How to select cells, things in cells, cells, rows, or columns in different places...

Entering Text

1. Select a cell
2. Type the text you want to enter on your keyboard.
3. Press Enter.

AutoComplete

Excel will help you more quickly complete your worksheet if you let it.  Unless you turn it off, AutoComplete will automatically match your new entry with a previous one and fill it in for you.  This is particularly useful if you have to repeatedly but not consecutively enter names, for example.  This only works for cells that contain text or text and numbers, not those that have dates, times, or only numbers.

1. As you are typing, if the first few characters you type match an existing entry in that column Excel fills the rest in for you.
2. If that is correct, you simply press Enter.
3. If that is not correct, just keep typing.

• In the example to the right, there are two entries that begin with "S"
• One of them begins with "Sm"
• If you intended to type "Smith, John" again, after typing only "Sm" you can press the Enter key.
• If you intended to type "Smiley, Francis" you would simply keep typing and ignore Excel's suggestion.

To turn off AutoComplete

1. On the Tools menu, click Options... then the Edit tab.
2. Uncheck the Enable AutoComplete for cell values box.

Create Hyperlinks

1. Select the text or image that will become the hyperlink, or click where you want the hyperlink to go.
2. Click the Insert Hyperlink button on the toolbar, or Right-click and select Hyperlink... from the shortcut menu.
3. In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box:
   

• you can change the text on the page,
• choose an Existing File or Web page (on the left)
• choose which list (near left)
• type in a different file or web address
• paste a different file or web address - (you must use Ctrl+V, right-click doesn't work).

4. Click the File... button to Browse for the file, or
   click the Web Page... button to Browse for the web page you need the address for.

Entering and Formatting Titles

Using titles on the worksheets makes it easier to read and understand the information shown.
 

Note You can add other formatting characteristics to your title. To make the text bold, click the text cell, and click the Bold button on the Formatting toolbar.  To make an entire row of headings  bold, click the row header first, then click the Bold button on the Formatting toolbar. 

1. Open a new worksheet, move the pointer to cell E3, type Technology Challenge, and then press enter.
2. Click cell E3.
3. On the Formatting toolbar, click the Font box, and click Arial. (You may have to use the down arrow next to the Font box to find Arial.)
4. On the Formatting toolbar, click the arrow next to the Font Size box, click 14, and then click the Bold button.
5. Save this worksheet as Technology to use later.

When you click the Edit Formula button, the left end of the toolbar changes to this:

Entering column headings and adjusting column widths & row heights

Column and row headings help you and others understand the data or information you have entered on your worksheet.

Note   The following exercise deals with changing column width, but changing row height is the same, only adjusted for the different direction.

Sometimes the column heading is too large to fit into a column. Even though it does not show the entire title or formula, the cell still contains everything you entered into it.  You can see all that is in a cell in the Formula Bar.

Note Press the Enter key to move down one cell at a time. See the end of the lesson for instructions on customizing the Enter key.

1. Using the Technology worksheet, click cell B5, and type Dates.
2. Press tab to go to cell C5, and then type Elementary Schools.
3. Press tab to go to cell D5, and then type Secondary Schools.  One cell will overlap the other.
4. Press Enter.
5. At the top of the worksheet, position the pointer at the top of the grid between columns C and D until the pointer changes into a double-arrow  and then double-click.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the line between cells D and E.
7. Select the words Technology Challenge, and move the fat + pointer to a dark cell line until it changes to an arrow.
8. Click and drag the text to begin in cell C3.
   
   (The little info box, like the ones that tell you what a button's function is when you pass over it and pause, will show you the cells you're passing over and when you get to C3 it will say C3.)
    

9. Click the row number 5 on the column to the left of column A, then click the Bold button on the Format toolbar.
10. Click Save to re-save the worksheet.
    

Insert and Delete Rows and Columns

Insert Rows

1. To insert one row, click a cell in the row below where you want the new row.
2. To insert multiple rows, select the same number of rows as you want to insert, by clicking and dragging the row headings.  Be sure the pointer is the "fat" plus sign, , not the double arrows.
3. On the Insert menu click Rows.
   -or-
   Right-click and click Insert in the shortcut menu.

Insert Columns

1. To insert one column, click a cell in the column to the right of where you want the new column.
2. To insert multiple columns, select the same number of columns as you want to insert, by clicking and dragging the column headings.  Be sure the pointer is the "fat" plus sign, , not the double arrows.
3. On the Insert menu click Columns.
   -or-
   Right-click and click Insert in the shortcut menu.

Hide/Unhide Rows and Columns

1. Right-click on the row or column heading, or the range of rows or columns that you want to hide.
2. Click Hide in the shortcut menu.

-or-

1. Select the rows or columns that you want to hide.
2. On the Format menu, point to Row or Column then click Hide.

Unhide

1. Right-click on the row headings of the rows above and below, or the column headings of the columns to the right and the left, of the hidden rows or columns you want to unhide.
2. Click Unhide in the shortcut menu.

-or-

1. Select cells in the rows above and below, or in the columns to the right and the left, of the hidden rows or columns you want to unhide.
2. On the Format menu, point to Row or Column then click Unhide.

Freeze/Unfreeze Rows and Columns

1. To freeze the top horizontal pane, select the row below where you want the split to occur.
2. To freeze the left vertical pane, select the column to the right of where you want the split to occur.
3. To freeze both the upper and left panes, click the cell below and to the right of where you want the split to occur.
4. On the Window menu, click Freeze Panes.

Arranging text with the Copy, Paste, and Cut commands

With Excel, it is easy to modify data. When you create a table, you may decide on a different order of column heads or you may want to revise them.

Note Usually Cut is used to move the contents of a cell or cells to a different location.
Copy is used to duplicate the contents of a cell or cells in another location.

Using the Cut, Paste, and Copy commands to arrange text

1. Using the Technology worksheet, right-click cell C3, and click Cut.
2. Right-click cell C1, and click Paste.
3. Right-click cell D5, and click Cut.
4. Right-click cell D10, and click Paste.
5. Right-click cell C5, and click Cut.
6. Right-click cell D5, and click Paste.
7. Right-click cell D10, and click Cut.
8. Right-click Cell C5, and click Paste.

Entering Data

Note If you enter data in a column-by-column order, you may find it easier and faster to use the down arrow key to move between cells.  However, if you always do it that way, you might want to customize the Enter key.

1. Open your Technology workbook.
2. Starting in cell B6, type the following data into the worksheet, under the corresponding headings
   that you previously saved there:
    
3. Save your file as TechnologyData.

Note Office Assistant has information on different ways to enter a formula so that you can perform a variety of mathematical calculations.

Doing simple calculations

NOTE: In this section you will Create Formulas, which is 99 44/100% of the reason you use a spreadsheet like Excel!

With Excel, you can perform a wide range of mathematical calculations and functions according to what you need from your data.
To calculate sums (totals) and percentages, use the mathematical operation of adding numbers to get a total, and then divide each number that was just added by that total.

Calculate the sum of schools with Web sites

1. In the TechnologyData workbook, click cell E5, type Total Sites, and press Enter.
2. You should be in cell E6.  On the Formula toolbar click the Edit Formula button:
   
   
   
3. Click the Functions arrow, and choose Sum.
   
   
   
   (C6:D6 appears in the Number 1 window.)
   
4. Click OK.
5. To sum each pair of numbers, click E6 and drag the fill handle from E6 to E13.

Note You may have to zoom out to see the total chart. On the View menu, click Zoom, and choose 50% or whichever level is best for you.  SEE the example at the end of this section.

Calculate the percentage of schools with Web sites by category

1. Click cell F5, type % of Elem schools, and then press Tab.
2. Click cell G5, type % of Sec schools, and press Enter.
3. Click F6, and click the Edit Formula button (the = sign).
4. Type C6/E6, and click OK.
5. Right-click cell F6 and click Format Cells.
6. Click on the Number tab, choose Percentage, and then type 2 in the decimal places box, if it's not already there.
7. Click F6, and drag the fill handle to F13 to calculate the percentage for each pair of numbers. Click OK.
8. Repeat steps 3 through 8 for Secondary Schools, starting in cell G6, using the formula D6/E6 to calculate the percentage.
9. Save the worksheet as TechnologyCalc.

NOTE:  You should have made changes to the Technology worksheet, saving it as TechnologyData and then as TechnologyCalc.  It will have the data seen above, and will ALSO, and most importantly, have that data because you entered the formulas that created it! 
You did NOT type the % of..Schools answers in, you entered the formulas and let Excel calculate for you. This is the point of using a spreadsheet! 

You may need to show the formulas to the teacher, in the following manner (click Tools, Options, View, Formulas), in order to earn credit and move on:

Note  You can also view the formulas and the affected cells by double-clicking on a cell that contains a formula. Excel shows you a very cool color-coded formula and the cells to which each element of the formula is referring!

Using the AutoSum Function

Excel uses functions in place of your having to write formulas for common and complicated operations.  AutoSum is presented here, somewhat out of order, because it is so useful and common, adding being probably the most common math operation and all!

Excel uses some math functions as buttons on the Standard toolbar. The AutoSum button is displayed as the Greek Capital letter Sigma, Σ, and is used to calculate the Sum of a range of numbers.

Totaling numbers with AutoSum

1. Open your TechnologyCalc workbook.
2. Click cells E6 through E13.
3. Click the Delete key.
4. Click cell E6.
5. Click the AutoSum button  on the Standard toolbar,
   and verify that the cells selected for summation are correct.  (They will be surrounded by "crawling ants!")
   
6. Press Enter, and note the summation results in cell E6.
7. Click E6, and drag the fill handle to E13.
8. Save the TechnologyCalc workbook again.

Note You can sum columns using the AutoSum button on the Standard toolbar or by
using the Formula bar as you did before.

Continue learning about formulas and functions here.

Customizing the Enter key

You can change the direction in which the active cell moves when you press enter. If the default direction is to the right, and you are entering data in a column, you can change the default to down.

1. Open your TechnologyCalc workbook.
2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
3. Click the Edit tab.
4. Click Move selection after Enter, and in the Direction box, click Right, and click OK.
   
   
   
   
5. Save the workbook.

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 Last UPDATED 08/20/06