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.

Explore Window

The following basic window appears when you start the excel application. Let us now understand the various important parts of this window.

File Tab

The File tab replaces the Office button from Excel 2007. You can click it to check the Backstage view, where you come when you need to open or save files, create new sheets, print a sheet, and do other file-related operations.

Quick Access Toolbar

You will find this toolbar just above the File tab and its purpose is to provide a convenient resting place for the Excel's most frequently used commands. You can customize this toolbar based on your comfort.

Ribbon

Ribbon contains commands organized in three components −

• Tabs − They appear across the top of the Ribbon and contain groups of related commands. Home, Insert, Page Layout are the examples of ribbon tabs.

• Groups − They organize related commands; each group name appears below the group on the Ribbon. For example, group of commands related to fonts or group of commands related to alignment etc.

• Commands − Commands appear within each group as mentioned above.

Title Bar

This lies in the middle and at the top of the window. Title bar shows the program and the sheet titles.

Help

The Help Icon can be used to get excel related help anytime you like. This provides nice tutorial on various subjects related to excel.

Zoom Control

Zoom control lets you zoom in for a closer look at your text. The zoom control consists of a slider that you can slide left or right to zoom in or out. The + buttons can be clicked to increase or decrease the zoom factor.

View Buttons

The group of three buttons located to the left of the Zoom control, near the bottom of the screen, lets you switch among excel's various sheet views.

• Normal Layout view − This displays the page in normal view.

• Page Layout view − This displays pages exactly as they will appear when printed. This gives a full screen look of the document.

• Page Break view − This shows a preview of where pages will break when printed.

Sheet Area

The area where you enter data. The flashing vertical bar is called the insertion point and it represents the location where text will appear when you type.

Row Bar

Rows are numbered from 1 onwards and keeps on increasing as you keep entering data. Maximum limit is 1,048,576 rows.

Column Bar

Columns are numbered from A onwards and keeps on increasing as you keep entering data. After Z, it will start the series of AA, AB and so on. Maximum limit is 16,384 columns.

Status Bar

This displays the current status of the active cell in the worksheet. A cell can be in either of the fours states (a) Ready mode which indicates that the worksheet is ready to accept user inpu (b) Edit mode indicates that cell is editing mode, if it is not activated the you can activate editing mode by double-clicking on a cell (c) A cell enters into Enter mode when a user types data into a cell (d) Point mode triggers when a formula is being entered using a cell reference by mouse pointing or the arrow keys on the keyboard.

Dialog Box Launcher

This appears as a very small arrow in the lower-right corner of many groups on the Ribbon. Clicking this button opens a dialog box or task pane that provides more options about the group.

Introduction to Excel Starter

Microsoft Excel Starter 2010 is a spreadsheet program designed for everyday tasks such as setting up a budget, maintaining an address list, or keeping track of a list of to-do items. Excel Starter is part of Microsoft Office Starter 2010, and comes pre-loaded on your computer.

Excel Starter 2010 is very similar to Microsoft Excel 2010 in appearance. If you are new to the Ribbon interface or the Backstage view, Excel Starter gives you an opportunity to get accustomed to the new interface before upgrading to Excel 2010.

Excel Starter differs from the complete version of Excel in that it includes display advertising, and it does not support the advanced features of the complete version of Excel. If you find that you want more features, you can upgrade to Excel 2010 right from Excel Starter 2010. Just click Purchase on the Home tab on the ribbon.

Open Excel Starter and take a look around

Open Excel Starter with the Windows Start button.

1. Click the Start button  . If Excel Starter is not included among the list of programs you see, click All Programs, and then click Microsoft Office Starter.

2. Click Microsoft Excel Starter 2010.

   The Excel Starter startup screen appears, and a blank spreadsheet is displayed. In Excel Starter, a spreadsheet is called a worksheet, and worksheets are stored in a file called a workbook. Workbooks can have one or more worksheets in them.

1. Columns (labeled with letters) and rows (labeled with numbers) make up the cells of your worksheet.

2. Clicking the File tab opens the Backstage view of your workbook, where you can open and save files, get information about the current workbook, and perform other tasks that do not have to do with the content of the workbook, such as printing it or sending a copy of it in e-mail.

3. Each tab in the ribbon displays commands that are grouped by task. You'll probably spend most of your time using the Home tab, when you're entering and formatting data. Use the Insert tab to add tables, charts, pictures, or other graphics to your worksheet. Use the Page Layout tab to adjust margins and layout, especially for printing. Use the Formulas tab to make calculations on the data in your worksheet.

4. The pane along the side of the Excel Starter window includes links to Help and shortcuts to templates and clip art, to give you a head-start on creating workbooks for specific tasks, such as managing a membership list or tracking expenses. The pane also displays advertising and a link to purchase a full-feature edition of Office.