Excel is a powerful (and huge) program used by individuals, small businesses and large companies all across the globe. It essentially crunches numbers but can also extract, manipulate and analyse data to create reports, charts and dashboards.
The purpose of this post is to get you started. It will provide a solid foundation to build on, some great tools you can work with and a much-needed boost to your confidence.
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1. A tour of the Excel screen
2. Workbooks & spreadsheets: Differences
Excel 'workbooks' and 'spreadsheets' are synonymous.
They are the same thing.
Technically, a spreadsheet is the generic term for a file generated by any program that crunches numbers such as Microsoft Excel, Numbers (Mac), Sheets (Google) or Calc (OpenOffice).
A workbook is the term coined and used by Microsoft, but most other spreadsheet programs also use it.
3. Quick Access Toolbar (QAT)
The Quick Access Toolbar sits in the top-left corner of the Excel screen. It contains one-click access to features that YOU might use often and avoids the need to hunt down a tool.
The default icons are Autosave (on or off), Save, Undo and Redo, but you can add your own icons to suit the way you work.
4. The Command Centre
At the top of the Microsoft Excel screen is the command centre, a large array of tools that give you access to everything Microsoft Excel has to offer.
The command centre comprises tabs, ribbons, command groups and commands (icons).
a) Tabs and ribbons
Every Excel tool is organised into TABS and RIBBONS. Each ribbon can be selected by clicking its tab.
Each ribbon has groups of related tools that follow a particular theme or purpose.
The HOME RIBBON contains the most commonly used tools, whatever level you're at. This is true of every program.
The next tab, INSERT contains commands for inserting different elements into the workbook, such as tables, pictures, shapes, charts, sparklines and pivot tables. (You don’t need most of this as a beginner).
Another tab, PAGE LAYOUT, contains commands for setting up the printed page, such as the paper size, margin sizes and page orientation.
You get the idea. You’ll learn how to use some of these commands as you go through this course. As a beginner, most of what you need is on the HOME TAB/RIBBON.
b) Command groups and commands (icons)
Command groups are collections of related tools (icons) WITHIN a ribbon.
If you look at the HOME RIBBON, you'll see command groups called Clipboard, Font, Alignment, Number, Styles, Cells and Editing.
Faint vertical dividers are used to separate each command group.
On the HOME ribbon, the FONT group contains options to change the font, font size and colour, set bold, italic and underline, and more.
5. How screen size affects the commands you see
Icons can be different sizes and may (or may not) have a text description next to them.
For example, the PASTE icon (below) is an example of a large icon, while the CUT, COPY and FORMAT PAINTER icons are small.
Microsoft Excel uses smart technology to detect what size screen you are using and adapts the icons to best fit the size of your screen.
If you are using a big screen (e.g. a 32" monitor), then there is adequate space to display icons at their full size.
However, if you are using a laptop or tablet device which has a small screen then the icons will be compacted to fit the space, and some may also lose their text descriptor.
6. Screen tips
A screen tip is a floating box that appears when you hover over a command icon.
It tells you the function of the icon, i.e. what will happen when you click the icon.
7. Status bar
At the bottom of the Excel screen is the STATUS BAR which displays all kinds of information about your workbook.
8. Three ways to view the spreadsheet
On the right side of the status bar, there are 3 icons, each of which displays the workbook in a different way for different reasons.
The first icon shows the workbook in NORMAL view. This is the view you’ll use most of the time.
The second icon shows the workbook in PAGE LAYOUT view which presents the workbook like a Word document. This is how the workbook will look when it is printed.
The third icon shows the workbook in PAGE BREAK PREVIEW.
- The workbook layout is continuous like the NORMAL view but there are thick solid blue lines (col M and row 6) marking the boundary where your data ends and thick dashed blue lines (between col K and L) marking where each page starts and finishes. In a later chapter you’ll learn how to move these boundaries to better manage your spreadsheet.
9. Zoom and magnification
In the bottom-right corner of the Excel window is the ZOOM control.
To change the magnification of your workbook
- Either single-left-click the – or + at each end of the slider, or …
Changing the zoom percentage DOES NOT change the size of the text when you print out your workbook. It simply allows you to get a closer look or pull out for a bird's eye view.
10. Sign in
In the top-right corner of your Excel window is a SIGN IN button. This will sign you into your Office 365 account so you can change your settings, if needed.
Once you are signed in your name will be shown here instead.
11. Ribbon display options
Also, in the top-right-corner of your Excel window are the RIBBON DISPLAY OPTIONS icon.
Single-left-click the icon to display 3 options.
The default option is option 3: SHOW TABS AND COMMANDS. You can see all the tabs and the currently selected ribbon.
The second option, SHOW TABS, only hides the RIBBON while you are editing your workbook.
To display the ribbon again, single-left-click a TAB. But remember, when you click back on your workbook, the ribbon will be hidden again.
The third option: AUTO-HIDE RIBBON hides the tab row and the ribbon as well as the title bar and the status bar at the bottom of the screen to give you the most possible screen space for your spreadsheet data.
This is useful is you are working on a small screen
To redisplay the tabs and ribbons:
1. Move the mouse pointer to the top edge of the screen until the green Excel title bar appears.
2. Single-left-click the green bar.
3. Single-left-click either SHOW TABS or SHOW TABS AND COMMANDS.
12. Workbooks, worksheets, rows, columns and cells
A workbook is also referred to as the spreadsheet or the file. The workbook name is displayed in the title bar.
In the same way that a normal book contains pages, a workbook contains worksheets. Each worksheet is assigned a tab which can be found on the bottom-left of the screen.
A worksheet is made up of lots of cells. These form the grid that you see on the main part of the screen.
The current cell reference is displayed in the NAME BOX. This is found above the worksheet on the left side of the screen.
Scroll bars are displayed on the bottom and right of the worksheet. Scroll bars allow you to move further across or down a worksheet.
13. Moving, resizing and positioning windows
At the top-right corner of the screen you’ll find the three standard Windows icons
Restore / Maximise. Clicking this button toggles between showing the workbook at the full screen size and displaying it as a resizable window.
Close. Closes the workbook. If there is only one workbook open, Excel itself will also close.
Minimise. This will remove the workbook window from the screen, but it remains open. Click the button on the Windows taskbar to re-display the workbook.
Restore / Maximise. Clicking this button toggles between showing the workbook at the full screen size and displaying it as a resizable window.
Close. Closes the workbook. If there is only one workbook open, Excel itself will also close.
You can also use these keyboard combinations to positioning windows on the screen
Display the window at full screen size.
Resize the window to half the screen width, then lock to the right side of the screen.
Resize the window to half the screen width, then lock to the left side of the screen.
15. Undo and redo
Undo might just become your ne best friend!
Every action you take in Excel from things you type, icons you click or keyboard shortcuts you activate is recorded on a timeline. Undo lets you move backwards through the timeline to undo the last step, or if you wish, multiple previous steps.
1. The Undo button is found on the Quick Access Toolbar (pictured right), which sits above or below the ribbon.
2. Each click of the XXX button undoes one action at a time
3. If you undid too many actions, each click of the XXX button redoes an action.
4. To un-do or re-do several actions in one hit, click the drop-down arrow on the Undo or Redo icons, then select the actions as necessary.
Handy keyboard shortcuts
16. Context menu
Also known as the Shortcut menu, this menu appears when the right mouse button is clicked.
You may right-click any cell or any object. It displays options which are useful in the context. and is often quicker than searching through the ribbons at the top of the screen to find a tool or feature.
17. Context toolbar
When you right-click any cell, a context toolbar appears with the most commonly used formatting options such as fonts, colours and number formatting.
18. Key Takeaways
I hope you found plenty of value in this post. I'd love to hear your biggest takeaway in the comments below together with any questions you may have.
Have a fantastic day.
About the author
Jason Morrell
Jason Morrell is a professional trainer, consultant and course creator who lives on the glorious Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
He helps people of all levels unleash and leverage the power contained within Microsoft Office by delivering training, troubleshooting services and taking on client projects. He loves to simplify tricky concepts and provide helpful, proven, actionable advice that can be implemented for quick results.
Purely for amusement he sometimes talks about himself in the third person.
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