While row 1 is still highlighted, click the Home tab again. Set column width + row height Cell alignment The tabs are on a dark-green background, and the selected/active tab turns white. Click any of these tabs, and the sub-menus for that tab appear below. The tabs across the top are the main menus.

The Excel menus (called Ribbon menus) are at the very top of the screen. Check out this earlier story on how to navigate the cells in an Excel spreadsheet. Every field, row, and record resides in its own cell in the Excel spreadsheet.Įach cell is fundamentally defined by its column letter and row number, such as ‘Cell A1’ for the far upper lefthand corner cell. Excel spreadsheet cellsĮvery little box in a spreadsheet grid is a cell, which can contain numbers, letters, colors, and formulas. In a more complicated system, you could have 50 fields with 150 to 5,000 (or more) records in each field. In this example, you could five different days on Thursday in a single month. The records (or rows) are placed beneath the columns. The fields (or columns) are unique data and cannot be repeated-for instance, there cannot be two Thursdays. Think of the traditional calendar format: The days of the week are across the top, and the days of the month that correspond with each day of the week are on the rows beneath the days of the week. Column letters go across the top (these are the fields), and row numbers along the left side (these are records). The classic spreadsheet format looks just like a bookkeeper’s or accountant’s ledger. Set up an Excel spreadsheet: Columns and fields Finally, you can name the tabs as well as name the entire workbook. You can also change the order of spreadsheets in the workbook by sliding their tabs left or right along the tab row. You can add spreadsheets to the workbook by clicking the tab with a ‘+’ sign at the bottom of the workbook screen.

Excel opens with the cursor positioned on the Blank workbook option.Ī workbook is the Excel file. All you have to do is click Blank workbook once or press the Enter key, and a blank workbook opens to a blank spreadsheet. To get started in Excel, click the Excel icon on your desktop or Start menu. Open Excel and choose a blank workbook JD Sartain / IDG Worldwide

Once you learn the vocabulary, the rest gets easier. If you’re just getting your feet wet, these tips will help you get started on making a spreadsheet and writing a formula. Microsoft Excel is an incredibly capable and complex spreadsheet program.

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