Introduction to Microsoft Excel 101 Window Components

What is Microsoft Excel?

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that is used to record and analyze numerical data. Think of a
spreadsheet as a collection of columns and rows that form a table. Alphabetical letters are usually assigned to
columns and numbers are usually assigned to rows. The point where a column and a row meet is called a cell.
The address of a cell is given by the letter representing the column and the number representing a row. Let's
illustrate this using the following image.
Why Should I Learn Microsoft Excel?
We all deal with numbers in one way or the other. We all have daily expenses which we pay for from the
monthly income that we earn. For one to spend wisely, they will need to know their income vs. expenditure.
Microsoft Excel comes in handy when we want to record, analyze and store such numeric data.
Understanding the Ribbon
The ribbon provides shortcuts to commands in Excel. A command is an action that the user performs.
An example of a command is creating a new document, printing a documenting, etc.
Ribbon components explained
 Ribbon start button - it is used to access commands i.e. creating new documents, saving existing
work, printing, accessing the options for customizing Excel, etc.
 Ribbon tabs – the tabs are used to group similar commands together. The home tab is used for basic
commands such as formatting the data to make it more presentable, sorting and finding specific data
within the spreadsheet.
 Ribbon bar – the bars are used to group similar commands together. As an example, the Alignment #1. Active Cell
ribbon bar is used to group all the commands that are used to align data together. A cell which is currently selected. It will be highlighted by a rectangular box and its address will be
Understanding the worksheet (Rows and Columns, Sheets, Workbooks) shown in the address bar.
A worksheet is a collection of rows and columns. When a row and a column meet, they form a cell. You can activate a cell by clicking on it or by using your arrow buttons. To edit a cell, you double-click on it or use
Cells are used to record data. Each cell is uniquely identified using a cell address. Columns are usually labeled F2 to as well.
with letters while rows are usually numbers. #2. Column
A workbook is a collection of worksheets. By default, a workbook has three cells in Excel. You can A column is a vertical set of cells. A single worksheet contains 16384 total columns.
delete or add more sheets to suit your requirements. By default, the sheets are named Sheet1, Sheet2 and so on Every column has its own alphabet for identity, from A to XFD. You can select a column clicking on its header.
and so forth. You can rename the sheet names to more meaningful names i.e. daily Expenses, Monthly Budget, #3. Row
etc. A row is a horizontal set of cells. A single worksheet contains 1048576 total rows. Every row has its own
Important Excel shortcuts number for identity, starting from 1 to 1048576.
Ctrl + P = used to open the print dialogue window You can select a row clicking on the row number marked on the left side of the window.
Ctrl + N=creates a new workbook #4. Fill Handle
Ctrl + S=saves the current workbook It’s a small dot present on the lower right corner of the active cell. It helps you to fill numeric values, text
Ctrl + C=copy contents of current select series, insert ranges, insert serial numbers, etc.
Ctrl + V =paste data from the clipboard #5. Address Bar
SHIFT + F3=displays the function insert dialog window The address bar is the small input bar at the left side of the window.
SHIFT + F11=Creates a new worksheet It shows the address of the active cell. If you have selected more than one cell, then it will show the address of the
F2=Check formula and cell range covered first cell in the range.
#6. Formula Bar
Formula bar is an input bar, below the ribbon. It shows the content of the active cell and you can also
use it enter a formula in a cell.
#7. Title Bar
The title bar will show the name of your workbook, followed by the application name (“Microsoft Excel”).
#8. File Menu NOW: It returns the current date and time in the cell where you insert it using your system's settings...
The file menu is a simple menu as like all other applications. It contains options like (Save, Save As,
Open, New, Print, Excel Options, Share, etc). Features of Microsoft Excel
#9. Quick Access Toolbar 1. Add Header and Footer
A toolbar to quickly access the options which you frequently use. You can add your favorite options by MS Excel allows us to keep header and footer in our spreadsheet document.
adding new options to quick access toolbar. 2. Find and Replace Command
#10. Ribbon Tab MS Excel allows us to find the needed data (text and numbers) in the workbook and also replace the
Starting from the Microsoft Excel 2007, all the options menus are replaced with the ribbons. Ribbon tabs existing data with a new one.
are the bunch of specific option group which further contains option. 3. Password Protection
#11. Worksheet Tab It allows user to protect their workbooks by using password from unauthorized access to their
This tab shows the all the worksheets which are present in the workbook. By default you will see, three information.
worksheets in your new workbook with a name of Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3 respectively. 4. Data Filtering
#12. Status Bar Filtering is a quick and easy way to find and work with a subset of data in a range. A filtered range
It is a thin bar at the bottom of the Excel window. It will give you an instant help once you start your displays only the rows that meet the criteria you specify for a column. MS Excel provides two commands for
working in Excel. filtering ranges:
• AutoFilter; which includes filter by selection, for simple criteria
Following are the few things which it can do for you. • Advanced Filter; for more complex criteria
 Number Crunching 5. Data Sorting
 Charts and Graphs Data sorting is the process of arranging data in some logical order. MS Excel allows us to sort data
 Store and Import Data either in ascending or descending order.
 Manipulating Text 6. Built in formulae
 Templates/Dashboards MS Excel has got many built- in formulae for sum, average, minimum, etc. We can use those formulae
 Automation of Tasks as per our needs.
Basic Functions 7. Create different charts (Pivot Table Report)
Functions are one of the most important features of Excel. It helps you to perform the basic calculations as well MS Excel allows us to create different charts such as bar graph, pie- charts, line graphs, etc. This helps
complex. us to analyze and compare data very easily.
8. Automatically edits the result
Below I have listed 10 basic functions which you need to learn. MS Excel automatically edits the result if any changes are made in any of the cell.
9. Formula Auditing
SUM: It returns the sum of numeric values in a cell. You can refer to the cells where you have values or simply Using formula auditing we can graphically display or trace the relationships between cells and formulas
insert the values into the function... with blue arrows. We can trace the precedents (the cells that provide data to a specific cell) or the dependents
COUNT: It returns the count of numeric values in a cell. You can refer to the cells where you have values or (the cells that depend on the value in a specific cell).
simply insert the values into the function...
AVERAGE: It returns the average of numeric values in a cell. You can refer to the cells where you have values or
simply insert the values into the function...
TIME: It returns a valid time serial number as per Excel's time format. You need to specify hours, minutes and
seconds...
DATE: It returns a valid date serial number as per Excel's time format. You need to specify day, month and year...
LEFT: This function extracts specific characters from the a cell/string starting from the left (start). You need to
specify the text and number of characters to extract from it...
RIGHT: This function extracts specific characters from the a cell/string starting from the right (last). You need to
specify the text and number of characters to extract from it.
VLOOKUP: It looks up for a value in a column and can return that value or a value from the correspondent
columns using same row number...
IF: This function returns a value when the specific condition is TRUE and returns another values it condition is
FALSE...