Getting Started with Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is an office use application designed by Microsoft. It comes with Office Suite with several other
Microsoft applications, such as Word, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, and OneNote, etc. It is supported in Windows
as well as Mac operating system too.

Microsoft Excel is one of the most suitable spreadsheet programs that help us to store and represent the data in
tabular form, manage and manipulate data, create optically logical charts, and more. Excel provides you the
worksheet to create a new document in it. You can save the Excel file with .xls extension.

1.1. Starting Ms-Excel

To start Excel, follow the steps,

Step 1: Click start button and search for Excel.

Step 2: Hit enter after the Excel is visible along

with icon.

OR,

Step 1: Press windows key + R.

+ R

Step 2: Type excel in run dialog box.

Step 3: Hit Enter.

1.2. Parts of MS-Excel

Quick Access Toolbar

Ribbons
Reference Area

Cell Column

Row

Sheet
Tabs

Status Worksheet View buttons Bar

Bar
1.3. Back Stage View
In Excel 2010, the Backstage view was introduced as a central location for organizing your sheets. The backstage
view helps in the creation of new sheets, as well as the saving, opening, printing, and sharing of existing sheets.

1.4. Some Detail about the parts of MS-Excel

1.4.1. File Tab
The File tab replaces the Office button from Excel 2007. You can click it to check the Backstage view, where you
come when you need to open or save files, create new sheets, print a sheet, and do other file-related operations.

1.4.2. Quick Access Toolbar

You will find this toolbar just above the File tab and its purpose is to provide a convenient resting place for the Excel's
most frequently used commands. You can customize this toolbar based on your comfort.

1.4.3. Ribbon
Excel Ribbon

Ribbon contains commands organized in three components −

Tabs − They appear across the top of the Ribbon and contain groups of related commands. Home, Insert, Page
Layout are the examples of ribbon tabs.

Groups − They organize related commands; each group name appears below the group on the Ribbon. For
example, group of commands related to fonts or group of commands related to alignment etc.

Commands − Commands appear within each group as mentioned above.

1.4.4. Title Bar

This lies in the middle and at the top of the window. Title bar shows the program and the sheet titles.

1.4.5. Help
The Help Icon can be used to get excel related help anytime you like. This provides nice tutorial on various subjects
related to excel.

1.4.6. Zoom Control

Zoom control lets you zoom in for a closer look at your text. The zoom control consists of a slider that you can slide
left or right to zoom in or out. The + buttons can be clicked to increase or decrease the zoom factor.

1.4.7. View Buttons

The group of three buttons located to the left of the Zoom control, near the bottom of the screen, lets you switch
among excels various sheet views.

Normal Layout view − This displays the page in normal view.

Page Layout view − This displays pages exactly as they will appear when printed. This gives a full screen look of
the document.

Page Break view − This shows a preview of where pages will break when printed.

1.4.8. Sheet Area

The area where you enter data. The flashing vertical bar is called the insertion point and it represents the location
where text will appear when you type.

1.4.9. Row Bar

Rows are numbered from 1 onwards and keeps on increasing as you keep entering data. Maximum limit is 1,048,576
rows.
1.4.10. Column Bar
Columns are numbered from A onwards and keeps on increasing as you keep entering data. After Z, it will start the
series of AA, AB and so on. Maximum limit is 16,384 columns.

1.4.11. Status Bar

This displays the status of the active cell in the worksheet. A cell can be in either of the four states (a) Ready mode
which indicates that the worksheet is ready to accept user input (b) Edit mode indicates that cell is editing mode, if
it is not activated the you can activate editing mode by double-clicking on a cell (c) A cell enters into Enter mode
when a user types data into a cell (d) Point mode triggers when a formula is being entered using a cell reference by
mouse pointing or the arrow keys on the keyboard.

1.5. Some of the Short cut Key to use Features of Excels are:
Action

Ctrl+A Select All

Ctrl+B Bold

Ctrl+C Copy

Ctrl+D Fill Down

Ctrl+F Find

Ctrl+G Goto

Ctrl+H Replace

Ctrl+I Italic

Ctrl+K Insert Hyperlink

Ctrl+N New Workbook

Ctrl+O Open

Ctrl+P Print
Ctrl+R Fill Right

Ctrl+S Save

Ctrl+U Underline

Ctrl+V Paste

Ctrl W Close

Ctrl+X Cut

Ctrl+Y Repeat

Ctrl+Z Undo

F1 Help

F2 Edit

F3 Paste Name

F4 Repeat last action

F4 While typing a formula switch between absolute/relative refs

F5 Goto

F6 Next Pane

F7 Spell check

F8 Extend mode

F9 Recalculate all workbooks

F10 Activate Menubar

F11 New Chart

F12 Save As

Ctrl+: Insert Current Time

Ctrl+; Insert Current Date

Ctrl+" Copy Value from Cell Above

Ctrl+' Copy Fromula from Cell Above

Shift Hold down shift for additional functions in Excel's menu

Shift+F1 What's This?

Shift+F2 Edit cell comment

Shift+F3 Paste function into formula

Shift+F4 Find Next

Shift+F5 Find

Shift+F6 Previous Pane

Shift+F8 Add to selection

Shift+F9 Calculate active worksheet

Shift+F10 Display shortcut menu

Shift+F11 New worksheet

Shift+F12 Save

Ctrl+F3 Define name

Ctrl+F4 Close

Ctrl+F5 XLRestore window size

Ctrl+F6 Next workbook window

Shift+Ctrl+F6 Previous workbook window

Ctrl+F7 Move window

Ctrl+F8 Resize window

Ctrl+F9 Minimize workbook

Ctrl+F10 Maximize or restore window

Ctrl+F11 Inset 4.0 Macro sheet

Ctrl+F12 File Open

Alt+F1 Insert Chart

Alt+F2 Save As

Alt+F4 Exit

Alt+F8 Macro dialog box

Alt+F11 Visual Basic Editor

Ctrl+Shift+F3 Create name by using names of row and column labels

Ctrl+Shift+F6 Previous Window

Ctrl+Shift+F12 Print

Alt+Shift+F1 New worksheet

Alt+Shift+F2 Save

Alt+= AutoSum

Ctrl+` Toggle Value/Formula display

Ctrl+Shift+A Insert argument names into formula

Alt+Down arrow Display AutoComplete list

Alt+' Format Style dialog box

Ctrl+Shift+~ General format

Ctrl+Shift+! Comma format

Ctrl+Shift+@ Time format

Ctrl+Shift+# Date format

Ctrl+Shift+$ Currency format

Ctrl+Shift+% Percent format

Ctrl+Shift+^ Exponential format

Ctrl+Shift+& Place outline border around selected cells

Ctrl+Shift+_ Remove outline border

Ctrl+Shift+* Select current region

Ctrl++ Insert

Ctrl+- Delete

Ctrl+1 Format cells dialog box

Ctrl+2 Bold

Ctrl+3 Italic

Ctrl+4 Underline

Ctrl+5 Strikethrough

Ctrl+6 Show/Hide objects

Ctrl+7 Show/Hide Standard toolbar

Ctrl+8 Toggle Outline symbols

Ctrl+9 Hide rows

Ctrl+0 Hide columns

Ctrl+Shift+( Unhide rows

Ctrl+Shift+) Unhide columns

Alt or F10 Activate the menu

 Ctrl+Tab In toolbar: next toolbar

Ctrl+Tab In a workbook: activate next workbook

Shift+Ctrl+Tab In toolbar: previous toolbar

Shift+Ctrl+Tab In a workbook: activate previous workbook

Tab Next tool

Shift+Tab Previous tool

Enter Do the command

Shift+Ctrl+F Font Drop Down List

Shift+Ctrl+F+F Font tab of Format Cell Dialog box

Shift+Ctrl+P Point size Drop Down List

1.6. Saving Excel File

Step 1: Click File > Save As.
Step 2: Under Save As, pick the place where you want to save your workbook. For example, to save to
your desktop or in a folder on your computer, click Computer.

Step 3: Click Browse to find the location you want in your Documents folder.

To pick another location on your computer, click Desktop, and then pick the exact place where you want to save
your workbook.
Step 4: In the File name box, enter a name for a new workbook. Enter a different name if you’re creating a copy of
an existing workbook.

Step 5: To save your workbook in a different file format (like .xls or .txt), in the Save as type list (under the File
name box), pick the format you want.

Step 6: Click Save.