COMPUTER SCIENCE

Introduction to MS
Excel

Microsoft Excel was released in 1985 and has grown to become arguably the
most important computer program in workplaces around the world. You generally
would use Excel in business, literally, any function in any industry can benefit from
those with strong Excel knowledge. Excel is a powerful tool that has become
entrenched in business processes worldwide--whether for analyzing stocks,
budgeting, or organizing client sales lists.

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program included in the Microsoft Office suite

of applications. We use it to create reports that need calculations and charts.
Spreadsheets present tables of values arranged in rows and columns that can be
manipulated mathematically using both basic and complex arithmetic operations and
functions.
1. An Excel file is called a
Workbook.
- Default title is Book1

2. Ribbon broken into Tabs

(Home, Insert, Page Layout…)
- Tabs broken into
groups (Clipboard,
Font, Alignment)

3. Name box (left) and

formula bar (right)
- Name box shows
address of current cell
- Formula bar shows
contents of current cell

4. Columns Headings are Lettered, Rows Headings are Numbered

- Columns of a building, rows of chairs

5. Worksheet navigation buttons, Worksheet tabs

- Default name of a Worksheet is Sheet1

Status bar
- Excel behaves differently depending on the current "mode"

Status Bar Modes

1. Ready mode. This means nothing is being entered or edited on the

spreadsheet.
2. Enter mode. This mode is when you are doing data entry, just typing in the
contents.
3. Edit mode. Edit the contents of the current cell. Double‐click on a cell with
data in it, or click inside the formula bar for this mode.
4. Point mode. Allows you to select cells/ranges with the arrow keys to
create references.
 What is an MS Excel Ribbon?

The Ribbon is Excel’s command menu interface. It organizes commonly used

actions together in an intuitive and visual way. These are the main parts of the Ribbon.

1. Tabs organize related groups of commands together.

2. Groups organize related commands together.
3. Command Buttons allows you to perform actions or open menus with further
related actions.
4. Command Menu some command buttons will have a small down arrow located
to the right or below the button. This indicates that a menu is available with sub-
commands under the command button.
5. Dialog Box certain groups in the ribbon will contain a small icon in the lower right
hand corner that will launch a dialog box with further options available.
6. Pin or Unpin Toggle allows you to remove the ribbon from view to create
more workbook space.
 What Tabs Are in The Ribbon?

There are 7 Tabs in Excel’s default setup.

1. Home contains commands related to creating, formatting, and editing a

spreadsheet.
2. Insert contains commands related to adding items to a spreadsheet such as
graphics, tables, pivot tables, charts, headers and footers, hyperlinks etc…
3. Page Layout contains commands related to printing a spreadsheet.
4. Fomulas contains commands related to adding and error checking formulas
in a spreadsheet.
5. Data contains commands related to importing and querying data in a spreadsheet.
6. Review contains commands related to proof reading, commenting,
protecting or tracking changes in the spreadsheet.
7. View contains commands related to the display area of a spreadsheet.

Excel also has Contextual Tabs. These tabs only appear when a particular
type of object is selected in the worksheet. For example, if we select a table object in
our workbook, the Table Tools Design tab will appear which contains commands only
related to tables.
 Clipboard

Cut, Copy and Paste are clipboard features built

into Windows. The clipboard is a temporary
storage place for pictures and data. The
Windows clipboard can only store one item at a
time. Microsoft Office has a Multi‐Clipboard that
can store 24 items, but the Paste button and the
shortcuts for the Paste option only correspond
to the most recently copied item. The clipboard
pane must be displayed to be able to use this
feature.

Cut – Copies selection to the clipboard. If the selection is text or an image, it will
disappear. If it’s a cell, Excel waits until you paste it to delete the original cell.

Copy – Copies selection to the clipboard.

Paste – Retrieves most recent text/object on the clipboard.

Formatting Cells

The most formatting options are found on the Home Tab. All the options can be found
in the Format Cells window. This contains several tabs to help us format the contents
of our spreadsheet. This window can be opened by using the More Options button at
the end of the Format, Alignment and Number groups. You can also use the
Keyboard Shortcut – Ctrl‐1 or choose Format Cells… from the right‐click shortcut
menu.

Font
1. Font – Sets the font of the selected
cell(s). Fonts are different ways to show
the same letters.
2. Font Size – Sets the size of the letters
(the font). Larger numbers give larger
fonts.
3. Increase Font – Increases the font size
4. Decrease Font – Decreases the font size
5. Bold – Makes the selected cell(s) Bold
6. Italic – Makes the selected cell(s) Italicized
7. Underline – Makes the selected cell(s) Underlined. The drop down has a
double underline.
8. Borders – Adds and removes borders for the selected cell(s). The drop down has
More Borders…
9. Fill Color – Changes the background color of the selected cell(s).
10. Font Color – Changes the color of the font of the selected cell(s).
11. More Options – This button will open the Format Cells dialog window.

Alignment
1. Top Align – Vertically aligns to
the top of the cell.
2. Middle Align – Vertically aligns
to middle of the cell.
3. Bottom Align – Vertically
aligns to the bottom of the cell.
4. Orientation – Rotates the
contents of the cell to the
currently displayed option.
5. Wrap Text – Displays contents on
multiple lines within the cell's column
width.
6. Align Text Left – Horizontally aligns the contents to the left side of the column.
7. Center – Horizontally aligns the contents to the center of the cell.
8. Align Text Right – Horizontally aligns the contents to the right side of the cell.
9. Decrease Indent – Decreases the space between the text and the cell border
10. Increase Indent – Increases the space between the text and the cell border
11. Merge and Center – Joins selected (adjacent) cells into one cell and centers the
result. If there is data in more than one cell, Excel will only keep the information from
the upper left cell.
12. More Options – This button will open the Format Cells dialog window to the
Alignment Tab.

Number
1. Number Format – Allows you to change the
way numeric values are displayed on the
spreadsheet. The drop down arrow gives you
a list of the most common formats, including
a More Number Formats option.
2. Currency Style – Sets the selected cell(s) to
the Currency Style, this style keeps the dollar
signs on the left side of the cell, and the
number on the right side. The drop down
arrow gives you a list of other currency
 formats, such as the Euro (€).
3. Percent Style – Sets the selected cell(s) to the
Percent Style, this style has zero decimal places.
Keyboard shortcut ‐ Ctrl‐Shift‐%. This button can be reset through Cell Styles on
the Home Tab.
4. Comma Style – Sets the selected cell(s) to the Comma Style, this style has a
comma for every thousand and two decimal places.
5. Increase Decimal – Increases the number of decimal places showing to the right
of the decimal.
6. Decrease Decimal – Decreases the number of decimal places showing to the
right of the decimal.
7. More Options – This button will open the Format Cells dialog window to the
Number Tab