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Acknowledgements
ThisdocumentisanupdatedversionoftheIntroductiontoMSExcel2007 guideproducedby the
Centre for Educational Technology (CET) at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
ThisdocumentismadeavailableunderaCreativeCommonsLicenceCC-BYandisavailablefor
download at http://opencontent.uct.ac.za/
TheMSExcel2007guidewaswrittenbyDesireeMcKie&JaneNashinCET. The MS
Excel 2010 guide was updated by Ian Barbourin EDU (Commerce).
IntroductiontoMSExcel2010 Page4
GettingstartedwithMicrosoftExcel
Microsoft Excel andMicrosoftWordhavea lot incommon,sincethey both belongtotheMS Office
suiteofprograms.Thismeansthatifyouare familiarwith MSWord,thenyoualreadyknowhow to use
several MS Excel features!
IntheMSWord2010manual,you’llbeabletofindmoreinformationandguidanceon:
Usingthemouseandkeyboard
Starting the program
TheMicrosoftRibbon
Character formatting
Opening,savingandprintingfiles
Accessing Help
WhatisMSExcel?
Excelisallaboutnumbers!There’salmostnolimittowhatyou candowithnumbersinExcel, including sorting,
advanced calculations, and creating graphs. In addition, Excel’s formatting options mean that whatever
you do with your numbers, the result will always look professional!
Data files created with Excel are called workbooks (in the same way as Word files are called
documents).ButwhereWordstarts upwithasingleblankpage,Excelfiles bydefaultcontain three
blankworksheets.Thisgivesyoutheflexibilitytostorerelateddataindifferentlocations withinthe same file.
More worksheets can be added, and others deleted, as required.
TheMSExcel2010window
First introduced in MS Office 2007, the ribbon makes it easy for you to find commands and features
thatwerepreviouslyburiedincomplexmenusandtoolbars.ThenewdesigninMicrosoftOffice2010 has seen
the File tab replacing the MS Office Button included in 2007 Office applications.
WhenyouclicktheFiletabinExcel2010,youseethesamebasiccommandsthatwere available
after you clicked the Microsoft Office Button or the File menu in Excel 2007.
Thesebasiccommandsinclude,butarenotlimitedto,Open,SaveandPrint.Somecommands,suchas Import,
have been moved to the ribbon in Excel 2010.
IntroductiontoMSExcel2010 Page5
Formulabar
Active
cell
Zoomslider
Status Worksheets
bar
Noticehowtheworkingareaofthescreenisdividedintorows(1,2,3,4,...)andcolumns(A,B,C,
D, …). Together these provide an address, such a C10 or G21, that uniquely identifies each cell in the
worksheet.Arangeofcellsextendsinarectanglefromonecellto another, andisreferredto byusing the first
and last cell addresses separated by a colon.
Forexample,thegroupofcellsfromA3toG4wouldbewrittenasA3:G4
StartingMSExcel
IfyouhaveanicononthedesktopforMSExcel,thenallyouhaveto doisdouble-click it to
open Excel.
Alternatively,clicktheStartbuttonandthen select:
AllPrograms>MicrosoftOffice>MicrosoftExcel
ClosingMSExcel
YoucancloseExcelbyclickingtheXonthefarrightofthetitlebarorby
selectingFile>Exit.Ifyouhaveunsaveddatayouwillbepromptedtosavethechangesbefore exiting.
Navigatingwithinaworksheet
Usingthemouse:
To move to a different worksheet, just click on the tab below the worksheet.
Usingthekeyboard:
Selectingcells
Usingthemouse:
Use the arrow keys to move to the desired cell, which is automatically selected.
Selectingrowsorcolumns
To select all the cells in a particular row, just click on the row number (1, 2, 3, etc.) at the left edge of
theworksheet.Holddownthemousebuttonanddragacrossrownumberstoselect multipleadjacent rows.
Hold down [CTRL] if you want to select a set of non-adjacent rows.
Toselecttheentireworksheetyoucanalsopress[CTRL]+[A].
Enteringdata
Firstyouneedaworkbook
Beforeyoustartenteringdata,youneedtodecidewhetherthisisacompletelynewproject deserving a
workbook of its own, or whether the data you are going to enter relates to an existing workbook.
Rememberthatyoucanalwaysaddanewworksheettoanexisting workbook,andyou’llfinditmuch easier to
work with related data if it’s all stored in the same file.
Ifyouneedtocreateanewworkbookfrominside Excel:
1. ClickontheFiletab,selectNewandthendoubleclickBlankworkbook.
2. Sheet1ofanewworkbookwill bedisplayedonyourscreen,withcellA1active. To
open an existing workbook from inside Excel:
1. Clickonthe Filetab,clickOpen,andthennavigateto thedriveandfolder containingthefile you
want to open.
2. Double-clickontherequiredfilename.
Overviewofdatatypes
Excelallows youtoenterdifferentsortsofdataintothecellsonaworksheet,suchasdates, text,and numbers.
If you understand how Excel treats the different types of data, you’ll be able to structure your
worksheet as efficiently as possible.
NotethatdatesandtimesarestoredasnumbersinExcel,sothatyoucan calculatethe difference
between two dates. However, they are usually displayed as if they are text.
Ifanumberistoo largetobedisplayedinthecurrentcell,itwillbedisplayedas “#######”. The
formatting section of this manual explains how to widen a column.
Dataentrycellbycell
Toentereithernumbersortext:
1. Clickonthecellwhereyouwantthedatatobestored,sothatthecellbecomes active.
2. Typethenumberortext.
3. Press[ENTER]tomovetothenextrow,or[TAB]tomovetothenextcolumn.
Untilyou’vepressed[ENTER]or[TAB],youcancancelthedataentrybypressing[ESC].
Toenteradate,useaslashorhyphenbetweentheday,monthandyear,forexample14/02/2009 Use a colon
between hours, minutes and seconds, for example 13:45:20
RememberthatusefulUndobuttonontheQuickaccesstoolbar!
Deletingdata
Youwanttodeletedatathat’salreadybeenenteredinaworksheet?Simple!
1. Selectthecellorcellscontainingdatatobedeleted.
2. Pressthe[DELETE]keyonyour keyboard.
3. Thecellsremaininthesamepositionasbefore,buttheircontentsaredeleted.
Movingdata
You’vealreadyenteredsomedata,andwanttomoveittoadifferentareaonthe worksheet?
1. Selectthecellsyouwanttomove(theywillbecomehighlighted).
2. Movethecursortotheborderofthehighlightedcells.Whenthecursorchanges from a
white cross to a four-headed arrow (the move pointer), hold down the left
mouse button.
3. Dragtheselectedcellstoanewareaoftheworksheet,thenreleasethemousebutton.
Youcanalsocuttheselected datausingthecutoptionontheHometabor[CTRL] + [X].Thenclick in the top
left cell of the destination area and paste the data with paste option or [CTRL] + [V].
Copyingdata
Tocopyexistingcellcontentstoanotherareaontheworksheet:
1. Selectthecellsyouwanttocopy(theywillbecomehighlighted).
2. Move the cursor to the border of the highlighted cells while holding down the
[CTRL]key.Whenthecursorchangesfrom awhitecrosstoahollowleft-pointing arrow
(the copy pointer), hold down the left mouse button.
3. Dragtheselectedcellstoasecondareaoftheworksheet,thenreleasethemousebutton.
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The cursor will change from a white cross to a black cross .Hold down the mouse button and
drag to a range of adjacent cells. The initial cell contents will be copied to the other cells. Note that if
theoriginalcellcontentsendwithanumber,thenthenumberwillbeincrementedinthecopiedcells.
If the original cell that you are moving or copying contains a reference to a cell address, then the
copiedcelladdresswillbeadjustedrelativetothetargetcell.Referto Formulas–Referencinglaterin this
manual for details.
UsingAutoFill
ThisisoneofExcel’sniftiestfeatures! Ittakes no effortatalltorepeatadataseries (suchas thedays of the
week, months of the year, or a numbers series such as odd numbers) over a range of cells.
1. Enterthestartoftheseriesintoafewadjacentcells(enoughtoshowtheunderlying pattern).
2. Selectthecellsthatcontainseriesdata.
3. Movethecursoroverthesmallsquareinthebottomright-handcornerofthe selection(the
fillhandle).Holddownthemousebuttonanddragtoarangeofadjacent cells.
4. Thetargetcellswillbefilledbasedonthepatternoftheoriginalseriescells.
Savingaworkbook
Sonow it’stimetosaveyourwork.Asusual,youneedto specifythefilename,andits location(drive and
folder).
1. ClicktheFilemenuandselectSave,orclicktheSaveiconontheQuickAccesstoolbar.
Ifthisworkbookhasbeensavedbefore,thenthat’sit–yourworkbookwillbe savedagainwith the
same name and location.
2. Ifit’sthefirsttimeofsavingthis workbook,thentheSaveAsdialogueboxwillopen.
3. Clickthedrop-downarrownexttoSaveIntoselectthedesireddriveandfolder.
4. Typethenew filenameinthe Filenamefield.
5. ClicktheSavebutton.
Every time you Saveor Save As in Excel, the entire workbook issaved. This isanother good reasonfor
keeping related dataon different worksheets inthe same workbook! Whenyou’re working in the UCT
computerlabs,remembertosavetotheF:drive,sothatyou’llbeableto accessyourworkagainlater.
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Editingdata
Indata entrymode, whenyoumove thecursor to anew cell, anythingyoutypereplacesthe previous
cellcontents.Editmodeallowyoutoamendexistingcellcontentswithouthavingto retypetheentire entry.
Note that while you are in edit mode, many of the Ribbon commands are disabled.
Editingcellcontents
Therearetwodifferentwaystoentereditmode:eitherdouble-clickonthecellwhosecontentsyou want to
edit, or else click to select the cell youwant to edit, and thenclick anywhere in the formula bar.
To insert characters, click where you want to insert them, and then type.
Youcantogglebetweeninsertandovertypemodebypressingthe[INSERT]key.
You can force a line break within the current cell contents by typing [ALT] + [ENTER].
Exiteditmodebypressing[ENTER].
Insertingordeletingcells
You can insert a new cell above the current active cell, in which case the active
cellandthose below itwilleachmovedownonerow.Youcanalso insertanew cell to
the left of the current active cell, in which case the active cell and those on its
right will each move one column to the right.
Toinsertacell:
1. Selectthecellnexttowhichyouwanttoinsertanew cell.
2. OntheHomeTab,findtheCellsgroupandclickInsertfollowedbyInsertCells.
3. Adialogboxwillopen.Clickthedirectioninwhichyouwantthesurroundingcellsto shift.
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Todeleteacell,doasfollows:
1. Selectthecellthatyouwantto delete.
2. OntheHometab,findtheCellsgroupandclickDeletefollowedbyDeleteCells.
Insertingordeletingrows
Whenyouinsertarow,thenewrowwillbepositionedabovetherowcontainingtheactivecell.
1. Selectacellintherowabovewhichyouwanttoinsertanew row.
2. OntheHometab,findtheCellsgroupandclickInsertfollowedbyInsertSheetRows.
3. Anewrowwillbeinsertedabovethecurrentrow. To
delete a row, do as follows:
Insertingordeletingcolumns
Whenyouinsertacolumn,thenewcolumnwillbepositionedontheleftofthecolumn containingthe active
cell.
IntroductiontoMSExcel2010 Page13
1. Selectacellinthecolumnthatyouwantto delete.
2. OntheHometab,findtheCellsgroupandclickDeletefollowedbyDeleteSheetColumns.
3. Thecolumncontainingtheactivecellwill bedeleted.Allthecolumnsonits rightwill moveleft by
one.
Youcanalsoright-clickontheactivecellandusethepop-upmenutoinsertordeleteacolumn.
Insertingordeletingaworksheet
To insert anewworksheetattheendoftheexistingworksheets,justclicktheInsert Worksheettabat the
bottom of the screen.The shortcut key to do this is [SHIFT] + [F11].
Toinsertanewworksheetbeforeanexistingworksheet,doas follows:
1. Selecttheworksheetbeforewhichyouwanttoinsertanewworksheet.
2. OntheHometab,findtheCellsgroupandclickInsertfollowedbyInsertSheet.
3. Anewworksheetwillbeinsertedbeforethecurrentworksheet. To
delete a worksheet:
1. Selecttheworksheetthatyouwantto delete.
2. OntheHometab,findtheCellsgroupandclickDeletefollowedbyDeleteSheet.
3. Thecurrentworksheetwillbe deleted.
Movingorcopyingaworksheet
Right-clickontheworksheettab,andselect MoveorCopyfromthepop-upmenu.Adialogboxwill open:
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Before sheet field allows you to specify the new position of the worksheet.
TheCreateacopycheckboxletsyouspecifywhethertheworksheetshouldbemovedorcopied.
Renamingaworksheet
Right-clickontheworksheettab,andselectRenamefromthepop-up menu.
Type the new worksheet name and press [ENTER].
Formattingdata
Cellformatting
TheiconsontheHome tabprovideyouwithavarietyofformattingoptions.To applyany ofthese,just select
the cell or cells that you want to format, and then click the desired icon.
Commonlyusedformattingattributesinclude:
FontandSize
Bold,Italic,Underline
Cell borders
BackgroundandFontcolour
Alignment:Left,CentreorRight
Mergeandcentretextacrossmultiplecells
Wraptextwithina cell
Rotateangleoftext
FormatnumberasCurrency,PercentageorDecimal
IncreaseorDecreasenumberofdecimalplaces
TheFormatPainterallowsyoutocopyformattingattributesfromonecelltoarangeofcells.
1. Selectthecellwhoseformattingattributesyouwanttocopy.
ClickontheFormatPainter icon.
2.
3. Selectthecellorrangeofcellsthatyouwanttohavethesameformattingattributes. The cell
values will remain as before, but their format will change.
Formattingrowsandcolumns
Anyofthecellformattingoptionsabovecaneasilybeappliedto allthecellscontainedinone ormore rows
orcolumns. Simply select the rows or columns by clicking on the row or column labels, and then click
on the formatting icons that you want to apply.
Youmayalsowanttoadjustthewidthofacolumn:
To specify an exact columnwidth, select the columns, and then in the Cell group on the Home
tab,selectFormat>CellSize>ColumnWidth,andtypethevalueyouwant.
Toadjusttheheightofarow:
To manually adjust the height, click and drag the boundary between two row labels.
To automatically adjust the height, select the requiredrows, and then in the Cell group on the
Hometab,selectFormat>CellSize>AutoFitRowHeight
To set a row or rows to a specific height, select the rows, and then in the Cell group on the
Hometab,selectFormat>CellSize>Row Height,andtypethevaluethatyouwant.
Hidingrowsandcolumns
Ifyourspreadsheetcontainssensitivedatathatyoudon’twantdisplayedonthescreenor includedin printouts,
then you can hide the corresponding rows or columns. The cell values can still be used for
calculations,butwillbehiddenfromview.
Theeasiestwaytohideorunhidearoworcolumnisto:
Selecttheroworcolumn heading
Right-clicktoviewthepop-upmenu Then
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Alternatively,ontheHometabyoucanclicktheFormatandselecttheHide&Unhideoption.
Keepingrowandcolumnheadingsinview
If you scroll through a lot of data in a worksheet, you’ll probably lose sight of the column headings as
theydisappearoffthetopofyour“page”.Thiscanmakelifereallydifficult–imaginetryingtochecka
student’sresultfor tutorial8 inrow183oftheworksheet!Andit’s evenmoredifficultifthestudent’s name in
column A has scrolled off the left edge of the window.
Forexample,ifyouwanttobeabletoseeRows1and2,andcolumnA,thenyouwouldclickoncellB3.
OntheViewtab,clickFreezePanes, and
selectthefirstoption.
IfFreezePaneshasalready been
applied,thentheoptionautomatically
changes to Unfreeze Panes.
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Formulas
FormulasarethekeytoExcel’samazingpowerandversatility!Byusingaformula,youcan findthe answer to
virtually any calculation you can think of! In this section I’m going to explain how to construct a
formula, and give you some guidelines to ensure that your formulas work correctly.
Creatingaformula
Rulenumberone:aformulaalwaysstartswithanequalssign(“=”).ThisletsExcelknowthat it’sgoing to have to
work something out.
IncolumnA,theStockitemlabelshavejustbeentypedin.
IncolumnB, the Cost pricevalueshavejust beentypedin.
In column F, I’ve used a formula. Perhaps by now you can work it out for yourself? Cell F2
contains“=D2+E2”.Thisadds thevalues incellsD2(Retailprice)andE2(VAT),anddisplays the result
in cell F2 (Selling price).
1. Selectthecellsinrow2thatcontainyourformulas(cellsC2toG2).
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2. Movethecursoroverthefillhandleinthebottomrightcorneroftheselectedcells. It will
change shape to a black cross.
3. Holddownthemousebuttonanddragtheselectedcellsoverrows3to5.
ThevaluesincellsC3toG5areautomaticallycalculatedforyou!Howcoolis that?
Howformulasareevaluated
Nowlet’slookatsomeoftherulesforcreatingformulas. The
+ addition
– subtraction
* multiplication
/ division
^ exponentiation(“tothepowerof”)
& tojointwotextstringstogether
TheseoperationsareevaluatedinaparticularorderofprecedencebyExcel:
Operations inside brackets are calculated first
Multiplicationanddivisionarecalculatedthird.
Additionandsubtractionarecalculatedfourth.
Ifyou’renotsurehowaformulawillbeevaluated-use brackets!
Relativecellreferencing
Rememberinthepricingexampleabove,how youjusthadto copytheformulasin row2 andthe remaining
values were automatically calculated?
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Absolutecellreferencing
Now we’re going to improve the structure and usability of our pricing model. After all, there’s no
guarantee that your markup will always be 25% - in these tough economic times you may need to
reduce ittoremaincompetitive.AndwhatiftheVATratechanges?Ormaybeyou decideto increase the
discount to encourage customers to pay promptly?
Thefollowingexampleshowsyouhowtoconstructtheworksheetsothatitallowsforfuture changes.
The formula in cell C5 will become “=B5 * B1”, instead of the previous “=B5 * 25%”.
ThismultipliesthevalueincellB5(Costprice)bythevalueincellB1 (Markuprate),and displays
the result in cell C5 (Markup).
The formula incell E5 will become contains “=D5 * B2”, instead of the previous “=D5 * 14%”.
Thismultiplies thevalueincellD5(Retailprice)by thevalueincell B2(VATrate),anddisplays the
result in cell E5 (Selling price).
Checkthatyoufollowthelogicsofar.Ifnot,pleasegothroughitagain. BUT …
When I copy my new formulas from row 5 into rows 6 to 8, Excel is going to use relative addressing.
TheformulaincellC5referstocellB1(Markuprate).WhenIcopythe formulato thenextrow, itwill want to
refer to cell B2 (VAT rate), instead of cell B1 (Markup rate).
BythetimeI’vefinishedcopying,myspreadsheetwilllooklikethis:
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Clearlysomethingisverywrong!
Relative addressing makes working with formulas really easy, but sometimes you don’t want the
referencing in the formula to change as the formula is copied. Then you need to use absolute
addressing.Absoluteaddressingfixesacellreferencesothatregardlessofwhere theformulaiscopied to, it
will always reference the same original cell. This feature takes the versatility of formulas to the next
level!
Usingrelativeaddressing,theformulalookedlikethis:=B5* B1
1. DoubleclickoncellC5toentereditmode.
2. Intheformulabar,clickonthecellreference“B1” andpress[F4]onthekeyboard.
3. The formula changes to: =B5 * $B$1. Note that cell reference B5 must retain its relative
addressing,sinceyouwanttomultiplyeachdifferentcostpricebythesame fixedMarkuprate.
4. Press[ENTER]toacceptthe change.
AnyfuturechangestotheMarkuprate,VATrateorDiscountrateneedonlybeenteredonce incells B1 to B3
(where they are clearly visible), and the calculated values from Row 5 downwards will automatically
be updated!
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Functions
Excelprovidesawiderangeofbuilt-infunctionsthatcanbeincludedinyourformulastosave youthe effort of
having to specifydetailed calculations step-by-step. Each function is referred to by a specific name,
which acts as a kind of shorthand for the underlying calculation.
UsingAutoSum
BecauseadditionisthemostfrequentlyusedExcelfunction,ashortcuthasbeenprovidedto quickly add a set
of numbers:
1. Selectthecellwhereyouwantthetotalto appear.
2. ClickontheAutoSumbuttononthe Hometab.
3. Checkthatthecorrectsetofnumbershasbeenselected(indicatedbyadottedline). If not,
then drag to select a different set of numbers.
4. Press[ENTER]andthetotalwillbecalculated.
Basicfunctions
Someofthemostcommonlyusedfunctionsinclude:
SUM() tocalculatethetotalofasetofnumbers
AVERAGE() tocalculatetheaverageofasetofnumbers
MAX() tocalculatethemaximumvaluewithinasetofnumbers
ROUND( ) toroundasetavaluestoaspecifiednumberofdecimalplaces
IF( ) tocalculatearesultdependingononeormoreconditions So
Togiveasimple illustration:
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SeveralpopularfunctionsareavailabletoyoudirectlyfromtheHometab.
1. Selectthecellwhereyouwanttheresultofthecalculationto be
displayed.
2. Clickthedrop-downarrownexttotheAutoSumbutton.
3. Clickonthefunctionthatyou want.
4. Confirmtherangeofcellsthatthefunctionshoulduseinits
calculation. (Excel will try to guess this for you. If you don’t
likewhatitshowsinsidethedottedline,thenclickanddrag to
make your own selection.)
5. Press[ENTER].Theresultofthecalculationwillbeshownin the
active cell.
Asanexample,tocalculatetheaverageforthefollowingsetoftutorialresults,youwould:
1. ClickoncellF3tomakeitactive.
Clickonthearrownexttothe AutoSumbutton,andselectAverage
2. Press[ENTER]toaccepttherangeofcellsthatissuggested(B3:E3)
That’sit!YoucannowcopytheformulaincellF3 downtocellsF4andF5– usingrelative addressing because you
want a different set of tutorial marks to be used for each student.
Ifyouwanttouseafunctionthatisn’tdirectlyavailablefromthedrop-downlist,thenyoucanclickon More
Functions to openthe Insert Function dialog box. Anotherway to openthis dialog box isto click the
Insert Function icon on the immediate left of the formula bar.
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only which cells to use, but also how many decimal places those cells should be rounded to. So the
expression=ROUND(G5:G8,0)willroundthevaluesincellsG5toG8to thenearestwholenumber(i.e. no
decimal places).
Note that the ROUND( ) function actually changes the value that is stored inyour worksheet, based on
the arguments you’ve provided. Formatting options such as Currency, or Increase / Decrease Decimal,
simplychangetheappearanceofanumber,butallitsdecimalplacesare stillkept,anddisplayedinthe formula
bar.
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TheIF()function
TheIF()functionisgettingasectionallofitsown,because for manypeopleit’s notasintuitiveto understand as
the common maths and stats functions.
The IF( )functionchecks for a specificcondition. Iftheconditionismet, then oneactionis taken; ifthe
condition is not met, then a different action is taken. For example, you may be reviewing a set of
tutorial marks. If a student’s average mark is below 50, then the cell value should be FAIL; so the
conditionyouarecheckingiswhetherornottheaverageresultis below50.Ifthisconditionisnotmet (that is,
the average result is 50 or more), then the cell value should be PASS.
Let’sseethisinaction.ThestructureofanIF()functionis:
=IF(condition,resultiftrue,resultiffalse)
Nowforarealworksheetexample.Lookattheformulabarinthescreenshotbelow:
Doyou follow how the formula incell G4 wasconstructed?Because the averagemark is storedin cell F4,
we need to check whether the value in F4 is less than 50. If it is, then the active cell (G4) must
displaytheword“Fail”.IfthevalueinF4isnotlessthan50,thenthe activecellmust displaytheword “Pass”.
That’s not really so complicated, is it?
Nestedfunctions
Take adeepbreathanddon’tpanic!Ijustwantto show youthatifyouneedto,youcan includeone function
inside another.
=IF(AVERAGE(B3:E3)<50,“FAIL”,“PASS”)
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Printing
Bydefault,Excelprintsallthedataonthecurrentworksheet.Ifyourworksheetextendsover several pages, it’s
worth making sure that the printed copy will be easily readable. Here are a few tips.
Beforeyouprint
Beforeyouprintaworksheetthatcontainslargequantitiesofdataorcharts,youcanquicklyfine-tune the
worksheet in the Page Layout view.
UsetheOrientationbuttontoswapbetweenportraitandlandscapemode.
ThePagetabisusedtosetorientationandscaling.
TheMarginstabisusedtoadjustpagemargins.
The Header/Footer tab allows you to enter a header or footer to be repeated on every
page.Thisiswhereyouwouldincludepagenumbersusingcustomheadersandfooters.
The Sheet tab lets you specify rows that are to be repeated at the top of each sheet (such
ascolumnheadings),andcolumnstoberepeatedattheleftofeachsheet(suchasstudent names).
You can also adjust the print area under this tab.
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PrintPreview
ToprintyourworksheetclicktheFiletabandthenPrint.Thedisplaywillchangeto PrintPreviewmode and you
will see your data exactly as it will look when printed.
Beforeyouprint,thereareanumberofoptionsthatyoucanselect.Changinganyoptionautomatically updates
the live preview, on the right of the screen, showing the effect of the change.
If you’d like multiple copies of the worksheet, enter the number of copies in the Copies field.
The settings section also allows you to set the Page Orientation, select the PaperSize, set the
Marginsandcustomisethescalingoptions.
Whenyou’resatisfiedwithyoursettingsclickthePrintbutton.Thespecified worksheet
pages will then be sent to the printer.
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Charts
Apictureisworthathousandwords!Oftenit’smucheasiertounderstanddatawhenit’spresented graphically,
and Excel provides the perfect tools to do this!
It’sworthstartingwithaquickoutlineofdifferentdatatypesandcharts:
Creatingachart
It’sveryeasytocreateabasicchartinMSExcel2010:
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Modifyingachart
Whenyouclickonachart,aChartToolssectionappearswithDesign,LayoutandFormattabs.
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OntheChartToolsmenu:
Insertinggraphicsinaworksheet
Sometimes you may want to add graphics, for example a corporate logo, to a worksheet. The good
newsisthatimages,ClipArtandSmartArtareavailableinExcel,alongwithahostofcall-outshapes that you
can use to label your charts. You’ll find them all on the Insert tab:
BelowI’veaddedaRectangularCalloutShapetohighlightthetopstudent:
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Datamanipulation
Thefeaturesmentionedinthissectionaremost relevantwhenyou’reworkingwithalarge dataset –
perhapsseveralhundred,oreventhousandrecords–anditisn’tpracticaltoscrollthroughtheentire
worksheet each time you want to find a particular record.
To use data functions effectively, each column of your worksheet should contain the same data type,
apart fromthe columnheading. Ideally, row1 shouldcontainthe columnheadings, withthe datarows
immediatelybelow;thisstructureisreferredtoasadatatable.Ifyouhave blankrowsinyourdataset, then
you’ll need to manually select the data to be manipulated, which you don’t really want to do.
Sort
The sort function does exactly what it says: it sorts your data records based on the criteria that you
specify.Youcansortnumbers,textordates,ineitherascending(default)or descendingorder.Blank cells are
always placed last in a sort.
Ifyouwanttosortanentiredatatable:
1. Clickanywhereinthecolumnthatyouwanttosort by.
2. OntheHometab,selectSort&Filter.
3. ChooseeitherAscending(SortAtoZ)orDescending(SortZtoA) order.
4. Yourdatawillbesortedbasedonthevalueinthecolumnthat you
initially clicked on.
Ifyouwanttosortontwoormorecriteria(columns),orifyouwantto sort a
range of cells, then you need to do a custom sort:
1. Clickinthedatatable,orselectthecellstobesorted.
2. OntheHometab,selectSort&Filter,andchooseCustomSort.TheSortWindowwill open.
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RememberthatyoucanrelyontheUndobuttonifyoudon’tliketheresultthatyouget!
Filter
Thefilterfunctionletsyouviewjusttherecordsthatyouwantto see!Theotherrecordsin yourdata table
will still be there, but hidden. To use this amazing function:
1. OntheHometab,selectSort&Filter,andselecttheFilteroption.
2. Inthefirstrowofyourdatatable,adrop-downarrowwillappearontherightofeach column heading.
When you click on a drop-down arrow, you’ll see a list of all the values occurring in that
column. Press [ESC] to close the filter list.
Toturnofffiltering,selectSort&Filter,andthenFilter
-thesameoptionthatyouoriginally usedtoturniton.
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NotethattheSortfunctionisalsoavailablefromtheDatatab.
Subtotals
Youcanautomaticallycalculatesubtotalsandgrandtotalsinalistforacolumnbyusingthe Subtotal command.
If your data table includes a column with categorical data (such as month, department, region, etc.),
then you can easily obtain subtotals of numeric values (such as sales, salaries, rainfall) without having
to manually create the formulas.
Toinsert Subtotals:
1. Firstsortyourdataonthecolumnthatcontainscategoricaldataforwhichyouwant subtotals
calculated.
2. OntheDatatabintheOutlinegroup,clicktheSubtotalbutton.
TheSubtotalwindowwillappear.
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5. UsetheAddsubtotaltocheckboxestoidentifythecolumnsforwhichyouwantsubtotalsto be
calculated.
6. Click theOKbutton.Thescreendisplaywillshowthreeoutlinelevelsontheleftof thedata window.
Toremove subtotals:
On the Data tab in the Outline group click Subtotal, then click Remove All.
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MSExcelPracticalExercise
OpenMSExcel2010andtypethedatabelowintoablankworksheet.Savetheworkbookon your F:
drive with the name Excel-Task-1.xlsx
Whenyou’vefinishedenteringthedataandhavesavedtheworkbook,followtheinstructions below to
format the worksheet, perform calculations, and create a chart.
Anexampleofwhatthefinalchartshouldlooklike,isshownattheendofthenextpage.
Enterthefollowingdataintoablankworksheet:
Nowfollowtheinstructionsbelow,referringtotheexampleworksheetonthefollowingpage.
Selecttheentireworksheet,andchangethefonttoCalibri11 point.
1.
Ifyoudon’thaveCalibriavailable,thenchooseanother font.
2. Inrow1,maketheheadingsBoldand12 point.
3. IncolumnB,makethetextItalic.
4. GivecolumnDtheheading:AnnualSalary
5. IncellD2,usea formulatocalculatetheannualsalaryforSophia Adams.
6. CopytheformulaincellD2intorows3to 11.
7. IncellA13,enterthetext:SuggestedIncrease
8. IncellB13,enterthevalue6%andmakeitleft-aligned.
9. GivecolumnEtheheading:SalaryIncrease
IncellE2,enteraformulathatwillcalculatethesuggestedannualincreasefor Sophia
10.
Adams, making reference to the value in cell B13.
CopytheformulaincellE2intorows3to11.
11.
Tip:youwillhavetouseabsoluteaddressingforthecopyingtowork.
12. IncellD12useafunctiontototaltheAnnual Salary
13. CopythefunctioninD12tocellE12andmakethetotalsBold.
FormatcolumnsCtoEascurrency,andmakethecolumnheadingsright-aligned.
14.
Increasethecolumnwidthsifnecessarysothatallthedatais displayed..
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Nowlet’strysomemoreadvanced tasks:
SelectcellsA1toE11andaddaSubtotaltotheMonthlySalaryforeachchangein
15.
Position.
16. Atlevel2,selectthefourpositionsubtotals(excludingtheGrandTotal).
Welldone!You’rewellonyourwaytobeingaproficientExcel user!
2011CentreforEducationalTechnology,UniversityofCapeTown