Getting Started With Microsoft Excel

Key Takeaways

So, what exactly is Excel? Well, Microsoft Excel is a powerful and easy to use spreadsheet application. Nearly everyone who works with numbers has likely used Excel or some other spreadsheet application in one form or another. Thomas Bradshaw from Westcal Publishing knows he has to start using Excel to be able to perform the role of an account manager, but it's been a long time since he used these applications. If you are new to Excel and spreadsheets in general, like Thomas, the vast array of features and controls can seem quite daunting. However, once you understand the basics of workbooks and the functionality they offer, you'll be well on your way to becoming an expert in Excel. So, let's not waste any more time in getting started with Microsoft Excel. Microsoft Excel is the spreadsheet application that is part of Microsoft's suite of Office productivity tools. Spreadsheets are essentially a large flexible grid which can be paper or digital that are used to store, sort, and work with information, typically numerical data. In Excel, data is stored in a worksheet, a digital form of spreadsheet, which consists of intersecting rows and columns. A column is a vertical series of adjacent cells from top to bottom. A row is a horizontal series of cells from left to right. The intersection of a row and column is called a cell and can contain many types of data. This data, while most often numerical, can also include text, shapes, and pictures. Using Excel, you can organize, analyze, and store large amounts of data. You can also create charts, tables, and diagrams to summarize and present data. Typically, worksheets display columns with alphabetical headers and rows with numerical ones. Each column has an index letter. Since there are only 26 letters and there can be far more than 26 columns on a spreadsheet, the columns after column zed are indexed by the letters A, AB, AC, and so on until the last column up to XFD more than 16,000. Each row has an index number from 1 through to 1,48,576. Each cell is given a name in the column row format with the top left cells referenced as A1. Here you can see that the word cell has been typed into C3. The active cell is the name given to the cell that is currently selected. A cell range or simply range is defined as a series or block of adjacent cells. A workbook is a collection of one or more worksheets. By default, new blank workbooks only include one worksheet, but you can add others if needed. If the workbook that you are using includes more than one worksheet, you can switch between them by clicking the tabs. The name of the worksheet that you are presently working with will be in bold type on a white background. Let's take a closer look at Excel's user interface and how to interact with the features and functionality contained in the layout. The quick access toolbar gives you quick access to frequently used commands. This toolbar is completely customizable and can be positioned above or below the ribbon commands. Tabs are groups of similar commands and are organized under tab names. Click a tab to view the commands in the ribbon. The ribbon interface displays tab commands organized into groups. If you click the different tabs, you will see the commands change. Notice that some of the commands might be grayed out. This is because those commands are only usable in certain situations. The file tab which opens backstage view is also included here. Every cell has a name in the format column row. The name of the currently selected cell called the active cell is shown in the name box. Here the active cell is A1. The formula bar allows you to enter data in a cell. Data can be alpha numeric, pictures, symbols or as the name suggests formula. The data contained in the file will be shown in the working area. The contents of this cell are shown in the formula bar. When you're doing calculations, the result is shown in the worksheet, but the calculation is visible in the formula bar. The status bar is used to display information about the workbook. Any temporary results depending on what is selected in the worksheet will be shown here. There are also some zoom and view commands here. As you grow more accustomed to working with Excel, you may begin to work on larger files, and sometimes all of the information in a worksheet will not fit on the screen. You will find scroll bars on the right and bottom sides of Excel workbooks. To view different parts of a worksheet, click and drag the scroll bars to scroll horizontally or vertically through the data. Sometimes the keyboard can be an even quicker way to navigate through worksheets. On screen now are some common keyboard shortcuts that you may find useful. For a full list of keyboard shortcuts, please refer to the additional resources at the end of this lesson.