Introduction to Microsoft Excel

Transcription

1 Presented by: IT Service Manager & Instructor Fred Miller Jr. Updated October 2015

2 Introduction to Microsoft Excel This Class is designed to cover the following basics: Formulas & Functions Inserting Comments Into A Cell Autofill Inserting A Text Box Sorting Hiding/Unhiding A Column/Row Chart & Chart Tools Referencing Cells In Multiple Worksheet Formulas The distinguishing feature of a spreadsheet program such as Excel is that is allows you to create mathematical formulas and execute functions. Otherwise, it is not much more than a large table for displaying text. Formulas are entered in the worksheet cell and must begin with an equal sign =. The formula then includes the addresses of the cells whose values will be manipulated with appropriate operands placed in between. After the formula is typed into the cell, the calculation executes immediately and the formula itself is visible in the formula bar. See the example below to view the formula for calculating the sub total for a number of textbooks. The formula multiplies the quantity and price of each textbook and adds the subtotal for each book. To view the actual formula or function in the cell and its components, double-click on the cell or click once and press F2. Also, if you select the cell, you will see the formula or function for the cell in the Formula Bar. Page 2

3 Functions Instead of manually typing a formula into the formula bar, you can use the Formula Ribbon to insert common functions such as Sum, Date, Average, Count, Max, etc. Activate the cell where the function will placed and select Insert Function from the Formula Ribbon. From the Insert Function dialog box, you can enter a description of what you want to do or you can select a category. Browse through the functions by clicking in the Select a Function menu choices. As each function name is highlighted a description and example of use is provided below the box. Click OK to select a function. The next window allows you to choose the cells that will be included in the function. Excel will suggest a range that it thinks might be relevant to where you cursor is; notice that there is a colon in between the range of cells. If you would like Excel to use a different range, you can place your cursor in the field and edit the default range. (Remember to include the colon.) Click OK when all the cells for the function have been selected. AutoSum The Autosum button right next to the Function Insert button contains a short list of functions you can access when you click on the triangle underneath the words Autosum. This works the same way the Insert Function button works in that you activate the cell in which you would like to insert the sum of contents from the column above or the row to the left of the activated cell. After clicking the Autosum button, Excel will suggest a range of cells that it thinks might be relevant to where your cursor is. As with the Insert Function, you can edit the range. Autofill The Autofill feature allows you to quickly fill cells with repetitive or sequential data such as chronological dates or numbers, and repeated text. 1. Type the beginning number or date of an incrementing series or the text that will be repeated into a cell. 2. Select the handle at the bottom, right corner of the cell with the left mouse button and drag it down as many cells as you want to fill. 3. Release the mouse button. Page 3

4 If you want to Autofill a column with cells displaying the same number or date you must enter identical data to two adjacent cells in a column. Highlight the two cells and drag the handle of the selection with the mouse. Autofilling Functions Autofill can also be used to copy functions. In the example below, column A & column B each contain lists of numbers and column C contains the sums of columns A & B for each row. The function in cell C2 would be =SUM (A2:B2). This function can then be copied to the remaining cells of column C by activating cell C2 and dragging the handle down to fill in the remaining cells. The Autofill feature will automatically update the row numbers as shown below if the cells are reference relatively. Autofill Handle Sorting Basic Sorts The Data Ribbon can be used to sort cells in a spreadsheet. To sort by one column, highlight the cells that will be sorted and click the Sort Ascending (A-Z) button or Sort Descending (Z-A) button. Note that if you do not include the adjacent cells, you will get a warning asking you if you wish to expand the selection. Page 4

5 Complex Sorts To sort by multiple columns, follow these steps: 1. Highlight the cells, rows, or columns that will be sorted. 2. Select Sort button from the Data Ribbon. 3. From the Sort dialog box, select the first column for sorting from the Sort By drop-down menu and choose either ascending or descending. 4. Select the second column and, if necessary, the third sort column from the Then By dropdown menus. If the cells you highlighted included the text headings in the first row, mark My list has Header row and the first row will remain at the top of the worksheet. Charts & Chart Tools Creating Charts Charts allow you to present data entered into the worksheet in a visual format using a variety of graph types. Before you can make a chart you must first enter data into a worksheet. Once you have entered data, you can select the data and headings in the worksheet that you want represented in the new chart. Click on the Insert Ribbon tab and then select the type of chart to create by clicking the button for the general type of chart (Column, Line, Pie, Bar and so on). You can then select the thumbnail of the subtype you want to use from the button s drop-down gallery. After you ve created your chart, a Chart Tools tab will be available on the Ribbon. You can refine the new chart as needed using the command buttons on the Design, and Format tab under the Chart Tools contextual tab on the Ribbon. Page 5

6 Copying a Chart to Microsoft Word A finished chart can be copied into a Microsoft Word document. You can either copy that chart as a picture or copy it so that any changes made to the table in Excel will reflect over to the chart you ve imported into Word. To copy the chart as picture, click on the chart (taking care to highlight the entire chart picture and not just an element of it). Using the Home Ribbon, click on the drop-down arrow on the right-hand side of the Copy button. Select Copy as Picture. Now that the picture of the chart is on your clipboard, you can paste it into a Word Document. To copy the chart so that any changes made to the table in Excel will automatically update the chart in Word, copy the chart from Excel. Open Word and position your cursor where you d like to chart to be. Click on the arrow next to the Paste button on the Home Ribbon. You will have several paste options. To link the Excel chart to the Word document choose either: Use Destination Theme & Link Data OR Keep Source Formatting and Link Data. Either option links the Excel table with the Word document. Charting with Pie Charts Data for a chart doesn t have to all be in one block. You can use CTRL+click on cell not directly connected to the original set of cells selected. If you select values and their respective labels, you will create a legend within the chart box which is generated. If you only select values, your pieces of the pie will not be labeled. 1. Highlight the values and labels you wish to use to create a pie chart. 2. On the Insert tab, in the Charts subsection, click on Pie chart and select the type of pie chart you d like. 3. To change the appearance of the pie chart, select the actual pie then Chart Tools/Layout/Format Selection to Select the angle of the first slice Explode the pie Change borders, 3-D effects, etc. You can copy and paste you chart into Word. When doing this you can choose to link the two files dynamically (which would mean that updates to your Excel sheet would automatically update the Word document which links to it), or you can simply paste your chart into Word without linking the two files. Page 6

7 Charting multiple columns with Line Charts You can look at the values contained in multiple columns by charting these columns using a Line graph as follows: 1. Click on the column labels to highlight the columns you d like to chart 2. On the Insert tab, in the Charts subsection, click on Line chart and select the type of line chart you d like. You can remove any of the charted lines using the Chart Tools/Design/Select Data. Highlight the column of data you d like to remove and click on Remove. To use the Chart Tools tab to make changes, click on the chart and then select one of the following: Design change the chart type or general appearance Chart Layouts change title, axes, axes labels, etc. Format change background fill (color & texture such as gradient), shape outline and effects. There are also options to change your text color and effects. You can also change objects on the chart by double-clicking on the object and then selecting the appropriate options. Inserting Comments into a Cell Inserting a comment is like attaching a Post-It note to a specific cell. You can choose to display the comments or hide them after you ve created them. To insert a comment: 1. Select the cell to which you d like to attach a comment 2. On the Review Ribbon, click on New Comment You can show/hide one or all comments by clicking on Show/Hide Comments or Show All Comments (also on the Review Ribbon in the Comments subsection). You can also click on the border of the comment with a right-mouse click for formatting options. Page 7

8 Inserting a Text Box Similar to inserting a comment, a text box can also be inserted. A text box sits on top of the spreadsheet and can be used, similar to a Post-It note, to make a note about the entire worksheet. You can change the size of these text boxes and move them around to reposition them. To insert a text box: 1. On the Insert Ribbon select Text Box 2. Click on the worksheet area to place the textbox 3. To format the text box, select the text box, click on Drawing Tools/Format, then select the appropriate option to change the alignment, color fill, transparency, margins, etc. Hiding and Unhiding a Column or Row Not all the data on a worksheet should be available to everyone. You can hide sensitive information without deleting it by hiding selected columns or rows. For example, if you want to share a worksheet with others, but it includes confidential employee salaries, you can simply hide the salary column. Hiding columns and rows does not affect calculations in worksheet; all data in hidden columns and rows is still referenced by formulas as necessary. Hidden columns and rows do not appear in a printout either. When you need data, you can unhide the sensitive information. How to hide a column or row: 1. Click the column or row header button of the column or row you want to hide. (Drag to select multiple header buttons to hide more than one column or row.) 2. From the Home Ribbon, select Cells/Format/Visibility/Hide and Unhide, select Unhide Columns. 3. Protect the sheet, if desired. How to unhide a column or row: 1. (Unprotect the sheet if it has been protected.) 2. Drag to select the column or row header buttons on either side of the hidden column or row 3. From the Home Ribbon, select Cells/Format/Visibility/Hide and Unhide, and Unhide Columns. How to hide Formula: 1. Select the cells which contain formulas you wish to hide 2. From the Home Ribbon, select Cells/Format, select Protection/Format Cells. Select the Protection tab, and then check the hidden box. Page 8

9 Remember the cells are not protected until the Protect Sheet option is switched on. Now when you view your worksheet, the formula will no longer appear at the top when the cell is selected. Referencing cells in multiple worksheets The various sheets in a workbook can be referred to in other worksheets by including the sheet reference as well as the cell reference in a formula. A sheet reference includes the sheet name followed by an exclamation point, e.g., Sheet2! Refers to Sheet 2. To refer to cell A1 on Sheet 2 (when working in any sheet other than Sheet 2) the reference would be Sheet2!A1. Notice that the exclamation point separates the sheet reference from the cell reference. If you have named the sheet, simply use the new sheet name (followed by an exclamation point) and the cell reference. If the sheet name includes spaces you must surround the sheet name with single quotation marks. To refer to cell A1 on a sheet named Budget, the reference would be: =Budget!A1 To refer to cell A1 on a sheet named Annual Budget, the reference would be: = Annual Budget!A1 How to summarize data held on multiple worksheets: 1. Click a cell that you want to contain the summarized data 2. Type a formula that includes references to the source cells on each worksheet that contains data you want to summarize, e.g. =SUM( Worksheet Name!B13:B3) 3. Repeat steps 2 & 3 for each cell where you want to summarize data Helpful hint: To enter a reference in a formula with less typing, enter the formula up to the point where you need to reference cells from another worksheet. If the cell/s is/are on another worksheet, first click that worksheet s tab, and then click the cell/s you d like to be used in the formula. Press Enter key. Page 9