You don’t need a lot of technology experience to use Excel. Learning a few basic functions can help you use the program effectively for your personal and professional life.
This brief guide will help you understand and use some of the basic functions of Excel. It may be helpful to have Excel open while you’re reading for reference.
Parts of an Excel Spreadsheet
A basic excel spreadsheet consists of columns (vertical) and rows (horizontal). Each column has a letter and each row has a number to make it easy to refer to a specific box, or “cell”.
The formula bar is indicated with “fx” and an open text area. The formula feature will be discussed later but its main function is to further analyze data and relationships within the spreadsheet.
A series of spreadsheets makes up an Excel workbook. You can locate each spreadsheet at the bottom of the screen.
Entering and Selecting Data
To input data, click into the cell and enter any value. Values can be numbers, letters, or words. To select a group of cells, click and drag across all the cells you want to select.
To remove data from cells click into the cell and press delete. Or select the group of cells you want to remove and select delete.
Using a Formula
Let’s say you wanted to add all the numbers in column A. You could select the last cell beneath all the values in column A and enter “SUM” and then select all the cells in column A by highlighting them or selecting the column title.
You can use a formula for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and more. You can also use more than one of these together. For example, SUM(A1,A2)/DIFF(B1,B2). This would be cell A1 + A2 divided by cell B1 – B2.
Inside of the parentheses, use a comma to separate values. You can also use the “IF” function to use only specific cells. For example, if you wanted to count the cells in column A that are labeled “apple”, you would use COUNTIF(A1:A15, “apple”).
Advanced Excel Sheets
If you’re an experienced Excel user, you may have questions about how to create Excel file in c#. C# strategies can help you read and edit your data in c# format. C# software will also provide c# tips and tricks if you need more guidance. Getting to know the c# format isn’t as hard as you think!
Use Excel Like a Pro
You may not be able to master Excel overnight, but with the tips above you can create and edit Excel spreadsheets to keep any kind of data organized. Excel also has a built-in help feature if you are struggling with a specific feature.
