International Computer Driving Licence Syllabus version 5.0 Module 4 – Spreadsheets Chapter 19 – First steps

Loading Microsoft® Excel® Either double-click the Excel® icon (if it is on your desktop) Or click Start, All Programs, then click Microsoft Office Excel 2007. (Note: depending on how your computer is set up, you might need to click Start, All Programs, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Excel 2007.)

The opening screen Quick Access Toolbar Formula bar Title bar Office button The ribbon Ribbon tabs Name of active cell Active cell Row Column Worksheet tabs Status bar

What the screen parts mean Title bar Shows the name of your document Office button Click this to see a menu of options, such as printing, saving and closing Ribbon The Ribbon is where you can find all the functions you will need to create and edit your document, grouped by related commands Ribbon tab A ribbon is displayed by selecting its Ribbon tab Status bar Shows details about your document, such as the page you are on, the language setting etc. Quick Access Toolbar A group of useful buttons, such as Save and Undo Task pane Sometimes a context-sensitive task pane is displayed at the side of the screen – this lets you choose further options related to the task in hand

Some spreadsheet terms Worksheet A worksheet contains 16,384 columns and 1,048,576 rows – you can see only a few of these on the screen Cell The worksheet is divided into cells in which you can type a number, a label or a formula Active cells When you click or type in a cell it is highlighted by a black border to show it is active Rows and columns The column and row headers are identified by letters and numbers, respectively – these are used to reference cells Workbook A workbook contains several worksheets – these are shown by the worksheet tabs

Moving around the worksheet You can move around the worksheet to make a cell active by: moving the cross-shaped cursor using the mouse and clicking the left mouse button in the cell you want using one of the arrow keys on the keyboard to go up, down, left or right using the Page Up or Page Down keys on the keyboard pressing the Tab key on the keyboard Tips Press Tab to select the next cell to the right of the current active cell Press Shift+Tab to select the next cells to the left of the current active cell Press Ctrl+Home to makes cell A1 active

Using Zoom Click the Zoom button in the Zoom group on the View ribbon to display the Zoom dialogue box Set the magnification to display your document at

Minimising and restoring the ribbon Right-click anywhere in the line containing the ribbon tabs, on the Office button, on the Quick Access Toolbar, or on a ribbon group name Click Minimize the Ribbon on the shortcut menu that is displayed To restore the ribbon, right-click in one of the same places as before to un-tick Minimize the Ribbon on the shortcut menu

Defaults and preferences Click the Office button, and then click Excel Options on the window that appears Click the option you require in the panel on the left-hand side of the Excel Options dialogue box

Getting help Click the Help icon that is located near the top right of the Excel screen (or simply press the F1 function key on the keyboard) to open the Excel Help window Type some appropriate words as a search criterion in the search text box Click the Search button to display a list of items related to the search topic

Entering and deleting data Click the cell where you want the data to appear Type the data Press Backspace or Delete to delete the contents of an active cell Good practice Ensure that only a single element of data is in a cell Do not leave any blank rows or columns when you enter a data list Lay out calculations in a similar way as you would on paper Ensure that cells bordering a list are left blank so that it is clear what the list comprises

Inserting and deleting rows and columns To delete Right-click a row or column header Click Delete on the shortcut menu which appears To insert Select Insert on the shortcut menu which appears

Saving your work Click the Office button, and then click Save on the menu that appears On the Save As dialogue box, type a name for your file in the File name: text box In the Save in: list box, select a folder to save your file in Click the Save button

Closing Excel To close a spreadsheet Click the Office button Click Close on the menu that appears To close Excel Click Exit Excel on the window that appears