Microsoft Excel

Starting Excel
There are several ways to start Excel. For "first-timers", the easiest way is from the Start button on the taskbar. Excel can be found under Start, Programs, Microsoft Office.

Putting an Excel shortcut on your desktop
Right-click the Start button and select Explore All Users. An Explorer window appears with the Start Menu highlighted. Open the Programs subfolder, then open the Microsoft Office folder. Inside you'll find a shortcut to Excel. Right-click the shortcut, select Copy, then move the cursor to an empty spot on your desktop. Right-click again and select Paste to drop the shortcut on your desktop.

When in doubt, "ask" for Help
After you have Excel "up-and-running," Help can be found by:

• Pressing the "F1" key on the keyboard
• Clicking the Office Assistant
• Clicking Help located on the top menu bar.

To use Help, type a few keywords relating to the topic and click the Search tab.

If you prefer a more structured help function, first turn off the Office Assistant:

• Right-click the Office Assistant
• Select "Options" from the menu
• Un-check the first box "Use the Office Assistant" then click the "OK" button

Select Help and a new window appears on the right side of the window with a Table of Contents.

Another help feature is "What's This?" Position the cursor over a menu icon and press Shift+F1. When the cursor changes to include a question mark, click the object to see a short explanation.

What is what in Excel? The Excel display

• The title bar at the top of the window shows the name of the current document. It also contains the standard Windows control buttons: minimize, maximize/restore down and close.
• The menu bar contains the text list of Excel's menus and can be used to navigate the commands.
• The Standard toolbar contains buttons and other controls that represent frequently used menu commands such as new document, save, or print.
• The Formatting toolbar contains buttons and other controls that allow you to quickly change the appearance of a document by selecting a font, size, etc.
• The fourth line contains the cell name box and cell edit box, used to edit cell contents.
• The Status bar (at the bottom of the window) provides scroll buttons, worksheet tabs, as well as the current settings and operations in progress.
• A new document is called a Workbook, each workbook contains one or more worksheets. Each worksheet is made up of columns (alphabetic) and rows (numeric) of "cells." Cells are storage places for data, formulas, etc.
• The worksheet tab (Sheet1) can be renamed to improve organization. By right-clicking the tab, you can add worksheets, delete, and move (or copy) worksheets.

The mouse pointer (cursor) can help you identify buttons on the toolbars. When the pointer is placed over a button a text box will appear showing the name or function of the button. The pointer will change form, depending on the area of the document. For example, the pointer turns into an I-beam when working in a text area, or a northeast arrow when in the left margin of the document area. Anything outside the document area (where you can type) will be a northwest arrow.

Navigating in an Excel document
Excel worksheets are much larger than the screen. This can be an advantage when organizing your data. To view the other parts of the document, use the scroll bars at the right and on the bottom of the window. Scrolling will not change the selected box on the worksheet, so if there should be a change click the area where the change should occur. The arrow keys and page up or down keys will also allow movement within the worksheet.

Entering text in the worksheet
Entering text is similar to using a word processing program. Use keystrokes to produce a letter or symbol inside a selected cell. Excel categorizes data in a cell as text, number, date, etc. If you use numerals but want Excel to treat them as text, precede the entry with an apostrophe " ´ ".

Editing text in an existing worksheet

• Use the mouse pointer to select a cell in the worksheet. After highlighting the cell, click the status bar and highlight the changing text. Press the DELETE key on the keyboard, removing the text.
• To add text, use the mouse pointer to select a box in the worksheet. Place the pointer over the spot where text should be added and left-click to place the insertion point. Type the desired text.

Saving files
Saving files regularly will prevent losing hours of hard work due to a power outage or system crash. To save a document, click on the save button located on the standard menu bar. If it is a new document, Excel will give you the option to name the document and designate where it should be saved. We recommend saving the information to your personal drive (H:\) to prevent data loss due to corrupt diskettes. To save the document as another name or to another location, click on "File" in the menu bar and then "Save As." Select the alternate name or location and press OK.

Printing a worksheet
For simple jobs, first preview the document, then use the print icon on the toolbar. For more complex worksheets, choose the Page Setup option from File on the menu bar to adjust the page orientation (portrait/landscape) and choose scaling options. You can also print sections of a large worksheet by selecting Print Area.

Formulas
The most common formula used in spreadsheets is addition or "summation." Excel provides an AutoSum (å) button on toolbar to speed up this process. Next to AutoSum button is the Paste Function (fx) button, used to select pre-made formulas from a list. The most common of these is average (Avg). Formulas are based on mathematic symbols and their order of operation. A formula in a cell is identified by the equal "=" symbol. Cell contents are identified by their coordinate name, i.e. A1. An example: =(A1 * B1)/C1, the number stored in cell A1 is multiplied by the number stored in B1 first (parenthesis) then divided by "/" the content of cell C1.

Common errors with the use of formulas are "#REF!", "#VALUE!", and "#DIV/0!".

• "#REF!" - a reference to a cell is not valid (the cell name is not valid).
• "#VALUE!" - the formula cell reference contains text instead of a number.
• "#DIV/0!" - the formula tries to divide by zero (a math no-no).

Charting
With a string of data either in a row or column, select the Chart Wizard button on the toolbar. The Wizard will step through a four-step process of different options to develop a chart based on your data.

• Step 1: Choose the chart type, such as bar chart or pie chart.
• Step 2: Choose chart source data, you pick which numbers apply.
• Step 3: Chart Options, such as Title, X-Y legends.
• Step 4: Chart Location, choose either a new sheet or store the chart with the data.