HAND OUTS

MICROSOFT EXCEL
PART I.

STARTING MICROSOFT EXCEL

By mouse:
1. At the task bar, click the START button.
2. Select Programs
3. Click Microsoft Excel
By keyboard:
1. Press CTRL+ESC to access the start button or simply strike the WIN key (the one in
between CTRL and ALT).
2. Press P to select Programs
4. Use the arrow keys to highlight the program and then press the ENTER key.

QUITTING EXCEL APPLICATION

Double click the CONTROL MENU Icon
Click the X
or the Close
button.

Or Hold down the ALT key, and strike F4. (Alt+F4)

PART II.

WHAT IS EXCEL?

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program thats designed to record and analyze

numbers and data. Excel takes the place of a calculator, a ruled ledger pad, pencils and
pens.
NEW TERM

Spreadsheet Program A computer program used primarily for

accounting and financial purposes. Data in spreadsheet programs are
organized by rows and columns.
The files you create in Excel are called workbooks. In turn, your workbook
consists of individual worksheets.
NEW TERM

Worksheet The place where you enter your data.

LOOKING AT THE EXCEL SCREEN

Title Bar

Formula Bar

Menu Bar

Minimize Button
Maximize / Restore
Close button

Name
Box

Selected
cell

Column /
Heads

Row
Worksheet area

Scrollbars

Sheet Tabs

Status bar

ROWS AND COLUMNS BIND THE WORKSHEET TOGETHER

Excel worksheets are laid out like grids, with horizontal ROWS and vertical
COLUMNS. An Excel worksheet is made up of 256 columns and 65,536 rows. The
intersection of a row and column is called a cell.
NEW TERM

Cell The primary unit of measure in Excel. Each worksheet is made

up of individual cells.

HIDING / VIEWING TOOLBARS

Toolbars hold buttons that access shortcuts to commonly used commands.

To Remove / View a Toolbar:

1. Double-click a vacant space allocated for the
toolbar. A customize box appears.
2. Click the TOOLBAR tab, if a check mark
appears in the box to the left of a toolbars
name, the toolbar is currently displayed. Click
the check box to remove the check mark and
hide the toolbar from view. To view the
toolbar, simply put a check on the box but
simply clicking the box.
3. Click CLOSE when done.

To Remove a Single Button:

1. Place the mouse pointer
over the desired button to
be removed (e.g. Bold)
2. Hold down the ALT key.
3. Click and drag towards the
working area.
4. Release the mouse and the
ALT key.

To Add a Single Toolbar:

1. Double-click a vacant space
allocated for the toolbar. A
customize box appears.
2. Click the COMMAND tab.
3. Inside the Category box, select /
click desired category (ex.
FORMAT)
4. On the right pane (Command box)
look for the desired toolbar to add
(ex. BOLD)
5. Click and drag up the button to the
groups of toolbars.

ADDRESSING CELL (SINGLE CELL)

If the cursor is in column B and in row 2, then the cursor is in cell B2.

ENTERING LABELS, VALUES and FORMULA

NEW TERM
Labels text entries that contain no numeric value. Labels can consist of text or
even contain numbers. For example, a cell that contains an address like
991 Northwest Ninth Street.
Values are numbers that you enter into cells. It can be straight integers, like the
number 4, or can contain decimals or fractions.
Formulas performs calculation in your worksheets.
As you create worksheet, Excel may display newly entered numbers or as
##########.

Sometimes, it appears in the cell as scientific notation (ex. 7.78E+06), dont

worry, the number is okay. A cell filled with # sign indicates that the column is not wide
enough to display the number correctly. In this case, you need to change or widen the
column.
To do so:
1. Adjust the column width
Or
1. Select the cells to adjust.
2. From the MENU bar, click FORMAT.
3. Select COLUMN, click AutoFit SELECTION.
Or
1. Select the cell to adjust.
2. Place mouse pointer in between the column head separator until it turns into a double
headed arrow. Then double-click.

Can also be performed on adjusting column width for TEXT.

ENTERING DATA QUICKLY

Excel offers several features for helping you copy entries into several cells at the same
time. For example, you might want to avoid typing the same data over and over.
Copying text:
1. At A1, type EXCEL and press
ENTER.
2. Select the cell whose contents you
want to copy (ex. A1 with the word
EXCEL)
3. Place the mouse pointer on the
lower right corner of the selected
cell until it turns into a thin cross.
4. Click and drag.

Data series:
1. At A1, type MONDAY,
then press enter.
2. Select or place cursor on
A1. Place the mouse
pointer on the lower
right corner of the
selected cell until it
turns into a thin cross.
3. Click and drag.

Try the following data series:

Series
Initial Entry
Linear
1, 2
100, 99
1, 3
Date
Monday
February
Qtr1
1992, 1993
AutoFill
Team 1
1st Quarter

Resulting Series
3, 4, 5
98, 97, 96
5, 7, 9
Tuesday, Wednesday
March, April, May
Qtr2, Qtr3, Qtr4
1994, 1995, 1996
Team 2, Team 3, Team 4
2nd Quarter, 3rd Quarter

SELECTING ADJACENT CELLS OR RANGE OF CELLS

A range is a rectangular group of connected cells. The cells in a column may all
be in a column or a row or any combination of columns and rows. A range can also be a
single cell.

G2

B4: F7
B9: F9

Selecting a Range:
(ex. from B4: F7)
1. Move the mouse pointer to the upper left corner of a range (B4).
2. Click and hold the left mouse button.
3. Drag the mouse to the lower right corner of the range (F7) and release the mouse
button.
4. Release the mouse button. The selected range will be highlighted.
Selection
1. Cell
2. Range
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Technique
Click the cell you want to select.
Click the first cell in the range. Hold down the left mouse button
and drag across the cells you want to include.
Non Contiguous ranges Select the first range. Hold down the Ctrl key and select the next
range. Do this for each range you want to select.
Row
Click on the row heading number at the left edge of the
worksheet.
Column
Click on the column-heading letter at the top edge of the
worksheet.
Entire Worksheet
Click Select All button (the blank rectangle in the upper left
corner of the worksheet above row 1 and left of column A.)
Range that is out of Press F5 (Goto) and type the range address in the Reference text
view
box. For example, type Z50 and press Enter. To select the range
R100 to T250, type R100: T250 and press Enter.

CENTER TEXT ACROSS CELLS (SINGLE ROW)

One problem you may encounter when building worksheets and database in other
software applications is not being able to center titles across multiple cells. With Excels
Merge and Center selection option, centering titles becomes easy.
1. In cell A1, type, MADAUM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (execute enter)
2. Select the cell ranges A1 to I1

3. Click the toolbar Merge and Center

CENTER TEXT ACROSS CELLS (MULTIPLE ROW)

1.
2.
3.
4.

In cell A1, type, MADAUM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (execute enter)

In cell A2, type, Madaum, Tagum City (execute enter)
In cell A3 type, Davao del Norte
Select the cell ranges A1: I3

5.

click the Toolbar MERGE ACROSS

6.

Click the toolbar CENTER.

INSERTING COLUMNS / ROWS

Sometimes you must insert rows or columns to make room for new data or formulas.
To insert columns / rows:
1. Select a cell or range of cells in the rows where you want to insert a new room.

2. Hold down Ctrl key and strike the plus (+) sign. An insert box appears.

3. Using the arrow keys to select whether you want to insert an entire column or row
and press ENTER when through.

Insert Entire Column was selected.

Insert Entire Row was selected.

MOVING CELL CONTENTS (CLICK and DRAG instead of CUT and PASTE)
Cutting and pasting is a valuable function for reorganizing your worksheet. You cant cut
cells and paste it elsewhere. This operation moves cell contents, the formulas, and any
attached to the moved cell.
1. Select the desired cell or range of cell.

2. Point the mouse to the border line (any selected cell)

3. Click and drag to a new position.

4. Release the mouse.

COPYING CELL CONTENTS (CLICK and DRAG instead of COPY and PASTE)
1. Select the desired cell or range of cell.

2. Point the mouse to the border line (any selected cell)

3. Hold down Ctrl key, click and drag to a new position.

4. Release the mouse.

Click and Drag Between Worksheet. You can drag cells between
worksheets. First select the range. Then hold down the Ctrl key and the Alt
key to copy or just the Alt key to move, while dragging the range to the tab
for the other worksheet. Continue to drag the range from the sheet up to the
new location in the worksheet until the range appears where you want.

LETTING EXCEL DO THE MATH

What is a FORMULA?

Worksheets use formula to perform calculations on the data you enter. With the
formulas, you can perform addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), and division
(/) using the values contained in various cells.
Every formula must begin with an equal sign (=).
If you begin a formula with a plus sign (+), Excel converts it to an equal sign
(=). Thats because lotus 1-2-3, another spreadsheet program, uses the plus
sign as its opening formula-entry character.
MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS:
Operator
+

What it Does
Addition

Subtraction

Multiplication

Division

Equal to

<

Less than

<=

Less than or equal to

>

Greater than

>=

Greater than or equal to

<>

Not equal to

Percentage

Exponentiation

ORDER OF OPERATION:

1.
2.
3.
4.

All operations enclosed in parenthesis.

All exponents operation.
All multiplication and division operation.
All addition and subtraction operations.

INCREASING DATA-ENTRY EFFICIENCY

To quicken the data-entry process, select the range in which you want to enter the
data; the active cell will automatically move after pressing ENTER.
Example:
1. Select ranges A1:D6

2. type the numbers (press ENTER every after entry):

1500
3250
2500
5000

1562
1900

1560
200
3500
4500

1560
1700
1400
500

2500
4500
2000
1900

3. Hold down Ctrl and Shift key and strike exclamation mark ! (Ctrl+Shift+!)
Now try these:
1. Select A3: E3

2. Type the numbers

1500
3000
1500
5800
2880

PERFORMING CALCULATIONS WITH FUNCTIONS

The most frequently used function is SUM (). This function total the numeric value of all
cells in the ranges it references. For example, to determine the sum of a series of numbers in cells
A1 through H1, you can enter the function =SUM (A1: H1), instead of entering =A1+B1+C1+
and so on.
Type the data as shown below:

USING THE AutoSum TOOL OR SUM () FUNCTION

1. To add the data, place the cursor where you want to place the formula.
2. Double click the tool bar AutoSum ().

Or:
1. To add the data, place the cursor where you want to place the formula.
2. Type =SUM(
3. Click A1 cell and drag to A5 cell (Range of Cell), then type the close parenthesis.
4. Execute ENTER.

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Or:
1. Place the cursor where you want to place the formula, hold down the Alt key and strike the
EQUAL SIGN (Alt + =), if the formula is correct, execute ENTER.
Type the data as shown below:

1. To add the data, select the cells where you want to place the formula.
2. Click the AutoSum Toolbar or use Alt + =.

CREATING CHARTS
1. Select the data you want to chart. If you typed names or other labels (for example, Jan,
Feb) and you want to include them in the chart, make sure you select them.

2. Click on the ChartWizard button.

3. Simply follow the steps of the ChartWizard.

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USING FUNCTIONS
Formula vs. Functions
Formula allows you to do addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and can contain
functions. Excel uses prebuilt worksheet functions to perform math, text or logical calculations
or to find the information about the worksheet. Functions allow you speed up your calculations
compared to writing a formula.
For example, you could create a formula =A1+A2+A3+A4+A5+A6+A7+A8 or use the
function =SUM (A1: A8).
Every function consist of the following three elements.

= SUM (A1: A8).

The = sign indicates that what
follows is a function (formula)

The FUNCTION NAME indicates the

operation that will be performed

The ARGUMENT indicates the cell

addresses of the values that the function
will act on.

Table 2. Excels Most Common Functions

Function
AVERAGE

Example
=AVERAGE (range of cell)

Description
Calculates the mean or average
of a group of numbers.

COUNT

=COUNT (range of cell)

Counts the numeric values in a

range.

COUNTA

=COUNTA (range of cell)

Counts all the cells that are not

blank in a range.

MAX

=MAX (range of cell)

Returns the maximum value in

a range of cells.

MIN

=MIN (range of cell)

Returns the minimum value in a

range of cells.

SUM

=SUM (range of cell)

Adds the values and calculates

the total in a range of cell.

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