Course: ICT & Computer for Business Mr.

TAWE Boris M

MODULE 9: Introduction to Microsoft EXCEL (2016)

This course is designed to familiarize you with the terminology, screen components and
the most used functions offered by Microsoft Excel.

Introduction
Microsoft Excel is the Spreadsheet application software.

While different versions have different appearances, they all have most of the same features. If
you know what to call it, you should be able to find it in other versions.

Screen Elements:

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© 2021 Reference: Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2016, Montclair State University
Course: ICT & Computer for Business Mr. TAWE Boris M

• The Ribbon: The Ribbon is designed to help you quickly find the commands that you need
to complete a task. Commands are organized in logical groups, which are collected together
under Tabs. Each Tab relates to a type of activity, such as formatting or laying out a page.
To reduce clutter, some Tabs are shown only when needed. For example, the Picture Tools
tab is shown only when a picture is selected.

• File Menu: Here you will find the basic commands such as open, save, print, etc.

• Quick Access Toolbar: The place to keep the items that you not only need to access
quickly, but want to be immediately available regardless of which of the Ribbon's tabs
you're working on. If you put so many items on the Quick Access Toolbar that it becomes
too big to fit on the title bar, you can move it onto its own line.

• Tell Me: This is a text field where you can enter words and phrases about what you want
to do next and quickly get to features you want to use or actions you want to perform. You
can also use Tell Me to find help about what you're looking for, or to use Smart Lookup to
research or define the term you entered.

• Formula Bar: A place where you can enter or view formulas or text.

• Expand Formula Bar Button: This button allows you to expand the formula bar. This is
helpful when you have either a long formula or large piece of text in a cell.

• Worksheet Navigation Tabs: By default, every workbook starts with 1 sheet.

• Insert Worksheet Button: Click the Insert New Worksheet button to insert a new worksheet
in your workbook.

• Horizontal/Vertical Scroll: Allows you to scroll vertically/horizontally in the worksheet.

• Normal View: This is the “normal view” for working on a spreadsheet in Excel.

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© 2021 Reference: Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2016, Montclair State University
Course: ICT & Computer for Business Mr. TAWE Boris M

• Page Layout View: View the document as it will appear on the printed page.

• Page Break Preview: View a preview of where pages will break when the document is
printed.

• Zoom Level: Allows you to quickly zoom in or zoom out of the worksheet.

Navigating in the Excel Environment

Below is a table that will assist you with navigating/moving around in the Excel environment.

Key Description
ARROW Move one cell up, down, left, or right in a worksheet.
KEYS • SHIFT+ARROW KEY extends the selection of cells by one cell.
BACKSPACE Deletes one character to the left in the Formula Bar.
Also clears the content of the active cell.
In cell editing mode, it deletes the character to the left of the insertion point.
DELETE Removes the cell contents (data and formulas) from selected cells without
affecting cell formats or comments.
In cell editing mode, it deletes the character to the right of the
insertion point.
END Moves to the cell in the lower-right corner of the window when
SCROLL LOCK is turned on. Also selects the last command on the menu
when a menu or submenu is visible.
• CTRL+END moves to the last cell on a worksheet, in the lowest
used row of the rightmost used column.
• If the cursor is in the formula bar, CTRL+END moves the cursor to
the end of the text.
• CTRL+SHIFT+END extends the selection of cells to the last used
cell on the worksheet (lower-right corner).

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© 2021 Reference: Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2016, Montclair State University
Course: ICT & Computer for Business Mr. TAWE Boris M

• If the cursor is in the formula bar, CTRL+SHIFT+END selects all

text in the formula bar
from the cursor position to the end—this does not affect the height of the
formula bar.
ENTER Completes a cell entry from the cell or the Formula Bar, and selects the cell
below (by default)
ESC Cancels an entry in the cell or Formula Bar. Closes an open menu or
submenu, dialog box, or message window.
HOME Moves to the beginning of a row in a worksheet.
• CTRL+HOME moves to the beginning of a worksheet.
PAGE DOWN Moves one screen down in a worksheet.
PAGE UP Moves one screen up in a worksheet.
SPACEBAR In a dialog box, performs the action for the selected button, or selects or
clears a check box.
• CTRL+SPACEBAR selects an entire column in a worksheet.
• SHIFT+SPACEBAR selects an entire row in a worksheet.
• CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR selects the entire worksheet.
TAB Moves one cell to the right in a worksheet.

Highlighting/Selecting Areas Using the Mouse

1. Select cells:

2. Move a cell’s content:

3. Activate the Autofill feature:

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© 2021 Reference: Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2016, Montclair State University
Course: ICT & Computer for Business Mr. TAWE Boris M

4. To Select a Column:
Click on the column letter

5. To Select a Row:
Click on the row number

6. To Select the Entire Worksheet:

Click above row 1 and to the left of column A or hit CTRL A on the keyboard

Entering Text
Any items that are not to be used in calculations are considered, in Excel’s terminology, labels.
This includes numerical information, such as phone numbers and zip codes. Labels usually include
the title, column and row headings.

To Enter Text/Labels:
1) Click in a cell
2) Type text
3) Press Enter

NOTE: By default, pressing the Enter key will move you to the cell below the active cell.

The label actually “lives” in the cell you typed it into. If you type long text it might appear to be
in multiple columns. It is important to understand this concept when trying to apply formatting to
a cell. Using the formula bar will confirm where the label actually “lives.

Autofill
Frequently, it is necessary to enter lists of information. For example, column headings are often
the months of the year or the days of the week. To simplify entering repetitive or sequential lists
of information, Excel has a tool called Autofill. This tool allows preprogrammed lists, as well as
custom lists, to be easily added to a spreadsheet.

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© 2021 Reference: Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2016, Montclair State University
Course: ICT & Computer for Business Mr. TAWE Boris M

Entering Values
Numerical pieces of information that will be used for calculations are called values. They are
entered the same way as labels. It is important NOT to type values with characters such as “,” or
“$”.

To Enter Values:
1) Navigate to a cell
2) Type a value
3) Press Enter

Creating Formulas
Formulas perform calculations or other actions on the data in your worksheet. A formula starts
with an equal sign (=). It is also important to know the operators Excel uses for formulas:

Operator (Key) Function

= Begins all Excel functions and formulas
+ Addition
- Subtraction
* Multiplication
/ Division

To Create a Formula:
1) Click in a cell
2) Press the = key
3) Type the formula
4) Press Enter

Copying Formulas
Like many things in Excel, there is more than one way to copy formulas. Feel free to choose what
works best for you.

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© 2021 Reference: Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2016, Montclair State University
Course: ICT & Computer for Business Mr. TAWE Boris M

To Copy Formulas Using Autofill:

1) Click in the cell that contains the formula
2) Position the mouse on the Autofill handle (a thin black cross will appear)
3) Click and drag to copy the formula

To Copy Formulas Using Copy and Paste:

1) Click in the cell that contains a formula
2) Select Copy on the Home Ribbon in the Editing group
3) Highlight the cell where you would like to paste the formula
4) Select Paste on the Home Ribbon in the Editing group

Saving a Worksheet
When working in Excel it is necessary to save your files. It is also very important that while
working, your file is saved frequently. When naming a file, you are restricted to 255 characters.
Avoid most punctuation; spaces are acceptable.

To Save the File:

1) Click on the File tab

2) Click Save
3) Choose the destination
4) Type a file name
5) Click Save

Creating a Basic Chart

1) Highlight the data to be charted

2) Click on the Insert tab

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© 2021 Reference: Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2016, Montclair State University
Course: ICT & Computer for Business Mr. TAWE Boris M

3) Click on a Chart Type in the Charts group

4) Click on a Chart Style

Excel Functions
As we have previously seen, the power of Excel lies in its ability to perform calculations. The real
strength of this is shown in Functions. Functions are more complex formulas that are executed by
using the name of a function and stating whatever parameters the function requires.

Function Defined
=SUM(range of cells) returns the sum of the selected cells
=AVERAGE(range of cells) returns the average of the selected cells
=MAX(range of cells) returns the highest value of the selected cells
=MIN(range of cells) returns the lowest value of the selected cells
=COUNT(range of cells) returns the number of values of the selected cells

To Enter the SUM Function:

1) Click in a cell
2) Click on the AutoSum button in the Editing group
3) Highlight the range of cells that are to be added (The colon means “through”)
4) Press ENTER

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© 2021 Reference: Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2016, Montclair State University
Course: ICT & Computer for Business Mr. TAWE Boris M

To Insert the Average Function into the Worksheet:

1) Click in a cell
2) Click on the drop-down arrow next to the AutoSum button
3) Click on Average
4) Highlight the range of cells be calculated
5) Press ENTER

To Insert the MAX Function into the Worksheet:

1) Click in a cell
2) Click on the drop-down arrow next to the AutoSum button
3) Click on Max
4) Highlight the range of cells be calculated
5) Press ENTER

To Insert the MIN Function into the Worksheet:

1) Click in a cell
2) Click on the drop-down arrow next to the AutoSum button
3) Click on Min
4) Highlight the range of cells be calculated
5) Press ENTER

To Insert the COUNT NUMBERS Function into the Worksheet:

1) Click in a cell
2) Click on the drop-down arrow next to the AutoSum button
3) Click on Count Numbers
4) Highlight the range of cells be calculated
5) Press ENTER

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© 2021 Reference: Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2016, Montclair State University