MICROSOFT EXCEL TUTORIAL

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

GETTING STARTED

CREATING A NEW DOCUMENT

OPENING MICROSOFT EXCEL ON A PC

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

Figure1.NavigatetoMicrosoftExcelonaPC.

Figure2.Openinganewworkbook

 Computerscrashanddocumentsarelostallthetime,soitisbesttosaveoften.

SAVING YOUR DOCUMENT

SAVING INITIALLY

Beforeyoubeginyoushouldsaveyourdocument.Todothis,clickonthefloppydisk locatedatthetopofthescreen .ThenMicrosoftExcelwillopenadialogbox (Figure3)whereyoucanspecifythenewfilesname,locationofwhereyouwantit saved,andformatofthedocument.Onceyouhavespecifiedaname,place,and formatforyournewfile,presstheSavebutton. Note:SpecifyingyourfileformatwillallowyoutoopenyourdocumentonaPCas wellasaMAC.TodothisyouusethedropdownmenunexttotheFormatoption. Also,whenyouarespecifyingafileextension(i.e..doc)makesureyouknowwhat youneedtouse.

Figure3.Savingdialogbox.

SAVING LATER

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

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

TOOLBARS

THREE COMMONLY USED TABS

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

Figure4.HomeTab. TheInsertTab:(Figure5).Thistabismainlyusedforinsertingvisualsandgraphics intoyourdocument.Therearevariousdifferentthingsthatcanbeinsertedfrom thistabsuchaspictures,clipart,charts,links,headersandfooters,andwordart.

Figure5.InsertTab. ThePageLayoutTab:(Figure6).Hereyouareabletoaddmargins,themestoyour document,changetheorientation,pagebreaks,andtitles.Thescalefitofyour documentisalsoincludedasafeaturewithinthistab,ifneeded.

Figure6.PageLayoutTab.

FORMATTING

WORKING WITH CELLS

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

Figure7.EnteringData.

CHANGING AN ENTRY WITHIN A CELL

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

CUT, COPY, AND PASTE

YoucanusetheCut,CopyandPastefeaturesofExceltochangethedatawithin yourspreadsheet,tomovedatafromotherspreadsheetsintonewspreadsheets,and tosaveyourselfthetimeofreenteringinformationinaspreadsheet.Cutwill actuallyremovetheselectionfromtheoriginallocationandallowittobeplaced somewhereelse.Copyallowsyoutoleavetheoriginalselectionwhereitisand insertacopyelsewhere.Pasteisusedtoinsertdatathathasbeencutorcopied. To Cut or Copy: Highlightthedataortextbyselectingthecellsthattheyareheldwithin. GototheHomeTab>Copy(CTRL+C)orHomeTab>Cut(CTRL+X). Clickthelocationwheretheinformationshouldbeplaced. GotoHomeTab>Paste(CTRL+V)tobeabletopasteyourinformation.

FORMATTING CELLS

Therearevariousdifferentoptionsthatcanbechangedtoformatthespreadsheets cellsdifferently.Whenchangingtheformatwithincellsyoumustselectthecells thatyouwishtoformat. TogettotheFormatCellsdialogboxselectthecellsyouwishtochangethengoto HomeTab>Format>FormatCells.Aboxwillappearonthescreenwithsix differenttaboptions(Figure8).Explanationsofthebasicoptionsintheformat dialogboxarebulletedbelow.

Figure8.FormattingCells

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

FORMATTING ROWS AND COLUMNS

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

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

Figure9.FormattingRowsandColumnsHeight

ADDING ROWS AND COLUMNS

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

Figure10.InsertingRows

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

Figure11.InsertingColumns

WORKING WITH CHARTS

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

Figure12.ChartsTab Youmaychoosethechartthatisdesiredbyclickingthecategoryofthechartyou willuse.Oncethecategoryischosenthechartswillappearassmallgraphicswithin adropdownmenu.Tochooseaparticularchartjustclickonitsiconanditwillbe placedwithinthespreadsheetyouareworkingon.Tomovethecharttoapageofits own,selecttheborderofthechartandRightClick.Thiswillbringupadropdown menu,navigatetotheoptionthatsaysMoveChart.Thiswillbringupadialogbox thatsaysChartLocation.FromhereyouwillneedtoselectthecirclenexttoAsA NewSheetandnamethesheetthatwillholdyourchart.Thechartwillpopup largerinaseparatesheet(Figure13),butinthesameworkbookasyourentered data.

Figure13.Chartinnewsheet

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

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

Figure14.DesignTabforchartdesign.

CHART STYLE: Hereyouareabletochangethecolorofthebarsthatarewithinyourchart.

INSERTING SMART ART GRAPHICS

PICTURES

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

Figure15.Insertingapicture

InsertingClipart: ToinsertClipArtyouwillneedtogototheInsertTab>ClipArt.Anavigation panewillappearonthelefthandsideofthescreenwhereyoucansearchforwords thatpertaintothepictureyouarelookingfor.

Figure16.ClipArt

CREATING FUNCTIONS

WhencreatingafunctioninExcelyoumustfirsthavethedatathatyouwishto performthefunctionwithselected. Selectthecellthatyouwishforthecalculationtobeenteredin(i.e.:ifIwant toknowthesumofB1:B5IwillhighlightcellB6formysumtobeentered into)(Figure17). Figure17.Choosingcalculationcell OnceyouhavedonethisyouwillneedtoselecttheFormulasTablocatedat thetopofthescreen. AlistofMostRecentlyUsed,Financial,Logical,Text,DateandTime, MathandTrigformulaswillappear.Tochooseoneoftheformulasclickthe iconthatholdstheformulayouarelookingfor. Onceyouhaveclickedyourformulathiswilldisplayadialogboxonyour screen.(Figure18)

Inthisscreenitliststhecellsthatarebeingcalculated,thevalueswithinthecells, andtheendresult. ToacceptthatcalculationyoucanpressOKandtheresultwillshowupinthe selectedcell. Itisimportanttoalwayssaveyourdocumentbeforeyouprint!

Figure18.Firstcalculationdisplay

PRINTING

PRINTING

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

Tobeabletochangetheorientationofyourpageforprintingyoucanclickonthe PropertiesbuttonundertheoptiontoPrintthenclicktheLayoutTab(Figure19).

Figure19.PageSetupbuttonandprinting

OTHER HELPFUL FUNCTIONS

UNDO AND REDO

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

QUITTING

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