Excel 2013 - Introduction to Basics

Terminology
Workbook a collection of worksheets. An Excel file.
Worksheet a grid consisting of columns and rows,
commonly known as a spreadsheet.
There are 16,384 columns in a worksheet. The first 26
columns are labelled column A through to column Z;
columns 27 to 52 are labelled column AA to column AZ;
column 53 is labelled column BA; and so on until the last
column which is labelled XFD.
The rows are numbered sequentially from one to
1,048,576.
Cell the intersection of a column and a row. The cells
are used to store data entries. Each cell is known by its cell
address. The cell address consists of the column letter
followed by the row number (eg. C16).
Data is entered and edited in the active cell. The active cell
has a thick black border around it. Only one cell can be
active at a time.

Tip: The Quick Access Toolbar, located above the ribbon

Deleting data

, can be customised to include

shortcuts for new file creation, opening and printing. Click the
down arrow at the right-hand side and select your preferred
buttons.

Select the cell(s) and then press the Delete key.

Selecting a cell
To select, or activate, a cell you should click on it.
You can navigate to another cell using the Tab key, the
arrow keys on the keyboard, or the Page Up and Page
Down keys.
You can also use the horizontal and vertical scroll bars to
navigate your worksheet but you must remember to click
into the cell to select it.

Entering data into cells

You can enter data by simply typing into the cell. To accept
what has been typed, you can press the enter key.
Alternatively, you can click the small tick which appears in
the formula bar.

Selecting
To Select
Range of
cells

Column(s)
Row(s)
Worksheet

Multiple
ranges

Action
Click on the first cell then drag to last cell;
or
Click on the first cell, hold down the Shift
key, and click on the last cell.
Click or click and drag over the
column/row heading(s).

Click on the
blank blue button to the left of column
heading A or press Ctrl + A.
Select the first range, hold down the Ctrl
key and use the mouse to select any
further cells or ranges.

Moving and Copying Data

Working with Files

To start a new workbook, click the File tab
,
click New in the left-hand menu, then click Blank
Workbook in the New Area. You may find it quicker to
use the keystroke, Ctrl N.
To open a previously created workbook, click the File
tab
and then click Open. You may find it
quicker to use the keystroke, Ctrl O.
To save a workbook click the Save
keystroke, Ctrl S.

button, or use the

NB. Although Excel 2013 files are compatible with Excel 972003, you must save them as Excel 97-2003 in order for
previous versions to see and open them properly.
To print the worksheet currently displayed on the screen,
click the File tab and then click Print.

If you do not want to accept what has been typed into the
cell, you can press the Esc key or click the small cross
which appears in the formula bar.

1.

Select the data.

2.

Click on the Cut button

move data; or

3.

Click on the Copy button

to duplicate data.

4.

Select the first cell where the data is to be

placed. Use the Paste button (or Ctrl V) to
insert the data .

By default, text is aligned to the left of the cell and numbers

to the right.
Note: Remember to save your Excel workbook regularly.

Editing data
Changing data
Double click the cell, press the F2 key, or click into the
formula bar and change the data as required.

Replacing data
Click on the cell, type the new data and press the enter key.

(or Ctrl X) to

(or Ctrl C)

Note: remember to check the options offered by the SmartTag

that appears when you paste.
Alternatively you can move or copy a cell or range using
drag and drop.

Excel 2013 - Introduction to Basics

1.

2.

Select the data. Locate the Move

arrow by pointing to the edge of the
selection.
Drag and drop
destination.

to

the

required

Note: Holding the Ctrl key while you drag and drop results in a
copy being made. Options also become available on the Shortcut
menu which is displayed when you drag and drop using the right
mouse button.

2.

Excel has built-in functions that are shortcuts for formulas.

The most commonly used function is the SUM function,
which calculates the total for the values in a range of cells.
Since the SUM function is used frequently, there is an
AutoSum button on the Editing group of the Home tab
that enters the formula into the active cell.

Formatting

1.

Select the cell into which you want to enter the

formula.

Formulas
Formulas are used to perform calculations on values
entered into the cells of a worksheet. They consist of the
addresses of the cells containing the values and the
appropriate mathematical operators.
The mathematical operators that can be used in a formula
are listed below:
+ (plus sign)
- (minus sign)
* (asterisk)
/ (slash)
( ) (brackets)

% (percent)

^ (caret)

Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division
Controls
the
order
of
operation. Calculations within
parentheses are performed
first.
Converts the number into a
percentage. For example, when
you type 10%, Excel reads the
value as .10.
Exponentiation. For example,
when you type 2^3, Excel reads
the value as 2*2*2.

2.

Click the AutoSum button

3.

Adjust the range as necessary.

4.

Press [Enter].

Select the cell into which you want to enter the

formula.

2.

Begin the formula with an equal sign (=).

3.

Type the rest of the formula.

4.

Press the Enter key.

Formatting enables you to change the visual appearance of a

cell or range of cells without changing the value of the data.

Resizing rows and columns

Locate the resizing handle between the row or column
headings. Drag and drop to the required height or width.

Next to the AutoSum button is a drop down arrow which

displays a list of other commonly
used
functions.
These
are
AVERAGE,
COUNT
NUMBERS, MAX and MIN.
Click on any of these functions to
use them, and adjust the range if
necessary.
For more information about
formulas see the Quick Reference Guide entitled Using
Formulas in Excel.

NB: For an automatic best fit locate the resizing handle and
double-click.
If you select the entire worksheet, double-clicking a resizing
handle will automatically best fit the rows or columns of the
entire worksheet.

Fonts
Use the buttons in the Font group of the Home tab to
change the font type, size and to apply bold, italic, underline
and colour to selected cells.

AutoCalculate
The AutoCalculate feature is displayed on the status bar.
This feature performs a simple calculation on a selected
range of cells without the need for a formula. The result of
an auto calculation is temporary and will not be placed in
the worksheet. to use AutoCalculate:

Entering Formulas
1.

Right-click the AutoCalculate area to display a menu

from which you can change the type of calculations
displayed.

Using the SUM Button

NB. Users of previous versions of Excel may like to click the

small,
button in the bottom right-hand corner of the Font
group to open the classic Format Cells dialog box.

Alignment
1.

Select the cells to be calculated. By default, the

AutoCalculate area displays the Average, Count and Sum
of the selected cells.

Change the alignment of the

selected cell contents by
clicking the appropriate
buttons on the Alignment
group of the Home tab.

Excel 2013 - Introduction to Basics

Centre across columns
Select the range of adjacent cells that your heading is to be
centred in, and click on the Merge and Centre button.

This action can be reversed by selecting the merged cell and

clicking on the Merge and Centre button. Additional
options are available from the drop-down menu at the
right-hand side of the button.

You can increase or decrease the number of

decimals displayed by clicking on the Increase
or Decrease Decimal button.
NB. Further formatting options are available by right-clicking on
the selected cells and selecting from the Shortcut menu or from
the floating toolbar.

Inserting / Deleting

Borders
Use the borders button
around selected cells.

Currency button - displays currency symbol,

thousand separators and rounds the value to two
decimals.

to apply and remove lines

Alternatively, you can draw the

borders around the cells by
selecting the appropriate Draw
Borders commands from the
bottom on the Borders menu
and clicking and dragging over
the cells.

Patterns

To Insert
/Delete
Column

Row

Sheet

Cell

Use the Fill Colour button

to apply background
colour or shading to the selected cells.

Action
Right-click on the column heading and
choose Insert/Delete from the Shortcut
menu.
Right-click on the row heading and choose
Insert or Delete from the Shortcut
menu.
Right-click on the sheet tab and choose
Insert or Delete from the Shortcut
menu.
Right-click on the cell and choose Insert
or Delete from the Shortcut menu.
NB.: Inserting cells will require you to select
where to shift the surrounding cells to.

Number formatting
Moving & Naming Sheets
The number of sheets in a workbook is limited only by
available computer memory. To move a sheet::

Use the buttons in the Number group of the Home tab

to apply the following styles:

1.

Point to the sheet tab.

2.

Hold down the left mouse button.

3.

Move to the desired destination and drop

Comma button displays the thousands

separators and rounds values to two decimals.
Percentage button - converts decimal values to
percentages.

.
Note: Hold the Ctrl key while you drag and drop to copy the
sheet.

To change the name of a sheet:

1.

Double-click the sheet tab.

2.

Type over the old name.

3.

Press the ENTER key.

Note: Sheet names can be up to 31 characters long and can

contain spaces but punctuation may not be used.
It is possible to change the colour of a sheet tab to enable
easy identification by right-clicking the sheet tab and
selecting Tab Colour from the Shortcut menu.