Select cell contents in Excel

In Excel, you can select cell contents of one or more cells, rows and columns.

Select one or more cells

1. Click on a cell to select it. Or use the keyboard to navigate to it and select it.

2. To select a range, select a cell, then with the left mouse button pressed, drag over the other cells.

   Or use the Shift + arrow keys to select the range.

3. To select non-adjacent cells and cell ranges, hold Ctrl and select the cells.

Select one or more rows and columns

1. Select the letter at the top to select the entire column. Or click on any cell in the column and then press Ctrl + Space.

2. Select the row number to select the entire row. Or click on any cell in the row and then press Shift + Space.

3. To select non-adjacent rows or columns, hold Ctrl and select the row or column numbers.

Select table, list or worksheet

1. To select a list or table, select a cell in the list or table and press Ctrl + A.

2. To select the entire worksheet, click the Select All button at the top left corner.

   

Insert Data

In MS Excel, there are 1048576*16384 cells. MS Excel cell can have Text, Numeric value or formulas. An MS Excel cell can have maximum of 32000 characters.

Inserting Data

For inserting data in MS Excel, just activate the cell type text or number and press enter or Navigation keys.

Inserting Formula

For inserting formula in MS Excel go to the formula bar, enter the formula and then press enter or navigation key. See the screen-shot below to understand it.

Modifying Cell Content

For modifying the cell content just activate the cell, enter a new value and then press enter or navigation key to see the changes. See the screen-shot below to understand it.

Filter data in a range or table

Use AutoFilter or built-in comparison operators like "greater than" and “top 10” in Excel to show the data you want and hide the rest. Once you filter data in a range of cells or table, you can either reapply a filter to get up-to-date results, or clear a filter to redisplay all of the data.

Filter a range of data

1. Select any cell within the range.

2. Select Data > Filter.

   

3. Select the column header arrow  .

4. Select Text Filters or Number Filters, and then select a comparison, like Between.

   

5. Enter the filter criteria and select OK.

   

Filter data in a table

When you put your data in a table, filter controls are automatically added to the table headers.

1. Select the column header arrow  for the column you want to filter.

2. Uncheck (Select All)  and select the boxes you want to show.

   

3. Click OK.

Create a simple formula in Excel

You can create a simple formula to add, subtract, multiply or divide values in your worksheet. Simple formulas always start with an equal sign (=), followed by constants that are numeric values and calculation operators such as plus (+), minus (-), asterisk(*), or forward slash (/) signs.

Let's take an example of a simple formula.

1. On the worksheet, click the cell in which you want to enter the formula.

2. Type the = (equal sign) followed by the constants and operators (up to 8192 characters) that you want to use in the calculation.

   For our example, type =1+1.

   Notes: 

   • Instead of typing the constants into your formula, you can select the cells that contain the values that you want to use and enter the operators in between selecting cells.

   • Following the standard order of mathematical operations, multiplication and division is performed before addition and subtraction.

3. Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac).

Let's take another variation of a simple formula. Type =5+2*3 in another cell and press Enter or Return. Excel multiplies the last two numbers and adds the first number to the result.

Use AutoSum

You can use AutoSum to quickly sum a column or row or numbers. Select a cell next to the numbers you want to sum, click AutoSum on the Home tab, press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac), and that's it!

When you click AutoSum, Excel automatically enters a formula (that uses the SUM Function) to sum the numbers.

Note: You can also type ALT+= (Windows) or ALT+  += (Mac) into a cell, and Excel automatically inserts the SUM function.

Here’s an example. To add the January numbers in this Entertainment budget, select cell B7, the cell immediately below the column of numbers. Then click AutoSum. A formula appears in cell B7, and Excel highlights the cells you’re totaling.

Press Enter to display the result (95.94) in cell B7. You can also see the formula in the formula bar at the top of the Excel window.

Notes: 

• To sum a column of numbers, select the cell immediately below the last number in the column. To sum a row of numbers, select the cell immediately to the right.

• Once you create a formula, you can copy it to other cells instead of typing it over and over. For example, if you copy the formula in cell B7 to cell C7, the formula in C7 automatically adjusts to the new location, and calculates the numbers in C3:C6.

• You can also use AutoSum on more than one cell at a time. For example, you could highlight both cell B7 and C7, click AutoSum, and total both columns at the same time.

Sheet Options

MS Excel provides various sheet options for printing purpose like generally cell gridlines aren’t printed. If you want your printout to include the gridlines, Choose Page Layout » Sheet Options group » Gridlines » Check Print.

Options in Sheet Options Dialogue

• Print Area − You can set the print area with this option.

• Print Titles − You can set titles to appear at the top for rows and at the left for columns.

• Print −

  • Gridlines − Gridlines to appear while printing worksheet.

  • Black & White − Select this check box to have your color printer print the chart in black and white.

  • Draft quality − Select this check box to print the chart using your printer’s draft-quality setting.

  • Rows & Column Heading − Select this check box to have rows and column heading to print.

• Page Order −

  • Down, then Over − It prints the down pages first and then the right pages.

  • Over, then Down − It prints right pages first and then comes to print the down pages.

Formatting Cell

MS Excel Cell can hold different types of data like Numbers, Currency, Dates, etc. You can set the cell type in various ways as shown below −

• Right Click on the cell » Format cells » Number.
• Click on the Ribbon from the ribbon.

Various Cell Formats

Below are the various cell formats.

• General − This is the default cell format of Cell.

• Number − This displays cell as number with separator.

• Currency − This displays cell as currency i.e. with currency sign.

• Accounting − Similar to Currency, used for accounting purpose.

• Date − Various date formats are available under this like 17-09-2013, 17^th-Sep-2013, etc.

• Time − Various Time formats are available under this, like 1.30PM, 13.30, etc.

• Percentage − This displays cell as percentage with decimal places like 50.00%.

• Fraction − This displays cell as fraction like 1/4, 1/2 etc.

• Scientific − This displays cell as exponential like 5.6E+01.

• Text − This displays cell as normal text.

• Special − Special formats of cell like Zip code, Phone Number.

• Custom − You can use custom format by using this.