Excel Basics Tutorial Lauren Ottaviano Fall 2012.

Excel Basics TutorialLauren OttavianoFall 2012

Rows and Columns

• Rows: horizontal lines on the grid• Numbered, total of 220 = 1,048,576

• Columns: vertical lines on the grid• Lettered from A . . . Z, AA, AB, . . . To ZZ, AAA to XFD• Total of 214 = 16,384 columns.

Row & Column Operations• Insert, Delete, Cut, Copy, Paste• Move cursor over to row or column heading (number or letter on

the border of the spreadsheet)• Cursor turns into an arrow• Right click to see menu

• Also Hide or Unhide rows/columns

Resizing a row or column• Move cursor over to edge of column or row label (the number

or letter)• Cursor turns into an “adjustor”• Click and drag to resize

Insert & Delete with Cells• When you insert or delete a cell, you need to state how the

other cells should be rearranged.• To simply empty the contents, press the delete or

backspace button

Multiple Worksheets• Multiple “worksheets” are associated with a single file or

“workbook”• Click on tab at bottom to move from one to another. –far right

tab inserts a new sheet.

Multiple Worksheets• Right click on sheet name to move, copy, etc.

• If you selectmore than oneworksheet & thenedit some cells,the same edits willappear on all ofthe selected sheets

Cursor Movements• Ctrl + arrow• Move to the next or last area with content

• Shift + arrow• Select this cell and cell in the next direction• Further use of arrows: expand size of selected rectangle.

• Shift + ctrl + arrow• Select all cells/rows/columns until next cell or last cell with

content

Cursor Movements• From bottom right: shift + ctrl + up – select last column of data

• Shift + ctrl+ left – selectremainingcolumns ofdata

Cursor Movements• Move cursor to edge of selection and it becomes arrows in four

directions

• Drag to moveentire selection

Cell Properties• Right-click on cell or group of cells to see drop-down menu.

• Click on “Format Cells”to adjust cell properties

Formatting Cells• Number tab: determine the data type• Number• Currency• Date• Percentage• Text• Custom

• Each with its ownoptions

Formatting Cells• Number options in toolbar• Change number of decimal places• Presence of comma• Dollar or other currency• Convert data type

Date Formats• Excel has multiple options for presenting dates• Dates are stored as numbers• Allows for addition, subtraction of days• Date number 1 is 1/1/1900.• Earlier dates are allowed, but some problems arise with algebra

Formatting Cells• Other tabs allow for changing text alignment,font, borders, fill,& rights forchanging the cell.

Merging Cells• Cells can be joined horizontally, vertically, or both into larger

rectangles

• Mainly for creating titles

Wrapping text• Click the wrap text button to show all of the text on multiple

lines (resize to fit)

Freezing Panes• For large spreadsheets, the header row or column can be

frozen so that it always displays when scrolling.

Paste Special• Option when right-clicking a cell or can be dragged and

selected from the paste button.

• Can paste formulas,values (what theformulas equal),formats (font, etc.),transpose of cell

Sorting Data• Can sort data in ascending or descending order by any

variable.• Can also do nested sorting

• First by column A then by column B.• Excel will use column names if you ask.

• Go to data tab sort for dialogue box with sorting options

Sorting Data• Can also sort by cell or font color• Changed with buttons in the home menu.

Pasting Text• Tab delimited text pastes directly into Excel as different columns.• For other text (comma-delimited, other delimiters, or block text), first

paste, then select your text and click on “text to columns” in the Data tab

Text to Columns• After clicking text to columns, a dialogue box opens with a

variety of options.• This same box opens when youopen a text filedirectly in Excel

Text to Columns• If you pick “delimited,” you can select the delimiter (i.e., what

indicates the start of the next column)• Tab, comma, semicolon, etc.

• If you pick “fixed width,” then you select the places where each old column ends and new one begins

Formulas• To calculate a value based upon values in other cells, begin the

entry with =• Refer to other cells by their locations (C3, B3, etc.)• Formula appears in the formula bar above the column heading.• Cells are highlighted when selected

Expanding formulas• Move your cursor to the lower-right of the cell, and it turns

into a plus sign.

• Drag in any direction tofill in the same formulain those additional cells

• Double click to repeatformula for all values untilnext blank space in column

Expanding Formulas• By default, the locations of cells change as you drag or paste.• As you move from B3 to E7,

= C17/B12 would change to = F21/E16

• To keep a cell, column, or row constant, use a dollar sign before the number or letter in the formula.• As you move from B3 to E7,

= C$17/$B12 would change to = F$17/$B16

Formulas• Arithmetic Operators

+, -, *, /, ^ (plus, minus, times, divide, exponent)Parentheses (for order of operations)

• Mathematical FunctionsSQRT, LN, LOG, EXP, MODROUNDDOWN, ROUNDUP, ROUND

Formulas• Logical Operators

IF(condition,value if true,value if false)uses >, >=, =, <=, <AND(condition a, condition b) or &OR(condition a, condition b)nested ifs:

IF(condition a ,IF(condition b,0,1),1)

Formulas• Statistical Functions

SUM(A1,A2,B1,B2) or SUM(A1:B2)SUMIF(A1:A13, "<=20") –sum of all elements ≤ 20

AVERAGE, MIN, MAX, MEDIAN, STDEV, COUNTSUMPRODUCT(A1:A13,B1:B13)COVAR(A1:A13,B1:B13)

NORMDIST(x,mean,sd,cumulative)NORMINV(probability,mean,sd)

other distributions as well (F, t, beta, binomial, etc.)

RAND() –random number between zero and oneUse norminv to make it random normal

Formulas• Text functions

UPPER, LOWER, PROPER –change caseLEN –length (number of characters)SUBSTITUTE(text, string to remove, string to replace it with)FIND(text to find, text to search)

finds position of first instance of a string in textMID(text, starting position, number of characters)

picks out a portion of the text

Formulas• Cell positions

ADDRESS(1,2) = $B$1useful if you need the 5th row from the 36th column, or if the location depends on another formula.

COLUMN(B1) is 2 (because 2 is the second column)ROW(B36) is 36.

Formulas

INDIRECT(cell with location of other cell in it)Here, INDIRECT(B7) gives 99.495

Formulas• VLOOKUP(value in leftmost column, table of

data, column from data to return)

Note: data must be sorted by first column.

Formulas• HLOOKUP(value in top row, table of data, row from data to

return) • VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP are useful for values such as “ID of top

earner,” Note: data must be sorted from left to right

Formulas• Financial functions

PMT(interest rate, number of periods, present value) –the number of payments for a loan

NPV(interest rate, payment after 1 year, payment after 2 years, . . . , payment after n years)

NPER(interest rate, payment per period, present value of sum being paid off)

IRR(cash flow in year 0, cash flow in year 1, . . . , cash flow in year n, initial guess for irr)

Naming Values or Ranges• Useful for keeping track of items in your spreadsheet. –right

click, then select name a range to get a dialogue box

Naming Values or Ranges• Cell or group of cells can now be referred to by name in

formulas.