REMEMBER: EXCEL ISN”T AS SMART AS IT THINKS IT IS.
CHECK YOUR WORK
- Excel Spreadsheet Files can consist of multiple Sheets/Worksheets (these are the ‘tabs’ at the bottom of the screen.
- Every Cell can have a Formula or refer to another cell by adding an ‘=’ sign first. The formula can be seen & edited above the spread sheet when a cell is selected. Remember to hit ENTER when you are done editing a cell.
- If you make a mistake in a cell, hit ESC. This will deselect the cell without the changes you had made.
- UNDO gets you out of trouble. UNDO is CTRL-Z.
- REDO is the opposite of UNDO. REDO is CTRL-Y. If you UNDO too many times, use REDO to get back to where you where.
- Freeze the Top Row or Left-most Column by selecting it, then clicking VIEW Menu/Freeze Panes<row or column>
- Split a spreadsheet for easier viewing by selecting a row or column, then clicking VIEW menu/Split. If you have a Cell selected, Split will split them both, giving you a ‘quad view’.
- If a Cell contains a FUNCTION (i.e. SUM() , the function’s ‘arguments’ are enclosed within parenthesis, i.e. =SUM(a,b)
- Parentheses are not necessary if the cell does not contain a FUNCTION, unless necessary because the math requires it, i.e. =(2+3)*(3+4)
- A Cell’s ‘properties‘ can be edited by right-clicking on the cell. These include
- Format (changing borders, background colors, text colors, type of text, font and text alignment, and text wrapping.
- Many of these can be changed ALSO in the HOME menu at the top of the screen. This show a Ribbon with the many of the same items.
- A NOTE can be added to a cell by right-clicking the cell, then selecting Add Note.
- To DUPLICATE many rows or columns of a similiar function, select all the row(s) or column(s), CTRL-C (copy), then past the new rows or columns where you want and hit CTRL-V (PASTE). This will duplicate the rows or columns and ‘ripple’ the formulas in the cells accordingly.
- Don’t forget to SAVE the spreadsheet when you’re done. Save with a number on the end of the name to save a new one and not delete your old spreadsheet.