Microsoft Excel Lesson 1

Microsoft Excel Lesson 1

Writing something about Microsoft Excel. It is a most popular application for windows users, beginners may get lost once you open Excel because of thousands of features and commands. So, for them who are not good with excel I will try to write some best tutorials for them.

So we start with introduction of Excel. It is the spreadsheet program of rows and columns in which you enter text, numbers, and the results of calculations. In Excel, a computerized spreadsheet is called a worksheet. The file used to store worksheets is called a workbook.

Parts of the Workbook:

•         Each workbook contains three worksheets by default. In above picture Sheet 1 is active worksheet.
•         Columns appear vertically and are identified by letters. Rows appear horizontally and are identified by numbers.
•         A cell is the intersection of a row and a column. Each cell is identified by a unique cell reference. 
•         The Name Box, or cell reference area, displays the cell reference of the active cell.
•         The cell in the worksheet in which you can type data is called the active cell.
•         The Formula Bar displays a formula when a worksheet cell contains any formula. For example, if you have more than one decimal value in workbook, then you can do any calculation by simply typing any formula to calculates a new value.

Entering Data in a Cell:

•          Cells can contain text, numbers, symbols or formulas.

             - Text is any combination of letters and numbers and symbols.
             - Numbers are values, dates, or times.
             - Formulas are equations that calculate a value.

•          You can enter, edit, replace or clear data in the active cells. 
•          You can edit cell data in the Formula Bar or in the cell. The contents of the active cell always appear in the Formula Bar.
•          To replace cell data, select the cell, type new data, and press the Enter button on the Formula Bar or the Enter key or the Tab key.
•          To clear the active cell simply press Backspace or Delete key from Keyboard.

Selecting a Cells:

      A range is a group of selected or highlighted cells in a workbook. When cells have been selected they are surrounded by an outline or border.  Range is identified by its range reference, for example, A1:C5.

     Ranges can be made up of adjacent or non-adjacent cells.

     Adjacent cells are altogether. There are no gaps in the range.

Example of Adjacent Cells

     Non-adjacent cell ranges consist of two or more separate blocks of cells. These blocks can be separated by rows or columns.

Example of Nonadjacent Cells

–To select a nonadjacent range, select the first adjacent range or cell, press the Ctrl key as you select the other cells or ranges you want to include, and then release the Ctrl key and the mouse button.