Loading Excel Double click the Excel icon on the desktop (if you have this) OR Click on Start All Programs Microsoft Office Microsoft Office Excel 2003

The Opening Screen Row Task Pane Click here to close the Task Pane Active Cell Name of Active Cell Column Sheet Tabs Standard Toolbar Formatting Toolbar

What All The Different Parts Mean WorksheetsA worksheet consists of a grid containing 256 columns and 65,536 rows. The columns are labelled A, B, C, etc. The rows are labelled 1, 2, 3, etc. ToolbarsThese contain a number of icons which can be clicked to use frequently used commands. CellsThe address of the cell in the top left-hand corner is A1 because it is in column A and row 1. You can type a number, label or formula into a cell. Active cellWhen you click or type into a cell, this is surrounded by a black border, making it the active cell. When you view a blank file, this will be cell A1. Rows and columns If you click on the column or row headers (the letters or numbers to the top and left of the worksheet area, the entire column or row will be highlighted. WorkbooksWorkbooks contain several blank worksheets usually named Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3, etc which are shown on the sheet tabs at the bottom. Task paneThis area lists workbooks recently opened and other options. You can close this by clicking on the Close icon in the top right hand corner.

Entering Data Click on the cell where you want the data to appear and type in the data To type data into the next cell, press the right arrow key (or click in the cell) If you press the Enter key the active cell will move to the cell below Note how text is automatically aligned to the left of the cell and numbers are aligned to the right As you type in text Excel may type in a previous entry If you carry on typing this will disappear

Editing Data First Way Click on the cell to be changed The cell contents will appear in the Formula bar Move the insertion point to the appropriate place Press Backspace or Delete to delete text or type in text to be inserted Press the Enter key to confirm the change Second Way Click on the cell to be changed Type in the new text and press the Enter key The old text will disappear and be replaced by your new text!

Inserting/Deleting Rows & Columns To delete a row, right click the row number and left click Delete (see below) To insert a row, right click the row number and select Insert To insert a spreadsheet title, highlight row 1, right click and select Insert – type the title in the top row Handy Hint: to insert or delete a column, right click the column header and select Insert or Delete as appropriate

Saving Your Work From the main menu, click File, Save (or click on the Save button on the standard toolbar). Make sure the right location is displayed in the save in box. Type a suitable filename (eg HolidayDays) in the File name box Click the Save button to save the workbook. Workbook nameSave button

Closing A Workbook And Exiting Excel From the main menu, select File, Close to close the workbook. Close Excel by clicking on the Close icon in the top right corner OR From the File menu Select Exit

Formulae + Add - Minus * Multiply / Divide The best part of spreadsheets is formulae which make it possible to perform calculations automatically You can add, subtract, multiply and divide cells All formulae start with an equals sign This tells Excel that you are going to insert a formula as opposed to text or numbers You may find it easier to use the keys on the right hand side of the keyboard to type the symbols!

Selecting Cells Click in the intersection of row and column headers to select all cells Click on a column header to select a column Click on a row header to select a row To select non adjacent cells hold down the Ctrl key whilst you click on cells or column or row headers (the last cell clicked will appear white) When you select a range of cells the first cell will be coloured white, the rest pale blue

Entering Formulae Click where you want the result to appear Type an equal sign Type the first cell reference (eg A2) Press + - * / as appropriate Type the second cell reference (eg A3) Press the Enter key to confirm The result of the formula appears in the spreadsheet The formula is displayed in the formula bar

Automatic Recalculation If you have entered your formula correctly and if you change a number, Excel will recalculate! Don’t insert a space into a cell used in a formula otherwise you will receive an error message #VALUE! Similarly if you try to divide a cell by 0 or an empty cell, #DIV/0! will appear If either of these messages appear, check that your formula points to the right cells and that the cells contain the right information!

Enter Formulae By Pointing Instead of typing in a formula such as =A2+A3, you can use the mouse to point at the cells in the formula. Click in the cell to contain the formula Type an equals sign Click on cell A2 Type a plus sign Click on cell A3 Press the Enter key to confirm As you click on the cells, notice how Excel inserts the cell reference!

Adding a Column of Numbers Click in a cell below the column of numbers you want to add up Click the AutoSum icon once Excel will guess which numbers you want to add up. Press the Enter key to confirm If Excel doesn’t select the right cells, select the cells you want to add up and press Enter!

Functions A function is a formula used in a calculation Excel has over 200 functions to help with many applications You will learn about: =SUM =AVERAGE =MIN =MAX =COUNT

The SUM Function Although you can use the AutoSum button to add up a column or row of numbers, you can also type the function Click where you want the total to appear Type =SUM( Click and drag the cells you want to add up Press the Enter key

The AVERAGE Function Use this to work out the average of a range of cells Click where you want the result of the function to appear (eg cell B13) Type =AVERAGE( Select the cells you want to find the average of Press the Enter key Watch out: any blank cell formatted as Number will upset your average!

The MAX and MIN Functions To display the highest number in a range of cells: Click where you want the result of the function to appear (eg cell B15) Type =MAX( Select the range of cells Press the Enter key To show the lowest number, replace =MAX( with =MIN(

The COUNT Function To count the number of entries in a range of cells: Click where you want the result of the function to appear (eg cell B19) Type =COUNT( Select the range of cells Press the Enter key Note the COUNT function only counts cells that contain a number – it will ignore blank cells or cells which contain text!

Drawing a Bar Chart – Step 1 Select the cells to be charted (eg A4 through to C13) Click the Chart Wizard icon on the Standard Toolbar The Chart Wizard dialogue box appears (Step 1 of 4) Select the type of chart to be created (eg Clustered Column) Click here and hold down the left mouse button if you want a quick Preview. Click Next button

Bar Chart Steps 2 and 3 You don’t need to do anything in Step 2 so click Next to continue Step 3 appears Type in the Chart title here (eg Decline in Songbirds ) – notice how the preview displays your text as you type it in. Click Next to continue

Bar Chart Step 4 In Step 4 you can specify where you want the Chart to appear As New Sheet will put the chart onto a separate sheet in the workbook As Object in Sheet 1 will put the chart as an object in the sheet Select the second option then click Finish

Creating a Pie Chart Select the data you want to be charted Click the Chart Wizard icon Step 1 of the wizard appears Select Pie in the Chart Type list Select the plain Pie chart in the top left hand corner Click Next to continue

Chart Wizard Steps 2 and 3 When the Step 2 window appears, click Next to continue Click the Titles tab and type in your titles On the Legends tab, make sure Show Legend is ticked On the Data Labels tab, check Category Name and Percentage Click Next to continue

Chart Wizard Step 4 Again you have the choice of placing the chart in a new sheet or as an object in Sheet 2 Click on Finish