Basic Excel Terminology

Term Definition
1 Absolute Cell An absolute cell reference is one that does not change when it is copied. To
Reference make a cell reference absolute, you must include a $ before the reference
(e.g. $C$4).The other type of reference is a Relative Reference.
2 * Active Cell The active cell is the cell in the spreadsheet that is currently selected for
data entry. You can change which cell is the active cell by clicking the left
mouse button once or using the arrow keys on the keyboard. The current
active cell can be identified as being the one that has a darker black border
around it. Also, the active cell reference is listed in the Name Box directly
above the spreadsheet's column headings.
3 Anchor Cell The anchor cell is the first cell that is highlighted in a range. When a range of
cells is selected, they appear as highlighted in black. The anchor cell,
however, remains white. If only one cell is selected in the sheet, it is the
anchor cell.
4 Bar / Column A bar or column chart is a style of chart that is used to summarize and
Chart compare categorical data. The length of each bar represents the aggregate
value (e.g. sum) of that particular category. Bars run horizontally and
columns run vertically.
5 * Cell A cell is a rectangular area formed by the intersection of a column and a
row. Cells are identified by the Cell Name (or Reference, which is found by
combining the Column Letter with the Row Number. For example, the cell in
Column "C" in Row "3" would be cell C3. Cells may contain Labels, Numbers,
Formulas or Functions.
6 Cell Name By default, the name of a cell is the cell reference. You may, however, define
a particular cell or range of cells with an alternative name. This alternative
name can then be used in formulas and functions and provide a quick way
to jump to a particular area of the spreadsheet.
7 Cell Reference A cell reference is the name of the cell that is found by combining the
Column Letter with the Row Number. For example, the cell in Column "C" in
Row "3" would be cell C3.
8 * Column Columns run vertically on the spreadsheet screen. An Excel spreadsheet
contains 256 columns that are labeled with the letters of the alphabet.
When the column labels reach letter "Z" they continue on with AA, AB,
AC...... AZ and then BA, BB, BC.....BZ etc.
9 Column / Bar A column or bar chart is a style of chart that is used to summarize and
Chart compare categorical data. The length of each bar represents the aggregate
value (e.g. sum) of that particular category. Columns run vertically and Bars
run horizontally.
10 * Data Data refers to the type of information that can be stored in the cells of a
spreadsheet. Spreadsheet data types include values (numbers), labels,
formulas and functions.
*Terms we will use in July 2017 PD session
List adapted by Rachel Jensen from:
http://w.sunybroome.edu/basic-computer-skills/functions/spreadsheets/2spreadsheets_terminology.html
 Basic Excel Terminology
11 * Enter key The Enter Key on the keyboard is used to accept any data that has been
typed in a cell and move the active cell down vertically to the next one in a
column.
12 * Fill Fill is a feature that can be used to quickly copy data from the anchor cell to
an adjoining range, updating the data if appropriate. This means that if the
anchor cell contains a formula with relative cell references, those references
will automatically update relative to their position when copied to a new
location. Fill can also be used to automatically populate common lists of
data such as days of the week or months. Fill can be used to copy data
either horizontally or vertically in a range.
13 * Fill Handle The fill handle is the small bold square in the bottom right corner of a cell
that can be used to copy (fill) data to adjacent cells in the same row or
column. When you hover over the fill handle box, the mouse pointer will
change to a black plus sign. You may then click the left mouse button, (and
hold it down) while selecting the adjacent cells to copy to. Releasing the
mouse button will then fill the content.
14 * Filter Filtering will allow you to quickly find the information that you are looking
for in a spreadsheet. When you apply a filter, you control the data that is
displayed on the screen by setting criteria. Data contained in rows that don't
meet your criteria will temporarily disappear from view when the filter is
applied. When the filter is cleared, all of the data will once again appear in
the spreadsheet.
15 * Formula A formula is a spreadsheet data type that will calculate a result and display
it in the active cell. A formula is written using cell references and must begin
with an equal sign "=" to distinguish it from a label. An example of a formula
would be: =A3+C3 which would take whatever value was entered into cell
A3 and add it to the value that was typed into C3. After typing the formula
and pressing the Enter key, the resulting value will be displayed.
16 * Formula Bar The formula bar appears directly above the column headings of a
spreadsheet and will display what has been typed into the active cell. For
example, if you click on a cell that contains the formula =A3+C3, the cell
itself will show the result of the formula. The formula bar, however, will
display what has actually been typed into the cell which, in this case, is
=A3+C3.
17 * Freezing Freezing is a technique that can be used in larger spreadsheets to assist in
Columns viewing the information on the screen. If a spreadsheet contains many rows,
and/or Rows you can freeze the rows containing your heading labels so that as you scroll
down in the sheet the headings stay at the top and line up with the
appropriate data. Likewise, if your spreadsheet contains many columns, the
leftmost columns may be frozen so that they stay with the data as you scroll
to the right.

*Terms we will use in July 2017 PD session

List adapted by Rachel Jensen from:
http://w.sunybroome.edu/basic-computer-skills/functions/spreadsheets/2spreadsheets_terminology.html
 Basic Excel Terminology
18 Function Functions are built-in formulas that are used to enter either commonly used
or very complex formulas. Like formulas, functions begin with an equal sign
"=" and use cell references in their format. One commonly used function is
the Sum function, which will add up the values in a range. The function
=sum(H2:H25) would add all values contained in cells H2 through H25 and
return the result when the enter key is pressed.
19 * Gridlines Gridlines are the horizontal and vertical lines on the screen that separate
cells in a spreadsheet. Gridlines typically do not print unless the option is set
in the layout options of the spreadsheet.
20 Labels Labels refer to text that is typed into the cells of a spreadsheet. Labels have
no numeric value and cannot be used in a formula or function..
21 Name Box The name box appears to the left of the formula bar and displays the name
of the current cell. Unless you define a cell or range of cells with a specific
name, the name box will display the cell reference of the active cell.
22 Pie Chart A pie chart is a circular chart that is divided up into sections, each of which
represents the numerical proportion of the whole.
23 * Print Area The print area is used to specify a range of cells that will be printed, rather
than printing an entire worksheet. This is particularly useful for very large
worksheets with multiple columns and rows.
24 * Print Titles Print titles are used to repeat column or row titles on each page. That way,
if a spreadsheet prints on multiple pages, each page will contain the
appropriate headings to identify the data.
25 Range A range is a group of cells in a spreadsheet that have been selected. If the
cells are all together in a rectangular or square shape, it is
an adjacent range. An adjacent range is identified by the cell reference in
the upper left and lower right corners of the selection separated by a colon.
(Example, A3:B5). In this example, the range would include all cells in the
rectangular area formed by beginning the highlighting in cell A3 and
dragging down to B5. You can consider the colon as the word "through". In
this case, the range would include cells A3 through B5. If there are gaps
between selected cells (cells are separated by rows or columns) the range is
a non-adjacent range. Areas of a non-adjacent range are separated by
commas when referenced in a formula. (Example, A3, A4, B5). The comma in
a non-adjacent range is like the word "and". In this example, our range
would be cells A3 and A4 and B5, but not the cells in between.
26 Relative A relative cell reference is one that changes when it is copied. For example,
Reference if a formula that contains the cell reference "C4" is copied to the next cell to
the right, the reference will change to D4 (updating the column letter). If the
same formula is copied down one cell, the reference will change to "C5"
(updating the row number). The other type of reference is an Absolute
Reference.

*Terms we will use in July 2017 PD session

List adapted by Rachel Jensen from:
http://w.sunybroome.edu/basic-computer-skills/functions/spreadsheets/2spreadsheets_terminology.html
 Basic Excel Terminology
27 * Rows Rows run horizontally on the spreadsheet screen. An Excel spreadsheet
contains 16,384 rows which are labeled numerically.
28 Sheet Tabs In Microsoft Excel, the sheet tabs appear below the worksheet grid area
and allow you to switch from one worksheet to another in a workbook.
29 * Sort Sorting is used to arrange information in a particular order. When sorting
data, you may choose multiple levels of criteria and sort in either ascending
or descending order. For example, a spreadsheet of data could be sorted
first alphabetically in ascending order by last name and then by first name.

30 Tab Key The tab key on the keyboard is used to accept any data that has been typed
in a cell and move the active cell horizontally to the next one in a row.

31 Values Values are numeric data that is entered into a cell. When data is formatted
as the value type, it can be referred to in formulas and functions and used in
calculations.
32 * Workbook A workbook is a collection of worksheets that are saved together in one file.
Individual worksheets can be given descriptive names and you can switch
from one worksheet to another by using the sheet tabs that appear beneath
the worksheet grid area.
33 * Worksheet A worksheet is the grid of columns and rows that information is inputted
into. In many spreadsheet applications (such as Microsoft Excel) one file --
called a workbook -- can contain several worksheets. Worksheets can be
named using the sheet tabs of the bottom of the spreadsheet window. The
sheet tabs can also be used to switch from one worksheet to another within
a workbook.

*Terms we will use in July 2017 PD session

List adapted by Rachel Jensen from:
http://w.sunybroome.edu/basic-computer-skills/functions/spreadsheets/2spreadsheets_terminology.html