A manual I wrote in 2013. |
Table of Contents Introduction Welcome to Excel 2013. Excel is a great program to use for putting together budgets, lists for mail merges and other tasks that involve data. Excel 2013 has some of the great features of Excel 2010, but has expanded and improved upon some as well. In Excel 2013 you will find:
A Word About Office 2013 Office 2013 revolutionized the typing experience by upgrading several aspects of the creating process. Since Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system already adopted a whole new style (called "Metro"), this version of Office does the same thing. The startup screens and interface all look a little "flatter" and sparse. For example, Excel used to open up straight to a blank document, but now opens to a special start-up screen. You will also notice that when you open a program you'll see a colored menu (for example, Excel is green) that will give you a list of recent documents. Lastly, since the world is looking to go "cloud-based," all the features of Office adopt that philosophy and make it easier to store to the Cloud. Excel Spreadsheet Quick Access Bar A Customizable toolbar that contains a set of commands that are independent of the tab that is currently displayed. You may modify this toolbar by adding and/or deleting commands on the toolbar. To add/delete commands:
Check mark indicates that the command is currently active on the toolbar. The Ribbon The traditional menus and toolbars have been replaced by the Ribbon--a device added in Office 2007 that presents commands organized into groups. The groups on the Ribbon display the commands that are most relevant for each of the task areas in the applications. Minimizing the Ribbon The Ribbon can be minimized so that it is not visible while you are in your spreadsheet.
Quick Access Toolbar--this is a customizable toolbar that contains a set of commands that are independent of the tab that is currently displayed. You may modify this toolbar by adding and/or deleting commands on the toolbar. Ribbon Bar--the traditional menus and toolbars have been replaced by the Ribbon--a device added in Office 2007 that presents commands organized into a set of tabs. The tabs on the Ribbon display the commands that are most relevant for each of the task areas in the applications. Sizing Buttons--these buttons are used to manipulate the size of the spreadsheet window. Name Box--this box displays the active cell. Dialog Launcher--this appears in the lower right corner of a Group providing access to the Group's corresponding dialog box. Formula Bar--this bar displays the data in the active cell. Worksheet Tabs--these are new ledger sheets. You can rename these sheets using up to 31 characters in the name. Zoom Control--this option will allow you to magnify your spreadsheet. Click and drag the slider to the right to increase magnification and click and drag to the left to decrease the magnification. Status Bar--this bar displays the current settings and commands in Excel. Also, when two or more cells are selected, and one or more contains a value, the status bar displays a total for the selected cells. Worksheet Tabs Adding a Worksheet Click on the Plus or the New Worksheet sheet tab OR
Renaming Sheet Tabs To rename a worksheet tab, just follow these steps:
Excel displays the new sheet name on its tab at the
bottom of the workbook window. Color Coding Sheet Tabs
Hide and Unhide Sheet Tabs
Cells As you begin to type you will notice that your information will appear in the formula bar as well as in the cell itself. Once you are done typing in a cell, you have to remember to ENTER that information in the cell. If you do not enter your information in that particular cell then Excel will not let you continue to the next step. Once your information has been entered, Excel will look at that particular cell as a label cell, any character that Excel cannot interpret as a number, date, time, or formula, or value cell, any character Excel interprets as a number, date, time or formula. Ways to enter information in a cell
Moving within the Spreadsheet The mouse is easy to point, click and drag but it's sometimes difficult to control. Therefore, there are several keystrokes that can be made to accomplish the same task.
Selecting Cells Non-consecutive cells
Consecutive cells
To access the Format Cells box click on the Dialog Launcher in the lower right-hand corner of the alignment box.
Cut, Copy, Paste In Office 2013 you have the Paste with Live Preview option. This option allows you to determine how your content will be pasted.
Note: Available paste options change to best fit the content you are reusing. Formulas and Functions Formulas A formula is a mathematical arrangement of one or more values, cell references, functions, and operations that produce a numeric value. The operators for formulas include: + Addition
^ Exponentiation _ Subtraction / Division Functions A function is an abbreviation of a formula. It provides a quick way to calculate the value of a cell that would often require a long expression. Each function begins with an equal sign followed by the name of the function. Note:
Setting up a simple Sum function
Formula AutoComplete
Cell References Cell references can be included in formulas, built-in functions and mathematical operators. You can either type in a cell reference or select the cell with your mouse. Relative cell reference such as A1, is based on the relative position of the cell that contains the formula and the cell the reference refers to. Example of a relative cell reference in a formula: =A1*23 Absolute cell reference such as $A$1, always refers to a specific cell in a specific location. Example of an absolute cell reference in a formula: =$A$1*23
Move and Copy Move and copy are two powerful features available with a spreadsheet package. It gives the user the opportunity to copy or move contents of a cell to another cell without having to retype the information. The information can contain text as well as a formula or function.
Moving Text
Columns and Rows Hiding Columns
Unhide Columns
**Apply the same procedures to hide/unhide ROWS.** Changing the width of a column and row
OR Double click on the line in between the Column or Row header.
Comments Comments can be used to document information, explain calculations and reminders.
Comment boxes will display one of two ways. They will either be hidden or displayed on the spreadsheet. To get either option, click the comment and look to your Ribbon and under the Comments section, click Show/Hide Comments. You can also select either option by right-clicking in the cell with the comment box and select Show Comment or Hide Comment depending on which option is available. |