excel to respond when invalid data
is entered.

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How to specify a response to invalid data

Click the Error Alert tab, and make sure that the Show error alert after
invalid data is entered check box is selected.

Note If you want to allow users to type entries that are not in the list,
clear the Show error alert after invalid data is entered check box instead.

Select one of the following options for the Style box:

To display an information message that does not prevent entry of invalid


data, select Information.

To display a warning message that does not prevent entry of invalid data,
select Warning.

To prevent entry of invalid data, select Stop.

Fill in the title and text for the message (up to 225 characters).

Note If you don't enter a title or text, the title uses the default string
"Microsoft Excel" and the message is (by default): "The value you entered
is not valid. A user has restricted values that can be entered into this
cell."

Test the data validation to make sure that it is working correctly.

Try entering both valid and invalid data in the cells to make sure that
your settings are working as you intended and your messages are
appearing when you expect.

Tip If you change the validation settings for a cell, you can
automatically apply your changes to all other cells that have the same
settings. To do so, open the Data Validation dialog box, and then select
the Apply these changes to all other cells with the same settings check
box on the Settings tab.

Restrict data entry to a whole number within limits

Select one or more cells to validate.

On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Data Validation.

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Issue: The Data Validation command is unavailable.

An Excel table may be linked to a SharePoint site You cannot add data
validation to an Excel table that is linked to a SharePoint site. To add data
validation, you must unlink the Excel table or convert the Excel table to a
range.

You may be currently entering data The Data Validation command is


not available on the Data tab while you are entering data in a cell. To
finish entering, press ENTER or ESC.

The worksheet might be protected or shared You cannot change data


validation settings if your workbook is shared or protected. To learn how
to stop sharing or protecting a workbook, see the links in the See Also
section.

In the Data Validation dialog box, click the Settings tab.

In the Allow box, select Whole number.

In the Data box, select the type of restriction that you want. For example,
to set upper and lower limits, select between.

Enter the minimum, maximum, or specific value to allow. You can also
enter a formula that returns a number value.

For example, to set a minimum limit of deductions to two times the


number of children in cell F1, select greater than or equal to in the Data
box and enter the formula, =2*F1, in the Minimum box.

To specify how you want to handle blank (null) values, select or clear the
Ignore blank check box.

Note If your allowed values are based on a cell range with a defined
name, and there is a blank cell anywhere in the range, setting the Ignore
blank check box allows any values to be entered in the validated cell. This
is also true for any cells that are referenced by validation formulas: if any
referenced cell is blank, setting the Ignore blank check box allows any
values to be entered in the validated cell.

Optionally, display an input message when the cell is clicked.

How to display an input message

Click the Input Message tab.

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Make sure the Show input message when cell is selected check box is
selected.

Fill in the title and text for the message.

Specify how you want Microsoft Office Excel to respond when invalid data
is entered.

How to specify a response to invalid data

Click the Error Alert tab, and make sure that the Show error alert after
invalid data is entered check box is selected.

Select one of the following options for the Style box:

To display an information message that does not prevent entry of invalid


data, select Information.

To display a warning message that does not prevent entry of invalid data,
select Warning.

To prevent entry of invalid data, select Stop.

Fill in the title and text for the message (up to 225 characters).

Note If you don't enter a title or text, the title defaults to "Microsoft
Excel" and the message to: "The value you entered is not valid. A user
has restricted values that can be entered into this cell."

Test the data validation to make sure that it is working correctly.

Try entering both valid and invalid data in the cells to make sure that
your settings are working as you intended and your messages are
appearing when you expect.

Tip If you change the validation settings for a cell, you can
automatically apply your changes to all other cells that have the same
settings. To do so, open the Data Validation dialog box, and then select
the Apply these changes to all other cells with the same settings check
box on the Settings tab.

Restrict data entry to a decimal number within limits

Select one or more cells to validate.

On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Data Validation.

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Issue: The Data Validation command is unavailable.

An Excel table may be linked to a SharePoint site You cannot add data
validation to an Excel table that is linked to a SharePoint site. To add data
validation, you must unlink the Excel table or convert the Excel table to a
range.

You may be currently entering data The Data Validation command is


not available on the Data tab while you are entering data in a cell. To
finish entering, press ENTER or ESC.

The worksheet might be protected or shared You cannot change data


validation settings if your workbook is shared or protected. To learn how
to stop sharing or protecting a workbook, see the links in the See Also
section.

In the Data Validation dialog box, click the Settings tab.

In the Allow box, select Decimal.

In the Data box, select the type of restriction that you want. For example,
to set upper and lower limits, select between.

Enter the minimum, maximum, or specific value to allow. You can also
enter a formula that returns a number value.

For example, to set a maximum limit for commissions and bonuses of 6%


of a salesperson's salary in cell E1, select less than or equal to in the Data
box and enter the formula, =E1*6%, in the Maximum box.

Note To let a user enter percentages, for example 20%, select Decimal
in the Allow box, select the type of restriction that you want in the Data
box, enter the minimum, maximum, or specific value as a decimal, for
example .2, and then display the data validation cell as a percentage by
selecting the cell and clicking Percent Style in the Number group on
the Home tab.

To specify how you want to handle blank (null) values, select or clear the
Ignore blank check box.

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Note If your allowed values are based on a cell range with a defined
name, and there is a blank cell anywhere in the range, setting the Ignore
blank check box allows any values to be entered in the validated cell. This
is also true for any cells that are referenced by validation formulas: if any
referenced cell is blank, setting the Ignore blank check box allows any
values to be entered in the validated cell.

Optionally, display an input message when the cell is clicked.

How to display an input message

Click the Input Message tab.

Make sure the Show input message when cell is selected check box is
selected.

Fill in the title and text for the message.

Specify how you want Microsoft Office Excel to respond when invalid data
is entered.

How to specify a response to invalid data

Click the Error Alert tab, and make sure that the Show error alert after
invalid data is entered check box is selected.

Select one of the following options for the Style box:

To display an information message that does not prevent entry of invalid


data, select Information.

To display a warning message that does not prevent entry of invalid data,
select Warning.

To prevent entry of invalid data, select Stop.

Fill in the title and text for the message (up to 225 characters).

Note If you don't enter a title or text, the title defaults to "Microsoft
Excel" and the message to: "The value you entered is not valid. A user
has restricted values that can be entered into this cell."

Test the data validation to make sure that it is working correctly.

Try entering both valid and invalid data in the cells to make sure that
your settings are working as you intended and your messages are
appearing when you expect.

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Tip If you change the validation settings for a cell, you can
automatically apply your changes to all other cells that have the same
settings. To do so, open the Data Validation dialog box, and then select
the Apply these changes to all other cells with the same settings check
box on the Settings tab.

Restrict data entry to a date within a time frame

Select one or more cells to validate.

On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Data Validation.

Issue: The Data Validation command is unavailable.

An Excel table may be linked to a SharePoint site You cannot add data
validation to an Excel table that is linked to a SharePoint site. To add data
validation, you must unlink the Excel table or convert the Excel table to a
range.

You may be currently entering data The Data Validation command is


not available on the Data tab while you are entering data in a cell. To
finish entering, press ENTER or ESC.

The worksheet might be protected or shared You cannot change data


validation settings if your workbook is shared or protected. To learn how
to stop sharing or protecting a workbook, see the links in the See Also
section.

In the Data Validation dialog box, click the Settings tab.

In the Allow box, select Date.

In the Data box, select the type of restriction that you want. For example,
to allow dates after a certain day, select greater than.

Enter the start, end, or specific date to allow. You can also enter a
formula that returns a date.

For example, to set a time frame between today's date and 3 days from
today's date, select between in the Data box, enter =TODAY() in the
Minimum box, and enter =TODAY()+3 in the Maximum box.

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To specify how you want to handle blank (null) values, select or clear the
Ignore blank check box.

Note If your allowed values are based on a cell range with a defined
name, and there is a blank cell anywhere in the range, setting the Ignore
blank check box allows any values to be entered in the validated cell. This
is also true for any cells that are referenced by validation formulas: if any
referenced cell is blank, setting the Ignore blank check box allows any
values to be entered in the validated cell.

Optionally, display an input message when the cell is clicked.

How to display an input message

Click the Input Message tab.

Make sure the Show input message when cell is selected check box is
selected.

Fill in the title and text for the message.

Specify how you want Microsoft Office Excel to respond when invalid data
is entered.

How to specify a response to invalid data

Click the Error Alert tab, and make sure that the Show error alert after
invalid data is entered check box is selected.

Select one of the following options for the Style box:

To display an information message that does not prevent entry of invalid


data, select Information.

To display a warning message that does not prevent entry of invalid data,
select Warning.

To prevent entry of invalid data, select Stop.

Fill in the title and text for the message (up to 225 characters).

Note If you don't enter a title or text, the title defaults to "Microsoft
Excel" and the message to: "The value you entered is not valid. A user
has restricted values that can be entered into this cell."

Test the data validation to make sure that it is working correctly.

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Try entering both valid and invalid data in the cells to make sure that
your settings are working as you intended and your messages are
appearing when you expect.

Tip If you change the validation settings for a cell, you can
automatically apply your changes to all other cells that have the same
settings. To do so, open the Data Validation dialog box, and then select
the Apply these changes to all other cells with the same settings check
box on the Settings tab.

Restrict data entry to a time within a time frame

Select one or more cells to validate.

On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Data Validation.

Issue: The Data Validation command is unavailable.

An Excel table may be linked to a SharePoint site You cannot add data
validation to an Excel table that is linked to a SharePoint site. To add data
validation, you must unlink the Excel table or convert the Excel table to a
range.

You may be currently entering data The Data Validation command is


not available on the Data tab while you are entering data in a cell. To
finish entering, press ENTER or ESC.

The worksheet might be protected or shared You cannot change data


validation settings if your workbook is shared or protected. To learn how
to stop sharing or protecting a workbook, see the links in the See Also
section.

In the Data Validation dialog box, click the Settings tab.

In the Allow box, select Time.

In the Data box, select the type of restriction that you want. For example,
to allow times before a certain time of day, select less than.

Enter the start, end, or specific time to allow. You can also enter a
formula that returns a time.

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For example, to set a time frame for serving breakfast between the time
when the restaurant opens (the value in cell H1) and five hours after that,
select between in the Data box, enter =H1 in the Minimum box, and then
enter =H1+"5:00" in the Maximum box.

To specify how you want to handle blank (null) values, select or clear the
Ignore blank check box.

Note If your allowed values are based on a cell range with a defined
name, and there is a blank cell anywhere in the range, setting the Ignore
blank check box allows any values to be entered in the validated cell. This
is also true for any cells that are referenced by validation formulas: if any
referenced cell is blank, setting the Ignore blank check box allows any
values to be entered in the validated cell.

Optionally, display an input message when the cell is clicked.

How to display an input message

Click the Input Message tab.

Make sure the Show input message when cell is selected check box is
selected.

Fill in the title and text for the message.

Specify how you want Microsoft Office Excel to respond when invalid data
is entered.

How to specify a response to invalid data

Click the Error Alert tab, and make sure that the Show error alert after
invalid data is entered check box is selected.

Select one of the following options for the Style box:

To display an information message that does not prevent entry of invalid


data, select Information.

To display a warning message that does not prevent entry of invalid data,
select Warning.

To prevent entry of invalid data, select Stop.

Fill in the title and text for the message (up to 225 characters).

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Note If you don't enter a title or text, the title defaults to "Microsoft
Excel" and the message to: "The value you entered is not valid. A user
has restricted values that can be entered into this cell."

Test the data validation to make sure that it is working correctly.

Try entering both valid and invalid data in the cells to make sure that
your settings are working as you intended and your messages are
appearing when you expect.

Tip If you change the validation settings for a cell, you can
automatically apply your changes to all other cells that have the same
settings. To do so, open the Data Validation dialog box, and then select
the Apply these changes to all other cells with the same settings check
box on the Settings tab.

Restrict data entry to text of a specified length

Select one or more cells to validate.

On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Data Validation.

Issue: The Data Validation command is unavailable.

An Excel table may be linked to a SharePoint site You cannot add data
validation to an Excel table that is linked to a SharePoint site. To add data
validation, you must unlink the Excel table or convert the Excel table to a
range.

You may be currently entering data The Data Validation command is


not available on the Data tab while you are entering data in a cell. To
finish entering, press ENTER or ESC.

The worksheet might be protected or shared You cannot change data


validation settings if your workbook is shared or protected. To learn how
to stop sharing or protecting a workbook, see the links in the See Also
section.

In the Data Validation dialog box, click the Settings tab.

In the Allow box, select Text Length.

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In the Data box, select the type of restriction that you want. For example,
to allow up to a certain number of characters, select less than or equal to.

Enter the minimum, maximum, or specific length for the text. You can
also enter a formula that returns a number value.

For example, to set the specific length for a full name field (C1) to be the
current length of a first name field (A1) and a last name field (B1) plus
10, select less than or equal to in the Data box and enter
=SUM(LEN(A1),LEN(B1),10) in the Maximum box.

To specify how you want to handle blank (null) values, select or clear the
Ignore blank check box.

Note If your allowed values are based on a cell range with a defined
name, and there is a blank cell anywhere in the range, setting the Ignore
blank check box allows any values to be entered in the validated cell. This
is also true for any cells that are referenced by validation formulas: if any
referenced cell is blank, setting the Ignore blank check box allows any
values to be entered in the validated cell.

Optionally, display an input message when the cell is clicked.

How to display an input message

Click the Input Message tab.

Make sure the Show input message when cell is selected check box is
selected.

Fill in the title and text for the message.

Specify how you want Microsoft Office Excel to respond when invalid data
is entered.

How to specify a response to invalid data

Click the Error Alert tab, and make sure that the Show error alert after
invalid data is entered check box is selected.

Select one of the following options for the Style box:

To display an information message that does not prevent entry of invalid


data, select Information.

To display a warning message that does not prevent entry of invalid data,
select Warning.

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To prevent entry of invalid data, select Stop.

Fill in the title and text for the message (up to 225 characters).

Note If you don't enter a title or text, the title defaults to "Microsoft
Excel" and the message to: "The value you entered is not valid. A user
has restricted values that can be entered into this cell."

Test the data validation to make sure that it is working correctly.

Try entering both valid and invalid data in the cells to make sure that
your settings are working as you intended and your messages are
appearing when you expect.

Tip If you change the validation settings for a cell, you can
automatically apply your changes to all other cells that have the same
settings. To do so, open the Data Validation dialog box, and then select
the Apply these changes to all other cells with the same settings check
box on the Settings tab.

Calculate what is allowed based on the content of another cell

Select one or more cells to validate.

On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Data Validation.

Issue: The Data Validation command is unavailable.

An Excel table may be linked to a SharePoint site You cannot add data
validation to an Excel table that is linked to a SharePoint site. To add data
validation, you must unlink the Excel table or convert the Excel table to a
range.

You may be currently entering data The Data Validation command is


not available on the Data tab while you are entering data in a cell. To
finish entering, press ENTER or ESC.

The worksheet might be protected or shared You cannot change data


validation settings if your workbook is shared or protected. To learn how
to stop sharing or protecting a workbook, see the links in the See Also
section.

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In the Data Validation dialog box, click the Settings tab.

In the Allow box, select the type of data that you want.

In the Data box, select the type of restriction that you want.

In the box or boxes below the Data box, click the cell that you want to
use to specify what is allowed.

For example, to allow entries for an account only if the result won't go
over the budget in cell E4, select Decimal for Allow, select less than or
equal to for Data, and in the Maximum box, enter =E4.

To specify how you want to handle blank (null) values, select or clear the
Ignore blank check box.

Note If your allowed values are based on a cell range with a defined
name, and there is a blank cell anywhere in the range, setting the Ignore
blank check box allows any values to be entered in the validated cell. This
is also true for any cells that are referenced by validation formulas: if any
referenced cell is blank, setting the Ignore blank check box allows any
values to be entered in the validated cell.

Optionally, display an input message when the cell is clicked.

How to display an input message

Click the Input Message tab.

Make sure the Show input message when cell is selected check box is
selected.

Fill in the title and text for the message.

Specify how you want Microsoft Office Excel to respond when invalid data
is entered.

How to specify a response to invalid data

Click the Error Alert tab, and make sure that the Show error alert after
invalid data is entered check box is selected.

Select one of the following options for the Style box:

To display an information message that does not prevent entry of invalid


data, select Information.

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To display a warning message that does not prevent entry of invalid data,
select Warning.

To prevent entry of invalid data, select Stop.

Fill in the title and text for the message (up to 225 characters).

Note If you don't enter a title or text, the title defaults to "Microsoft
Excel" and the message to: "The value you entered is not valid. A user
has restricted values that can be entered into this cell."

Test the data validation to make sure that it is working correctly.

Try entering both valid and invalid data in the cells to make sure that
your settings are working as you intended and your messages are
appearing when you expect.

Tip If you change the validation settings for a cell, you can
automatically apply your changes to all other cells that have the same
settings. To do so, open the Data Validation dialog box, and then select
the Apply these changes to all other cells with the same settings check
box on the Settings tab.

Use a formula to calculate what is allowed

Select one or more cells to validate.

On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Data Validation.

Issue: The Data Validation command is unavailable.

An Excel table may be linked to a SharePoint site You cannot add data
validation to an Excel table that is linked to a SharePoint site. To add data
validation, you must unlink the Excel table or convert the Excel table to a
range.

You may be currently entering data The Data Validation command is


not available on the Data tab while you are entering data in a cell. To
finish entering, press ENTER or ESC.

The worksheet might be protected or shared You cannot change data


validation settings if your workbook is shared or protected. To learn how

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to stop sharing or protecting a workbook, see the links in the See Also
section.

In the Data Validation dialog box, click the Settings tab.

In the Allow box, select Custom.

In the Formula box, enter a formula that calculates a logical value (TRUE
for valid or FALSE for invalid entries). For example:

To make sure that Enter this formula

The cell for the picnic =AND(D1=0,D2<40000)


account (B1) can only be
updated if nothing is
budgeted for the
discretionary account (D1)
and the total budget (D2) is
less than the $40,000
allocated.

The cell that contains a =ISTEXT(B2)


product description (B2)
only contains text.

For the cell that contains a =AND(E1<=800,E2<=97000)


projected advertising
budget (B3), the subtotal
for subcontractors and
services (E1) must be less
than or equal to $800, and
the total budget amount
(E2) must also be less than
or equal to $97,000.

The cell that contains an =IF(B4>F1+18,TRUE,FALSE)


employee age (B4) is
always greater than the
number of full years of
employment (F1) plus 18
(the minimum age of
employment).

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All the data in the cell =COUNTIF($A$1:$A$20,A1)=1


range A1:A20 contains
You must enter the formula in the data
unique values.
validation for cell A1, and then fill the cells
A2 though A20 so that the data validation
for each cell in the range has a similar
formula, but the second argument to the
COUNTIF will match the current cell.

The cell that contains a =AND(LEFT(B5, 3) ="ID-",LEN(B5) > 9)


product code name (B5)
always begins with the
standard prefix of ID- and
is at least 10 characters
long.

To specify how you want to handle blank (null) values, select or clear the
Ignore blank check box.

Note If your allowed values are based on a cell range with a defined
name, and there is a blank cell anywhere in the range, setting the Ignore
blank check box allows any values to be entered in the validated cell. This
is also true for any cells that are referenced by validation formulas: if any
referenced cell is blank, setting the Ignore blank check box allows any
values to be entered in the validated cell.

Optionally, display an input message when the cell is clicked.

How to display an input message

Click the Input Message tab.

Make sure the Show input message when cell is selected check box is
selected.

Fill in the title and text for the message.

Specify how you want Microsoft Office Excel to respond when invalid data
is entered.

How to specify a response to invalid data

Click the Error Alert tab, and make sure that the Show error alert after
invalid data is entered check box is selected.

Select one of the following options for the Style box:

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To display an information message that does not prevent entry of invalid


data, select Information.

To display a warning message that does not prevent entry of invalid data,
select Warning.

To prevent entry of invalid data, select Stop.

Fill in the title and text for the message (up to 225 characters).

Note If you don't enter a title or text, the title defaults to "Microsoft
Excel" and the message to: "The value you entered is not valid. A user
has restricted values that can be entered into this cell."

Test the data validation to make sure that it is working correctly.

Try entering both valid and invalid data in the cells to make sure that
your settings are working as you intended and your messages are
appearing when you expect.

Tip If you change the validation settings for a cell, you can
automatically apply your changes to all other cells that have the same
settings. To do so, open the Data Validation dialog box, and then select
the Apply these changes to all other cells with the same settings check
box on the Settings tab.

Create or delete a formula

Formulas are equations that perform calculations on values in your


worksheet. A formula always starts with an equal sign (=).

You can create a simple formula by using constants and calculation


operators. For example, the formula =5+2*3, multiplies two numbers
and then adds a number to the result. Microsoft Office Excel follows the
standard order of mathematical operations. In the preceding example, the
multiplication operation (2*3) is performed first, and then 5 is added to
its result.

You can also create a formula by using a function. For example, the
formulas =SUM(A1:A2) and SUM(A1,A2) both use the SUM function to
add the values in cells A1 and A2.

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Depending on the type of formula that you create, a formula can contain
any or all of the following parts.

Functions A function, such as PI(), starts with an equal sign (=), and
you can enter arguments for the function within its parentheses. Each
function has a specific argument syntax.

Cell references You can refer to data in worksheet cells by including


cell references in the formula. For example, the cell reference A2 returns
the value of that cell or uses that value in the calculation.
Constants You can also enter constants, such as numbers (such as 2)
or text values, directly into a formula.

Operators Operators are the symbols that are used to specify the type
of calculation that you want the formula to perform. For example, the ^
(caret) operator raises a number to a power, and the * (asterisk)
operator multiplies numbers.

To achieve the calculation result that you want, you can use a single
function, nested functions, or arrays that calculate single or multiple
results. You can delete any formula when it's no longer needed.

What do you want to do?

 Create a simple formula by using constants and calculation operators


 Create a formula by using cell references and names
 Create a formula by using a function
 Create a formula by using nested functions
 Create an array formula that calculates a single result
 Create an array formula that calculates multiple results
 Delete a formula
 Learn tips and tricks about creating formulas

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 Avoid common errors when creating formulas

Create a simple formula by using constants and calculation operators

1. Click the cell in which you want to enter the formula.


2. Type = (equal sign).
3. To enter the formula, do one of the following:
 Type the constants and operators that you want to use in the calculation.
EXAMPLE FORMULA WHAT IT DOES

=5+2 Adds 5 and 2

=5-2 Subtracts 2 from 5

=5/2 Divides 5 by 2

=5*2 Multiplies 5 times 2

=5^2 Raises 5 to the 2nd power

 Click the cell that contains the value that you want to use in the
formula, type the operator that you want to use, and then click
another cell that contains a value.

EXAMPLE WHAT IT DOES


FORMULA

=A1+A2 Adds the values in cells A1 and A2

=A1-A2 Subtracts the value in cell A2 from the value in A1

=A1/A2 Divides the value in cell A1 by the value in A2

=A1*A2 Multiplies the value in cell A1 times the value in A2

=A1^A2 Raises the value in cell A1 to the exponential value


specified in A2

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4. TIP You can enter as many constants and operators as you need to
achieve the calculation result that you want.
5. Press ENTER.

Create a formula by using cell references and names

The example formulas at the end of this section contain relative


references to and names of other cells. The cell that contains the formula
is known as a dependent cell when its value depends on the values in
other cells. For example, cell B2 is a dependent cell if it contains the
formula =C2.

1. Click the cell in which you want to enter the formula.


2. In the formula bar , type = (equal sign).
3. Do one of the following:
 To create a reference, select a cell, a range of cells, a location in another
worksheet, or a location in another workbook. This behavior is called
semi-selection. You can drag the border of the cell selection to move the
selection, or drag the corner of the border to expand the selection.

The first cell reference is B3, the color is blue, and the cell range has a
blue border with square corners.

The second cell reference is C3, the color is green, and the cell range
has a green border with square corners.

NOTE If there is no square corner on a color-coded border, the


reference is to a named range.

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 To enter a reference to a named range, press F3, select the name in


the Paste name box, and click OK.

EXAMPLE WHAT IT DOES


FORMULA

=C2 Uses the value in the cell C2

=Sheet2!B2 Uses the value in cell B2 on Sheet2

=Asset-Liability Subtracts the value in a cell named Liability from the


value in a cell named Asset

4. Press ENTER.

For more information, see Create or change a cell reference.

Create a formula by using a function

1. Click the cell in which you want to enter the formula.


2. To start the formula with the function, click Insert Function on the
formula bar .
3. Select the function that you want to use.

You can enter a question that describes what you want to do in the
Search for a function box (for example, "add numbers" returns the
SUM function), or browse from the categories in the Or Select a
category box.

TIP For a list of available functions, see List of worksheet functions


(by category).

4. Enter the arguments.

TIP To enter cell references as an argument, click Collapse


Dialog (which temporarily hides the dialog box), select the cells
on the worksheet, and then press Expand Dialog .

EXAMPLE FORMULA WHAT IT DOES

=SUM(A:A) Adds all numbers in column A

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=AVERAGE(A1:B4) Averages all numbers in the range

5. After you complete the formula, press ENTER.

TIP To summarize values quickly, you can also use AutoSum. On the
Home tab, in the Editing group, click AutoSum, and then click the
function that you want.

Create a formula by using nested functions

Nested functions use a function as one of the arguments of another


function. You can nest up to 64 levels of functions. The following formula
sums a set of numbers (G2:G5) only if the average of another set of
numbers (F2:F5) is greater than 50. Otherwise, it returns 0.

The AVERAGE and SUM functions are nested within the IF function.

1. Click the cell in which you want to enter the formula.


2. To start the formula with the function, click Function Wizard on the
formula bar .
3. Select the function that you want to use.

You can enter a question that describes what you want to do in the
Search for a function box (for example, "add numbers" returns the
SUM function), or browse from the categories in the Or Select a
category box.

TIP For a list of available functions, see List of worksheet functions


(by category).

4. To enter the arguments, do one or more of the following:


 To enter cell references as an argument, click Collapse Dialog next to
the argument you want (which temporarily hides the dialog box), select
the cells on the worksheet, and then press Expand Dialog .

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 To enter another function as an argument, enter the function in the


argument box that you want. For example, you can add SUM(G2:G5) in
the Value_if_true edit box of the IF function.
 The parts of the formula displayed in the Function Arguments dialog
box reflect the function that you selected in the previous step. For
example, if you clicked IF, the Function arguments dialog box displays
the arguments for the IF function.

Create an array formula that calculates a single result

You can use an array formula to perform several calculations to generate


a single result. This type of array formula can simplify a worksheet model
by replacing several different formulas with a single array formula.

1. Click the cell in which you want to enter the array formula.
2. Enter the formula that you want to use.

TIP Array formulas use standard formula syntax. They all begin
with an equal sign, and you can use any of the built-in Excel
functions in your array formulas.

For example, the following formula calculates the total value of an


array of stock prices and shares, without using a row of cells to
calculate and display the total values for each stock.

Array formula that produces a single result

When you enter the formula {=SUM(B2:C2*B3:C3)} as an array


formula, Excel multiples the number of shares by the price for each
stock (500*10 and 300*15), and then adds the results of those
calculations together to get a total value of 9500.

3. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER.

Excel automatically inserts the formula between { } (a pair of


opening and closing braces).

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NOTE Manually typing braces around a formula will not convert it


into an array formula — you must press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER to
create an array formula.

IMPORTANT Any time you edit the array formula, the braces ({ })
disappear from the array formula, and you must press
CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER again to incorporate the changes into an array
formula and to add the braces.

Create an array formula that calculates multiple results

Some worksheet functions return arrays of values, or require an array of


values as an argument. To calculate multiple results by using an array
formula, you must enter the array into a range of cells that has the same
number of rows and columns as the array arguments have.

1. Select the range of cells in which you want to enter the array formula.
2. Enter the formula that you want to use.

TIP Array formulas use standard formula syntax. They all begin
with an equal sign, and you can use any of the built-in Excel
functions in your array formulas.

For example, given a series of three sales figures (column B) for a


series of three months (column A), the TREND function determines
the straight-line values for the sales figures. To display all of the
results of the formula, it is entered into three cells in column C
(C1:C3).

Array formula that produces multiple results

When you enter the formula =TREND(B1:B3,A1:A3) as an array


formula, it produces three separate results (22196, 17079, and
11962), based on the three sales figures and the three months.

3. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER.

Excel automatically inserts the formula between { } (a pair of


opening and closing braces).

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NOTE Manually typing braces around a formula will not convert it


into an array formula — you must press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER to
create an array formula.

IMPORTANT Any time you edit the array formula, the braces ({ })
disappear from the array formula, and you must press
CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER again to incorporate the changes into an array
formula and to add the braces.

Delete a formula

When you delete a formula, the resulting values of the formula is also
deleted. However, you can instead remove the formula only and leave the
resulting value of the formula displayed in the cell.

 To delete formulas along with their resulting values, do the following:


1. Select the cell or range of cells that contains the formula.
2. Press DELETE.

 To delete formulas without removing their resulting values, do the


following:

1. Select the cell or range of cells that contains the formula.

If the formula is an array formula, select the range of cells that


contains the array formula.

How to select a range of cells that contains the array formula

1. Click a cell in the array formula.


2. On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Find & Select, and
then click Go To.
3. Click Special.
4. Click Current array.
2. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy .

Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+C.

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3. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the arrow below
Paste , and then click Paste Values.

Learn tips and tricks about creating formulas

Easily change the type of reference To switch between relative,


absolute, and mixed references:

1. Select the cell that contains the formula.


2. In the formula bar , select the reference that you want to
change.
3. Press F4 to switch between the reference types.

Quickly copy formulas You can quickly enter the same formula into a
range of cells. Select the range that you want to calculate, type the
formula, and then press CTRL+ENTER. For example, if you type
=SUM(A1:B1) in range C1:C5, and then press CTRL+ENTER, Excel
enters the formula in each cell of the range, using A1 as a relative
reference.

Use Formula Autocomplete To make it easier to create and edit


formulas and minimize typing and syntax errors, use Formula
Autocomplete. After you type an = (equal sign) and beginning letters (the
beginning letters act as a display trigger), Excel displays a dynamic list of
valid functions and names below the cell. After you insert the function or
name into the formula by using an insert trigger (pressing TAB or double-
clicking the item in the list), Excel displays any appropriate arguments. As
you fill out the formula, typing a comma can also act as a display
trigger — Excel may display additional arguments. You can insert
additional functions or names into your formula and, as you type their
beginning letters, Excel again displays a dyamic list from which you can
choose.

Use Function ScreenTips If you are familiar with the arguments of a


function, you can use the function ScreenTip that appears after you type
the function name and an opening parenthesis. Click the function name to
view the Help topic on the function, or click an argument name to select
the corresponding argument in your formula.

Avoid common errors when creating formulas

The following table summarizes some of the the most common errors that
you can make when entering a formula and how to correct those errors:

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MAKE SURE THAT MORE INFORMATION


YOU…

Match all open and Make sure that all parentheses are part of a
close parentheses matching pair. When you create a formula, Excel
displays parentheses in color as they are
entered.

Use a colon to When you refer to a range of cells, use a colon


indicate a range (:) to separate the reference to the first cell in
the range and the reference to the last cell in
the range. For example, A1:A5.

Enter all required Some functions have required arguments. Also,


arguments make sure that you have not entered too many
arguments.

Nest no more than You can enter, or nest, no more than 64 levels
64 functions of functions within a function.

Enclose other sheet If the formula refers to values or cells on other


names in single worksheets or workbooks, and the name of the
quotation marks other workbook or worksheet contains a
nonalphabetical character, you must enclose its
name within single quotation marks ( ' ).

Include the path to Make sure that each external reference contains
external a workbook name and the path to the workbook.
workbooks

Enter numbers Do not format numbers as you enter them in


without formulas. For example, even if the value that
formatting you want to enter is $1,000, enter 1000 in the
formula.

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Create an external reference (link) to a cell range in another


workbook

You can refer to the contents of cells in another workbook by creating an


external reference. An external reference (also called a link) is a reference
to a cell or range on a worksheet in another Excel workbook, or a
reference to a defined name in another workbook. You can refer to the
specific cell range, a defined name for the cell range, or define a name for
the external reference.

What do you want to do?

 Learn more about external references


 Create an external reference between cells in different workbooks
 Create an external reference to a defined name in another workbook
 Define a name that contains an external reference to cells in another
workbook

Learn more about external references

Although external references are similar to cell references, there are


important differences. You use external references when working with
large amounts of data or complex formulas that are spread across several
workbooks. You create them in a different way and they appear
differently in a cell or in the formula bar.

WHERE EXTERNAL REFERENCES CAN BE USED EFFECTIVELY

External references are especially useful when it is not practical to keep


large worksheet models together in the same workbook.

 Merge data from several workbooks You can link workbooks from
several users or departments and then integrate the pertinent data into a
summary workbook. That way, when the source workbooks are changed,
you won't have to manually change the summary workbook.
 Create different views of your data You can enter all of your data
into one or more source workbooks, and then create a report workbook
that contains external references to only the pertinent data.

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 Streamline large, complex models By breaking down a complicated


model into a series of interdependent workbooks, you can work on the
model without opening all of its related sheets. Smaller workbooks are
easier to change, don't require as much memory, and are faster to open,
save, and calculate.

WAYS TO CREATE EXTERNAL REFERENCES

If you use a cell reference to create an external reference, you can then
also apply formulas to the information. By switching between the various
types of cell reference, you can also control which cells are linked to if you
move the external reference. For example, if you use a relative reference,
when you move the external reference, the cell or cells that it links to
change to reflect its new position on the worksheet.

When you create an external reference from one workbook to another


workbook, you should use a name to refer to the cells that you are linking
to. You can create an external reference by using a name that is already
defined, or you can define the name when you create the external
reference. By using a name, it is easier to remember the contents of the
cells that you are linking to. External references that use defined names
do not change when you move them because a name refers to a specific
cell or range of cells. If you want an external reference that uses a
defined name to change when you move it, you can change the name
that is used in the external reference, or you can change the cells that the
name refers to.

WHAT AN EXTERNAL REFERENCE TO ANOTHER WORKBOOK LOOKS LIKE

Formulas with external references to other workbooks are displayed in


two ways, depending on whether the source workbook — the one
workbook that supplies data to a formula — is open or closed.

When the source is open, the external reference includes the workbook
name in square brackets ([ ]), followed by the worksheet name, an
exclamation point (!), and the cells that the formula depends on. For
example, the following formula adds the cells C10:C25 from the workbook
named Budget.xls.

EXTERNAL REFERENCE

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=SUM([Budget.xlsx]Annual!C10:C25)

When the source is not open, the external reference includes the entire
path.

EXTERNAL REFERENCE

=SUM('C:\Reports\[Budget.xlsx]Annual'!C10:C25)

NOTE If the name of the other worksheet or workbook contains


nonalphabetical characters, you must enclose the name (or the path)
within single quotation marks.

Formulas that link to a defined name in another workbook use the


workbook name followed by an exclamation point (!) and the name. For
example, the following formula adds the cells in the range named Sales
from the workbook named Budget.xlsx.

EXTERNAL REFERENCE

=SUM(Budget.xlsx!Sales)

TOP OF PAGE

Create an external reference between cells in different workbooks

1. Open the workbook that will contain the external reference (the
destination workbook) and the workbook that contains the data that you
want to link to (the source workbook).
2. In the source workbook, click Save on the Quick Access Toolbar.
3. Select the cell or cells in which you want to create the external reference.
4. Type = (equal sign). If you want to perform calculations or functions on
the external reference value, type the operator or function that you want
to precede the external reference.
5. Switch to the source workbook, and then click the worksheet that
contains the cells that you want to link to.
6. Select the cell or cells that you want to link to.
7. Return to the destination workbook, and notice that Excel adds the
reference to the source workbook and the cells that you selected in the
previous step.

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8. Optionally, in the destination worksheet, edit or change the formula.


9. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER.

Create an external reference to a defined name in another workbook

1. Open the workbook that will contain the external reference (the
destination workbook) and the workbook that contains the data that you
want to link to (the source workbook).
2. In the source workbook, click Save on the Quick Access Toolbar.
3. Select the cell or cells in which you want to create the external reference.
4. Type = (equal sign). If you want to perform calculations or functions on
the external reference's value, type the operator or function that you
want to precede the external reference.
5. On the View tab, in the Window group, click Switch Windows, click
the source workbook, and then click the worksheet that contains the cells
that you want to link to.

6. Press F3, and then select the name that you want to link to.

TOP OF PAGE

Define a name that contains an external reference to cells in another


workbook

1. Open the destination workbook and the source workbook.


2. In the destination workbook, on the Formulas tab, in the Defined
Names group, click Define Name.

3. In the New Name dialog box, in the Name box, type a name for the
range.
4. In the Refers to box, delete the contents, and then keep the cursor in
the box.

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If the name contains a formula, enter the formula, and then position
the cursor where you want the external reference. For example, type
=SUM(), and then position the cursor between the parentheses.

5. On the View tab, in the Window group, click Switch Windows, click
the source workbook, and then click the worksheet that contains the cells
that you want to link to.

6. Select the cell or range of cells that you want to link to.
7. In the New Name dialog box, click OK.

Guidelines and examples for sorting and filtering data by color

Sorting and filtering data by color is an eagerly anticipated new feature in


Microsoft Excel 2007. The following guidelines and examples can help you
shine a brighter light on your Excel 2007 reports.

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When white light passes through a color spectrum, you see six colors:
red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.

In this article

 Overview of sorting and filtering data by color and icon set


 Using color effectively when analyzing data
 Choosing the best colors for your needs
 Walking through some examples

Overview of sorting and filtering data by color and icon set

Sorting and filtering data, along with conditionally formatting data, are
integral parts of data analysis and can help you answer questions such as
the following:

 Who has sold more than $50,000 worth of services this month?
 Which products have greater than 10% revenue increases from year to
year?
 Who are the highest performing and lowest performing students in the
freshman class?
 Where are the exceptions in a summary of profits over the past five
years?
 What is the overall age distribution of employees?

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You sort data to quickly organize your data and to find the data that you
want. You filter data to display only the rows that meet criteria that you
specify and hide rows that you do not want displayed, for one or more
columns of data. You conditionally format data to help you visually
explore and analyze data, detect critical issues, and identify patterns and
trends. Together, sorting, filtering, and conditionally formatting data can
help you and your users make more effective decisions based on your
data.

Using Excel 2007, you can sort and filter by format, including cell color
and font color, whether you have manually or conditionally formatted the
cells.

You can also sort and filter by an icon set that you created through a
conditional format. Use an icon set to annotate and classify data into
three to five categories that are separated by a threshold value. Each icon
represents a range of values. For example in the following table of icon
sets, 3 Arrows icon set, the green arrow that points upward represents
higher values, the yellow sideways arrow represents middle values, and
the red arrow that points downward represents lower values.

Table of icon sets

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In general, the conditional formatting feature has been greatly expanded


in Excel 2007. You can: format cells by using a two-color scale, three-
color scale, data bars, and icon sets; format cells that contain specific
text, number, date or time values, top or bottom ranked values, above or
below average, unique, or duplicate values; and create many rules and
manage rules more easily.

Find links to more information about sorting, filtering, and conditionally


formatting data in the See Also section.

Using color effectively when analyzing data

Almost everyone likes colors. The effective use of color in any document
can dramatically improve the document's attractiveness and readability.
Good use of color and icons in your Excel reports improves decision
making by helping to focus users' attention on critical information and by
helping users visually understand results. Good use of colors can provide
a positive emotional feeling right from the start. On the other hand, bad
use of color can distract users, and even cause fatigue if over-used. The
following sections provide guidelines to help you make good use of colors,
and to avoid bad use of colors.

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More about document themes With Excel 2007, it is easy to create


consistent themes, and add custom styles and effects. Much of the
thought that is required to combine colors effectively has already been
done for you by the use of predefined document themes that use
attractive color schemes. You can quickly and easily format an entire
document to give it a professional and modern look by applying a
document theme. A document theme is a set of formatting choices that
includes a set of theme colors, a set of theme fonts (including heading
and body text fonts), and a set of theme effects (including lines and fill
effects). Find links to more information about themes in the See Also
section.

USE STANDARD COLORS AND LIMIT THE NUMBER OF COLORS

When you sort and filter by color, you might choose colors that you
prefer, and the results may look good to you. But, a critical question that
needs to be asked is, "Do your users prefer and see the same colors?"
Your computer is capable of displaying 16,777,216 colors in 24-bit color
mode. However, most users can only distinguish a tiny fraction of these
colors. Furthermore, color quality can vary on computers. Room lighting,
paper quality, screen and printer resolution, and browser settings all can
be different. Up to 10% of the population has some difficulty
distinguishing and seeing some colors. These are important variables that
you probably don't have control over.

But you do have control over such variables as color choice, the number
of colors, and the worksheet or cell background. By making good choices
based on fundamental research, you can help make your colors
communicate the correct message and interpretation of your data. You
can also supplement colors with icons and legends to help ensure that
users understand your intended meaning.

CONSIDER COLOR CONTRAST AND BACKGROUND

In general, use colors with a high color saturation, such as bright yellow,
medium green, or dark red. Make sure that the contrast is high between
the background and the foreground. For example, use a white or gray
worksheet background with cell colors, or a white or gray cell color with a
font color. If you must use a background color or picture, make the color
or picture as light as possible so that the cell or font color is not washed
out. If you are relying just on font color, consider increasing the size of
the font or setting the font in bold. The larger the font, the easier it is for

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a user to see or distinguish the color. If necessary, adjust or remove the


banding or rows or columns because the banding color might interfere
with the cell or font color. All of these considerations go a long way
towards helping all users correctly understand and interpret color.

Avoid using color combinations that might decrease the color visibility or
confuse the viewer. You don't want to inadvertently create eye-popping
art or an optical illusion. Consider using a cell border to distinguish
problematic colors, such as red and green, if it is unavoidable to prevent
the colors from being next to each other. Use complementary and
contrasting colors to enhance contrast, and avoid using similar colors. It
pays to know the basic color wheel and how to determine similar,
contrasting, and complementary colors.

A similar color is one next to another color on the color wheel (for
example, violet and orange are similar colors to red).
A contrasting color is three colors away from a color (for example, blue
and green are contrasting colors to red).

Complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel (for
example, blue-green is the complementary color of red).

If you have time, test out your colors, run them by a few colleagues, try
them out in different lighting conditions, and experiment with different
computer screen and printer settings.

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TIP If you print the document in color, double-check the cell color and
cell font for readability. If the cell color is too dark, consider using a white
font to improve readability.

Choosing the best colors for your needs

“Need a quick summary? Use red, yellow, green, or blue, with a white or
gray background.”

Assign meaning to the colors that you choose based on your audience and
intended purpose. If necessary, provide a legend to specifically clarify the
meaning of each color. Most people can easily distinguish seven to ten
colors in the same worksheet. Up to 50 colors are possible to distinguish,
but would require specialized training, and is beyond the scope of this
article.

THE TOP 10 COLORS

When you sort and filter data by color, use the following table to help you
decide which colors to choose. These colors provide the most dramatic
contrast, and, in general, are the easiest for most people to distinguish.

You can easily apply these colors to cells and fonts by using the Fill Color
or Font Color buttons in the Font group on the Home tab.

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USING COLORS THAT NATURALLY CONVEY MEANING

When reading financial data, numbers are either in the red (negative) or
in the black (positive). A red color conveys meaning because it is an
accepted convention. If you want to highlight negative numbers, then red
is a top color choice. Depending on what type of data that you have, you
may be able to use specific colors because they convey meaning to your
audience, or perhaps there is an accepted standard for their meaning. For
example:

 If your data is about temperature readings, you could use the warm
colors (red, yellow, and orange) to indicate a hotter temperature, and the
cool colors (green, blue, and violet) to indicate colder temperatures.
 If your data is about topographical data, you could use blue for water,
green for vegetation, brown for desert and mountains, and white for ice
and snow.
 If your data is about traffic and safety, you could use red for stopped or
halted conditions, orange for equipment danger, yellow for caution, green
for safety, and blue for general information.
 If your data is about electrical resistors, you could use the standard color
code of black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, gray, and
white.

Walking through some examples

Let us say that you are preparing a set of reports on product descriptions,
pricing, and inventory levels. The following sections illustrate questions
that you typically ask about this data, and how you can answer each
question by using color and icon sets.

SAMPLE DATA

The following sample data is used in the examples.

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To copy the data to a blank workbook, do the following:

How to save the sample data as an .xlsx file

1. Start Microsoft Notepad.


2. Select the sample text, and then copy and paste the sample text to
Notepad.
3. Save the file with a file name and extension such as Products.csv.
4. Exit Notepad.
5. Start Excel 2007.
6. Open the file you saved from Notepad.
7. Save the file as an .xlsx file.

Sample data

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRODUCT PACKAGING?

Problem

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You want to find out the different types of containers for your products,
but there is no Container column. You can use the Quantity Per Unit
column to manually color each cell, and then sort by color. You can also
add a legend to clarify to the user what each color means.

Results

Solution

1. To manually color each cell according to the color scheme in the


preceding table, click each cell, and then apply each color by using the
Fill Color button in the Font group on the Home tab.

TIP Use the Format Painter button in the Clipboard group on


the Home tab to quickly apply a selected color to another cell.

2. Click a cell in the Quantity Per Unit column, and on the Home tab in the
Editing group, click Sort & Filter, and then click Custom Sort.
3. In the Sort dialog box, select Quantity Per Unit under Column, select
Cell Color under Sort On, and then click Copy Level twice.

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4. Under Order, in the first row, select the red color, in the second row,
select the blue color, and in the third row, select the yellow color.

If a cell does not contain any of the colors, such as the cells colored
white, those rows remain in place.

NOTE The colors that are listed are the available colors in the
column. There is no default color sort order, and you cannot create a
custom sort order by using a custom list.

5. Add a legend using cells on the side of the report by using the following
table as a guide.
LEGEND:

Red Packages and boxes

Blue Cans and Tins

Green Jars and Bottles

White (Not sure)

WHICH PRODUCTS HAVE A MARKUP ABOVE 67% OR BELOW 34%?

Problem

You want to quickly see the highest and lowest markup values at the top
of the report.

Results

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Solution

1. Select cells E2:E26, and on the Home tab, in the Style group, click the
arrow next to Conditional Formatting, click Icon Set, and then select
the Three Arrows (Colored) icon set.
2. Right-click a cell in the Markup column, point to Sort, and then click
Custom Sort.
3. In the Sort dialog box, select Markup under Column, select Cell Icon
under Sort On, and then click Copy Level.
4. Under Order, in the first row, select the green arrow that points upward,
and in the second row, select the red arrow that points upward.

WHICH PRODUCTS NEED TO BE REORDERED RIGHT AWAY?

Problem

You want to quickly generate a report of products that must be reordered


right away, and then mail the report to your staff.

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Results

Solution

1. Select cells I2:I26, and on the Home tab, in the Style group, click the
arrow next to Conditional Formatting, point to Highlight Cells Rules ,
and then click Equal To.
2. Enter Yes in the first box, and then select Light Red Fill with Dark Red
Text from the second box.
3. Right-click any formatted cell in the column, point to Filter, and then
select Filter By Selected Cell's Color.

TIP Hover over the Filter button in the column header to see how
the column is filtered.

WHICH PRODUCTS HAVE THE HIGHEST AND LOWEST PRICES AND


COSTS?

Problem

You want to see the highest and lowest prices and costs grouped together
at the top of the report.

Results

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Solution

1. For cells C2:C26 and D2:D26, do the following:


 On the Home tab, in the Style group, click the arrow next to
Conditional Formatting, point to Top/Bottom Rules, and then click
Top 10 Items.
 Enter 1 in the first box, and then select Yellow Fill with Dark Yellow
Text from the second box.
 On the Home tab, in the Style group, click the arrow next to
Conditional Formatting, point to Top/Bottom Rules, and then click
Bottom 10 Items.
 Enter 1 in the first box, and then select Green Fill with Dark Green
Text from the second box.
2. For the Cost and Price columns, do the following:
 Right-click the lowest value, point to Sort, and then select Sort By
Selected Cell's Color.
 Right-click the highest value, point to Sort, and then select Sort By
Selected Cell's Color.

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Ways to format a worksheet

In Microsoft Office Excel 2007, formatting worksheet (or sheet) data is


easier than ever. You can use several fast and simple ways to create
professional-looking worksheets that display your data effectively. For
example, you can use document themes for a uniform look throughout all
of your 2007 Microsoft Office system documents, styles to apply
predefined formats, and other manual formatting features to highlight
important data.

In this article

 Working with document themes


 Using styles to quickly format data
 Formatting data manually
 Using borders and colors to emphasize data
 Changing the alignment or orientation of data
 Copying an existing format to other data

Working with document themes

A document theme is a predefined set of colors, fonts, and effects (such


as line styles and fill effects) that will be available when you format your
worksheet data or other items, such as tables, PivotTables, or charts. For
a uniform and professional look, a document theme can be applied to all
of your Excel workbooks and other 2007 Office release documents.
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Your company may provide a corporate document theme that you can
use, or you can choose from a variety of predefined document themes
that are available in Excel. If needed, you can also create your own
document theme by changing any or all of the theme colors, fonts, or
effects that a document theme is based on.

Before you format the data on your worksheet, you may want to apply
the document theme that you want to use, so that the formatting that
you apply to your worksheet data can use the colors, fonts, and effects
that are determined by that document theme.

For information on how to work with document themes, see Apply or


customize a document theme.

Using styles to quickly format data

A style is a predefined, often theme-based format that you can apply to


change the look of data, tables, charts, PivotTables, shapes, or diagrams.
If predefined styles don't meet your needs, you can customize a style. For
charts, you can customize a chart style and save it as a chart template
that you can use again.

Depending on the data that you want to format, you can use the following
styles in Excel:

 Cell styles To apply several formats in one step, and to ensure that
cells have consistent formatting, you can use a cell style. A cell style is a
defined set of formatting characteristics, such as fonts and font sizes,
number formats, cell borders, and cell shading. To prevent anyone from
making changes to specific cells, you can also use a cell style that locks
cells.

Excel has several predefined cell styles that you can apply. If
needed, you can modify a predefined cell style to create a custom
cell style.

Some cell styles are based on the document theme that is applied to
the entire workbook. When you switch to another document theme,
these cell styles are updated to match the new document theme.

For information on how to work with cell styles, see Apply, create, or
remove a cell style.

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 Table styles To quickly add designer-quality, professional formatting to


an Excel table, you can apply a predefined or custom table style. When
you choose one of the predefined alternate-row styles, Excel maintains
the alternating row pattern when you filter, hide, or rearrange rows.

For information on how to work with table styles, see Format an


Excel table.

 PivotTable styles To format a PivotTable, you can quickly apply a


predefined or custom PivotTable style. Just like with Excel tables, you can
choose a predefined alternate-row style that retains the alternate row
pattern when you filter, hide, or rearrange rows.

For information on how to work with PivotTable styles, see Design


the layout and format of a PivotTable report.

 Chart styles You apply a predefined style to your chart. Excel provides
a variety of useful predefined chart styles that you can choose from, and
you can customize a style further if needed by manually changing the
style of individual chart elements. You cannot save a custom chart style,
but you can save the entire chart as a chart template that you can use to
create a similar chart.

For information on how to work with chart styles, see Change the
layout or style of a chart.

Formatting data manually

To make specific data (such as text or numbers) stand out, you can
format the data manually. Manual formatting is not based on the
document theme of your workbook unless you choose a theme font or use
theme colors — manual formatting stays the same when you change the
document theme. You can manually format all of the data in a cell or
range at the same time, but you can also use this method to format
individual characters.

For information on how to format data manually, see:

Change the font or font size in Excel

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Format text as strikethrough

Format text as superscript or subscript

Using borders and colors to emphasize data

To distinguish between different types of information on a worksheet and


to make a worksheet easier to scan, you can add borders around cells or
ranges. For enhanced visibility and to draw attention to specific data, you
can also shade the cells with a solid background color or a specific color
pattern.

If you want to add a colorful background to all of your worksheet data,


you can also use a picture as a sheet background. However, a sheet
background cannot be printed — a background only enhances the
onscreen display of your worksheet.

For information on how to use borders and colors, see:

Apply or remove cell borders on a worksheet

Apply or remove cell shading

Add or remove a sheet background

Changing the alignment or orientation of data

For the optimal display of the data on your worksheet, you may want to
reposition the text within a cell. You can change the alignment of the cell
contents, use indentation for better spacing, or display the data at a
different angle by rotating it.

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Rotating data is especially useful when column headings are wider than
the data in the column. Instead of creating unnecessarily wide columns or
abbreviated labels, you can rotate the column heading text.

For information on how to change the alignment or orientation of data,


see Reposition the data in a cell.

Copying an existing format to other data

If you have already formatted some cells on a worksheet the way that
you want, you can simply copy the formatting to other cells or ranges. By
using the Paste Special command (Home tab, Clipboard group, Paste
button), you can paste only the formats of the copied data, but you can
also use the Format Painter (Home tab, Clipboard group) to copy
and paste formats to other cells or ranges.

Also, data range formats are automatically extended to additional rows


when you enter rows at the end of a data range that you have already
formatted, and the formats appear in at least three of five preceding
rows. The option to extend data range formats and formulas is on by
default, but you can turn it on or off as needed (Microsoft Office Button
, Excel Options, Advanced category).

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Prepare a worksheet for printing

Your worksheet looks fine on the screen, so you are now ready to print —
right? Not necessarily. You could save time and paper by adjusting the
format and page layout of your worksheet, or by taking measures to
avoid common printing problems before you print your worksheet.

In this article

 Making a worksheet easy to read or scan


 Fine-tuning the layout of printed pages
 Fixing awkward page breaks
 Previewing a worksheet before you print it
 Printing all or part of a worksheet

Making a worksheet easy to read or scan

To present all of your data on the printed pages, make sure that the data
is visible on the screen. For example, if text or numbers are too wide to fit
in a column, the printed text will be truncated and the printed numbers
will appear as number signs (##). To avoid printing truncated text and
number signs in place of text, you can increase the column width to
accommodate the data, or you may want to increase the row height by
wrapping the text to fit the column width, to make the text visible on the
screen and on the printed pages.

Column sizing

Row sizing

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To make your data easy to read or scan, you may want to apply different
formatting to help draw attention to important information. However,
keep in mind that some formatting (such as colored text or cell shading)
that looks good on the screen may not produce the printed results that
you expect when you print on a black-and-white printer. If you use
colored text or cell shading, be sure to use colors that contrast well for
printing on a black-and-white printer.

You may also want to print a worksheet with gridlines displayed so that
the data, rows, and columns stand out better.

Fine-tuning the layout of printed pages

Before you print a worksheet that contains large quantities of data or


charts, you can quickly fine-tune the worksheet in the new Page Layout
view to achieve professional-looking results. In this view, you can see
your data in the context of printed pages. You can easily add or change
page headers and footers, hide or display row and column headers,
change the page orientation of printed pages, change the layout and
format of data, use the rulers to measure the width and height of the
data, and set margins for printing.

ADDING USEFUL INFORMATION IN HEADERS OR FOOTERS

You may want to add a header and footer that contain useful information
about the printed worksheet, such as a worksheet title, a logo, file
information, or page number. Headers and footers that you specify
automatically appear on every printed page. You cannot print headers or
footers on the first page only, but you can print different headers and
footers on the first page as well as on odd and even pages.

Header

Footer

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PRINTING ROW AND COLUMN HEADINGS OR LABELS ON EVERY PAGE

If a worksheet spans more than one page, you can print row and column
headings or labels (also called print titles) on every page to ensure that
the data is properly labeled.

Column labels

CHANGING THE PAGE ORIENTATION OF THE WORKSHEET

You can adjust the column width and wrap text to fit more columns on the
printed page. However, if the worksheet has many more columns than
will fit horizontally when you use the default portrait orientation, you can
print the data to accommodate additional columns (but fewer rows) by
using landscape orientation.

ADJUSTING THE PLACEMENT, FIT, AND MARGINS OF THE WORKSHEET

For a better layout, you may want to center a worksheet horizontally or


vertically on the printed page. In Page Layout view, Microsoft Office
Excel 2007 provides a horizontal ruler and a vertical ruler, so that you can
take precise measurements of cells, ranges, objects, and page margins.
Rulers can help you to position objects and to view or to edit page
margins directly on the worksheet.

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To fit a few more columns on the printed page, you can adjust the width
of margins or columns. If your data is too wide for one page, you can
adjust vertical page breaks.

If the data is just a bit too large to fit on a printed page, you can scale the
worksheet to make it fit. Scaling reduces the horizontal and vertical size
of the printed data by a percentage or by the number of pages that you
specify.

If some columns contain data that you don't need to print, you can
temporarily hide the columns. Hidden data will not be printed.

You can also use Page Layout view to position and resize charts so that
they appear exactly where you want them to appear on the printed
pages.

Fixing awkward page breaks

Your worksheet data may be too wide or too long to fit on one page, or
perhaps you want to keep specific data together on the same page. You
can use Page Break Preview view to quickly adjust the vertical and
horizontal page breaks. In this view, page breaks that are manually
inserted appear as solid lines. Dashed lines indicate where Office Excel
2007 will break pages automatically.

Automatic page breaks

Manual page breaks

Page Break Preview view is especially useful for seeing how other
changes that you make (such as formatting changes and page
orientation) affect the automatic page breaks. For example, changing the
row height and column width can affect the placement of the automatic
page breaks. You can also make changes to the page breaks that are
affected by the margin settings of the current printer driver.
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For more information, see Add, delete, or move page breaks.

Previewing a worksheet before you print it

For an exact preview of how the data will be printed, you may want to
preview the worksheet pages in Print Preview view. In this view, you
can make any final adjustments to the pages before you print.

For more information, see Preview worksheet pages before printing.

Printing all or part of a worksheet

You are finally ready to print your data. When you click Print (Microsoft
Office Button ), you can specify exactly what you want to print. You
can print all of the worksheets in your workbook, print one or more
selected worksheets, or print only a selected portion of the worksheet.

If you plan to print a specific portion of a worksheet frequently, you can


define it as a print area (Page Layout tab, Page Setup group). That
way, every time that you print the worksheet, Excel prints only the data
that is specified in the print area.

PRINT A WORKSHEET OR WORKBOOK

Step Up! Let's print a worksheet by using advanced settings

THIS ARTICLE CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING CONTENTS:

1. Let's preview the print layout

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2. Let's set the page settings


3. Let's start printing

Let's preview the print layout

1. Click (Office Button), point at Print, and then click Print Preview.

A print preview of the worksheet is displayed.

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For details on the operation of the print preview, see "Let's check the
print layout".

TIP: HOW DO I PREVIEW ALL OF THE WORKSHEETS IN A WORKBOOK AT


THE SAME TIME?

1. Right-click the sheet tab, and then click Select All Sheets
in the shortcut menu.

All worksheets are selected in the sheet tab.

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2. Click (Office Button), point at Print, and then click


Print Preview.

A print preview which includes all worksheets is


displayed.

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Let's set the page settings

You can change the page settings while you are checking the print
preview.

You can set the page settings by clicking Page Setup in Print on the
Print Preview tab.

For details on the basic operations in Page Setup, see "Change the page
orientation and quit Print Preview" and "Let's set the page settings ".

In this example, set the header and footer.

1. Click Page Setup in Print on the Print Preview tab.

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The Page Setup dialog box is displayed.

2. Click the Header/Footer tab.

3. In Excel, you can add a variety of information to the header and footer.

In this example, add the name of the sheet tab to the header and
the page number to footer.

Click the arrow in Header, and then select the name of the sheet
tab.

Click the arrow in Footer, and then select Page 1 to insert the page
number.

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4. Click OK.

The header and footer are inserted.

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TIP: HOW TO DISPLAY GRIDLINES IN THE PRINTOUT

1. Click Page Setup in Print on the Print Preview tab.

The Page Setup dialog box is displayed.


2. Click the Sheet tab.

3. Click to check Gridlines box in Print.

4. Click OK.

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The gridlines are displayed.

Let's start printing

Once you have finished checking and adjusting the print layout, you can
start the actual printing.

In this example, set Print range and Print what, and then start
printing.

1. Click (Office Button), point at Print, and then click Print .

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The Print dialog box is displayed.

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2. In Print range in the Print dialog box, you can select the pages of the
worksheet to print.

In this example, click Page(s) and specify the pages to print.

In this example, specify pages 1 to 3.

Enter "1" in the box for From, and then enter "3" in the box for To.

3. In Print what, you can select the part of workbook to print.

In this example, print the selected worksheet only.

Click Active sheet(s).

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TIP: HOW DO I PRINT ALL OF THE WORKSHEETS IN A WORKBOOK AT


THE SAME TIME?

If you click Entire Workbook in the above procedure, you


can print all of the worksheets in a workbook at the same
time.

If you previewed all of the worksheets in the workbook at


the same time, it is also possible to print all of the
worksheets in a workbook at the same time by clicking
either Active sheet(s) or Entire Workbook during the
above procedure.

For details on how to preview all of the worksheets in a


workbook at the same time, see "Tip: How do I preview all
of the worksheets in a workbook at the same time?".

4. Click OK.

Pages 1 to 3 of the selected worksheet are printed.

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