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Microsoft Excel 2007

Hints & Tips (Level 3)

Contents

Introduction ..............................................................................................................1Starting Excel and Customising the Screen ...................................................1Further Key Combinations ...................................................................................2

Further Function Keys & Key Combinations ......................... .................. 3Data Entry and Cell Formatting ..........................................................................3Moving Around and Selecting Cells ..................................................................5Making Good Use of the Mouse .........................................................................5

Moving/Copying Data and Filling a Series ................... ............................ 6Other Useful Mouse Tips .............................................................................. 7

Screen Layout ............................................................................................................7Using Colours and Adding Comments ............................. ....................... 8

Cell Referencing .......................................................................................................9

Charts ........................................................................................................................9Printing Tips ............................................................................................................ 10Other Tips ................................................................................................................ 10

IntroductionThe aim of this document is to show you how to make the best use of some of the facilities inMicrosoft Excel and, in particular, to save you time when using it.

Note that this document doesnt include tips applicable throughout the Microsoft Office suite see the documentMicrosoft Office 2007 Hints & Tipsfor details of these. The Office tips includestarting a program and opening files, customising theQuick Access Toolbar, issuing commandsfrom the keyboard,AutoText, quick methods to select text, and when to use the mouse buttonrather than the keyboard.

Be aware that we have several other documents on using Excel, includingAn Essential Guide,AnIntermediate Guide, plus a host ofAdvanced Topics.

Starting Excel and Customising the ScreenBegin by launching Excel, as usual:

IT Services

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1. Open the Start menu, choose All Programs then Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office Excel 2007Note: Launching Excel via the Start menu isn't the most efficient way of doing things; it's much easier to do sofrom an icon on the Desktop or Taskbar, as described in theMicrosoft Office 2007 Hints & Tipsnotes.

Immediately above the [Start] button is the Status Bar. In Excel 2007, you are now shown a wider range ofstatistics when you select a range of cells. To customise the settings:

2. Right click on the Status Bar the Customize Status Barpop-up menu appears3. Turn on/off the elements required

Throughout Office 2007, the tabs on the Ribbon cannot be customised or hidden. If you want to have yourown buttons to run particular commands (or macros) then you have to place them on the Quick AccessToolbar. How you do this is covered in theMicrosoft Office 2007 Hints & Tipsnotes.

The Ribbon is context-sensitive such that if you insert a chart, for example, extra tabs are shown. On the PCs inthe public facilities, a Get Started tab is present. This is a useful facility for those used to using Excel 2003. Toadd it to your own PC:

4. Click on the [Microsoft Office Excel Help] button (or, more simply, just press )5. Type get startedinto the Search box press 6. Select Download get started training for Office 20077. Scroll down and select Excel 2007 Get Started tab and follow the instructions

Another tab, the Developertab, is hidden by default. This is a useful addition if you create macros. To displaythis tab:

8. Click on the [Office Button] then on [Excel Options] at the foot9. On the Populartab, turn on Show Developer tab in the Ribbon10.Note the options available under the When creating new workbooks heading press for [OK]

There are lots of other options you might like to set, some of which (egAutoCorrect) are covered in theMicrosoft Office 2007 Hints & Tipsnotes. Its worth looking through the options when you have time, in casethere is anything you would like to change (eg the default file format and save location).

Another screen customisation you might like to set is theZoom level. Individual spreadsheets can have theirown Zoom setting, which are retained when the workbook is saved. To change the zoom level:

11.Click on the [Zoom level] button (currently showing as 100%) in the bottom right of the screen12.TheZoom dialog box appears, in which you can set the zoom level required - press for [OK]

To the left of the [Zoom level] button are the different Viewlayouts. Some people like working in [PageLayout] view, which has been introduced in Excel 2007.

Further Key CombinationsHaving to issue commands using the mouse and icons on the Ribbon (or via the rightmouse button) can bevery inefficient. This is especially true in Office 2007, where you may need to switch tabs on the Ribbon beforeyou can access a command. Make good use of key combinations to issue commands instead. The commonercommands are covered in the documentMicrosoft Office 2007 Hints & Tips; here are some Excel-specific ones:

- Insert Today's Date - Insert Current Time - Display palette when entering function - Fill down - Fill right

- Select row - Select column - Hide rows orcolumns - Unhide rows orcolumns

- Display Format Cells dialog box - Displays Format Cells Fonttab

- Direct precedents ordependents - All precedents ordependents - Show Insertdialog box - Show Delete dialog box

- Apply SUM function - Show/hide formulas

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1. In cellA1 press to insert today's date press or 2. In cellA2 press to insert the current time press or 3. Press to select columnA then to fill the whole column with todays date4. Press to [Undo] the last command then to hide columnA5. Press to unhide the column then repeat step 2 to get the new current time6. In cellA4 press to sum up the two times (needless to say you wouldnt normally sum times!)7. Now press (the key in the top left corner) to show exactly whats stored in the cells

You may or may now know that dates and times are stored as numbers in Excel. The date is the number ofwhole days since 1st January 1900; the time is the fractional part of a day (ie 12 noon is stored as 0.5)

8. Repeat step 7 to return to normal then press to move toA5 and release the selection

Further Function Keys & Key CombinationsThe simple use of function keys to issue commands is also covered in the documentMicrosoft Office 2007Hints & Tips; here are a few more, Excel-specific ones:

- Edit mode - Edit comment - Insert new worksheet - Insert function - Repeat last command or Create absolute reference

- Turn extend mode on/off - Select non-adjacent cell or range using arrow keys- Create chart on new Chart sheet - Create chart on current sheet

The most important key combinations here are and . These were covered in theMicrosoft ExcelEssentialandIntermediatenotes, but if you dont know about them:

1. Press to move to cellA4 then to enter Edit Mode (formula =SUM(A2:A3))2. Press to move the typing position before the closing bracket3. Now press once to create an absolute reference ($A$3) then press to stay inA44. Press to [Copy] the SUM formula then to move toA55. Finally, press to paste the SUM formula intoA5 remember to use for [Paste]

Note the new formula on the Formula Bar(=SUM(A3:$A$3)). By pressing you created anAbsolute

Reference ($A$3), which doesnt change, whereas the originalA2 has changed toA3. Note that if you arent inEdit Mode (editing or entering a formula) and use , then it repeats the previous command.

Data Entry and Cell FormattingThere are a few tricks to follow when entering data or formulae into cells. Excel automatically applies a data

type and format as you type in information. You should be aware that: Using a slash or hyphen (minus sign) between numbers gives a date format Using a colon between numbers gives a time format Preceding a number with a currency symbol (, $ or ) gives a currencyformat Including a comma in a number (eg 1,500) gives a comma format Having a percentage sign (%) at the end of a number gives a percentformat For afraction format, precede the fraction with 0 (or number) then a space and the fraction (eg 0 1/3) Preceding a number with a single quote (') forces it to be stored as text

Note also that data stored as textappears left-justified in a cell (by default); data stored as a numberappears

right-justified; a Boolean (TRUE or FALSE) appears centred. Dates and times are in fact stored as numbers (thenumber of days since the start of the last century - ie 12 noon on 3 Jan 1900 is stored as the number 3.5) butan appropriate display format converts this into the date/time.

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1. Move to a new sheet and, in cellA1, type 1 then press the key to move to cell B1Tip: It's easier to use the arrow keys rather than or when typing in data or formulae thoughsometimes, as youll see in a minute, you have to use or .

2. In cell B1 type '2 then press to move to cell B2 - this number is stored as text3. Now press to move to cellA2

Having to press more than one key to move to the next required cell can be annoying. To get over thisproblem, Excel lets you pre-select the area for data entry. Try the following:

4. Select the cell rangeA2 to B4 then, in the Name Boxabove column A, type data and press 5. Type 3then press 6. Repeat step 5 typing4 then 5 into cellsA3 andA4

The current cell should now be B2 - Excel automatically moves directly to the second column.

7. Repeat step 6 typing6 then 7 and 8 into cells B2, B3 and B4You should now find the current cell is againA2 - Excel automatically scrolls around the selected cells untilthe selection is released. If you want to fill in a selected area across the rows rather than down the columns,

use the key to move between the selected cells - try this next:

8. Press and the current cell moves to B2 (with the selection intact) - type49. Press again (to move toA3) then press (the selection is released)10.Move down toA5 and select both it and B511.Now press (or click on the [Sum] button) and note that the value in B5 excludes the number

2 in B1 (even though the formula reads =SUM(B1:B4)) as its stored as text

Note that you can easily select the named range by clicking on the Name Boxarrow and choosing data.

Cell formatting can be applied using the following key combinations:

< Ctrl ~> - Apply General Number format < Ctrl !> - Apply Number format with 2 dec places - Apply Exponential Number format - Apply Date format - Apply Time format

< Ctrl $> - Apply Currency format - Apply Percentage format

12.WithA5 and B5 still selected, press (ie ) to apply a currency format13.Now press - the numbers turn to dates14.Finally, press (ie ) to reapply the general number format

Sometimes, its useful to be able to clear a format when things go wrong!

You can also enter data using a Data Form. Sadly, this facility has been hidden in Excel 2007 but it still works ifyou know how to activate it. A form relies on column headings being present and is particularly useful where

you have data values supplying formulae in other columns:1. Press to select all the filled cells then the contents - press 2. In cellA1 type x then press and in cell B1 type y- press 3. In cell B2 type = then press ; type * then press again - press

(note: selecting cells using the arrow keys is a quick way to pick up cell references in a formula)

4. Next, press followed by (you could also add a [Form] button to the Quick Access Toolbar)5. Type1then press for another new record6. Repeat step 5 a further nine times - ie up to and including the value 107. Press to [Close] the data entry form

You will have noted that the calculation in columnyis carried out automatically. Data forms are also usefulwhere data has to be entered into a large number of columns (more than fit on a single screen).

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Tip: If you need to enter data into certain specific cells on a spreadsheet based on a form template, then youshould unprotect the cells for data entry and then protect the worksheet. As you press you jump fromone data entry cell to the next automatically. You unlock cells using the [Allow Users to Edit Ranges] buttonon the Review tab then [Protect Sheet] to stop data entry (except in the unlocked cells).

Moving Around and Selecting CellsIt's much quicker to use the keyboard rather than the mouse to move around your cells (and select them).Only through practice will you learn which method is the best for you (and in which circumstances). Thefollowing were covered in theEssentialandIntermediatenotes and are repeated here for convenience:

Use and to jump across/back cells in a row Use and to move down/up a column Use to preserve the position of the current cell Use / to move to the start/end of the data Use (or then ) to move to the start/end of a block Use (or then ) to move to the top/bottom of a block Use to move to column A Use and instead of the scroll bar to move up and down worksheets Use and to move a screen width across/back the worksheet Use and to move to the next/previous worksheet

You can pick up cells from the current or a different sheet using the keyboard when entering a formula:

1. Press to move to cellA1 on Sheet32. Type = then press to move back to Sheet23. Use the to move to cellA2 then press to complete the formula (=Sheet2!A2)4. Finally, press to move back to Sheet2

Using the arrow keys to pick up cell references is really useful if the cell required is close to the current cell.The one snag is that you cant then press an arrow key to end the formula (and move in the direction youwant) instead you have to use or (or or < Shift Tab>)

Using key combinations to select data is even more important its easy to lose control of the selection withthe mouse. Again, the following were covered in the Intermediate notes. If you dont already know them, trythem out here:

Make use of the key to select cells; use and arrow keys to extend/reduce a selection Use and to extend a selection to the end/start of a line Use and to extend a selection to the top/bottom of a column Use to extend a selection to the end or start of the sheet or selects the current region (delimited by an empty column and row) Avoid clicking on row/column headings (to select whole rows/columns) or dragging through the

headings (to select several rows/columns) unless this is specifically required

Making Good Use of the MouseSometimes its the mouse that offers the quick and easy way to do something, as is demonstrated in the next

set of exercises.

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Moving/Copying Data and Filling a SeriesThe mouse is particularly useful when moving or copying cells and when dealing with data series.

Hold down the mouse on the cell/range border to drag it/them to another location Holding down when dragging copies the data (instead of just moving it) Dragging with the rightmouse button gives further options when moving/copying Drag using the cell/range handle to copy a value, fill a series or copy formulae Dragging with the rightmouse button on a handle gives further options when copying/filling Double clickon a cell/range handle to fill down a column (with a formula, value or series)

Try out the following:

1. Select cellsA12 and B12 then press to [Sum] the values above2. Click on B12 then position the mouse cursor on the cell border (an arrow with a four-headed cross

appears), hold down the mouse button and drag and drop the contents in cell K12

3. Press to move to cellA12 and repeat step 2 but this time hold down as well (a + signis added to the cursor arrow) and drop the contents in cellJ12

Note how the value remains inA12 but thatJ12 appears as 0 - that's because it's SUM(J2:J11), as shown on theFormula Bar. Remember that holding down copies the formula/value. If you move a formula/valueusing the rightmouse button you get the option to move or copy (with a formula you can copy the value):

4. Repeat step 3 using just the rightmouse button, dropping the contents in cell I125. From the pop-up menu which appears, select Copy Here as Values OnlyI12 appears as 556. Press then to move to cellA117. This time, position the mouse cursor on the black corner handle of cellA11 (it becomes a plain black

cross) then hold down the mouse button and drag down to cellA21

When you release the mouse button, you'll find that the number 10 is copied down the cells. This is thedefault action when a single value is copied. However, Excel gives you otherfill options:

8. Click on the [Auto Fill Options] button (showing over cell B22) and choose Fill SeriesYou should now have numbers up to 20. You can also invoke the fill options by using the rightmouse buttonwhen you drag out a value (or formula). Once you have a set of values in one column, it's easy to completethe other columns on your spreadsheet

9. Press to move to cell B1110.Position the mouse cursor over the cell handle and double clickon the mouse button

The formula calculating the squares of the numbers is automatically copied down the whole column.

You should be aware of the series that are built into Excel:

The days of the week - in full (eg Monday) or abbreviated (eg Mon) The months of the year - in full (egJanuary) or abbreviated (egJan)

Try the following:

11.Press then to move to cell C112.Type Day then press and type Monday13.Double clickon the cell handle to copy the series down the column14.Move to cell D2 (press ) then press to enter todays date15.Double clickon the cell handle then, from the [Auto Fill Options], choose Fill Months16.

Try out some of the other auto filloptions to see what they offer

Note: You can create your own series (Tools ... Options... then go to the Custom Lists tab). With these seriesyou only have to type one value to generate the others. You can also sort data based on a series.

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Other Useful Mouse TipsHere are some other useful mouse tips:

Instead of typing in cell references in formulae, click on the cells (or drag through a range) Hold down and click to select a region (starting from the current cell) Hold down and click or drag to select non-adjacent cells or ranges Right clickon a cell to display a shortcut menu Double clickinside a cell to edit it directly (instead of on the Formula Baror using ) Double clickon a cell border to move left/right/up/down (same as ) Click the mouse wheel then use the mouse to scroll left/right and up/down (click to turn off) Hold down and rotate the mouse wheel to zoom in/out

Try out the above if you don't already know them and think they might be useful.

Screen LayoutThere are various things you can do to the screen layout, which can make it easier to use Excel: Data can be justified vertically as well as horizontally in a cell The [Wrap Text] button allows text to wrap around on several lines within a cell Double clickon a column (or row) heading border to fit the column to the data Drag on the column (or row) heading border to show the actual width (height) Avoid empty rows or columns (unless you are creating different data regions) To separate row/column headings from data, simply increase row height or column width Use [Freeze Panes], on the View tab, to permanently display row and/or column headings Use [Split], on the View tab, to see different sections of a worksheet at the same time [Zoom] to a higher / lower magnification if you want to see less / more cells.

The following exercise demonstrates some of these tips:

1. Press to move to cellA1 and make it [Bold] and [Centred]2. Click on the [Middle Align] button (above [Center]) then on [Wrap Text] in the top right of the group3. Click on the [Format Painter] button (in the Clipboard group) and then on the row indicator number

(ie 1) - all the cells in row 1 are now bold and centred (horizontally and vertically)

4. Move to cell C1 then press (ordouble clickon C1) and change Dayto Days of the Week5. Press to complete data entry - note how the text wraps onto three lines6. Double clickon the border in the column headings between columns Cand D - the column widens

slightly to fit Wednesdayand the heading in C1 now fits onto two lines

7. Double clickon the border in the row headings between rows 1 and 2 - the row shrinks slightly8. Drag down the row border between rows 2 and 3 to separate the headings from the data9. In cell C1, press then and move the insertion point to the space between ofand the10.Hold down and press to force the line break at this point ()

Note: You can use to force a new line when entering data into a cell at any time - you do notneed to turn on the Wrap Textoption (in fact Excel automatically turns it on as you press ).

11.Press to move to D1 and type an appropriate heading (eg Monthly Dates)When your spreadsheet no longer fits on a single screen, it's very annoying working out what data is stored inwhich column. Excel allows you tofreeze the column (and/or row) headings so that they are always displayed.

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12.On the View tab click on [Freeze Panes] and choose Freeze Top Row - a line appears under the row13.Using , scroll down the rows (to row 30) and watch what happens14.End by pressing to move to the top of your data (now defined as cellA2)

Using Colours and Adding CommentsOne of the easiest ways to improve the look of a spreadsheet is to make full use of colour - both for text andcell backgrounds. Sometimes colour is used just for cosmetic reasons but it can also be used to give a visualwarning if something goes wrong.

Colour code cells which contain certain types of data or which need further investigation Use conditional formattingto apply certain formats automatically (eg the colour fill) Add comments to cells to explain what is being calculated or what needs to be done If you want to hide some text on a sheet, change the font colour to white When using multiple sheets, name each sheet suitably (and also colour code it) Be aware that you can hide rows/columns/sheets - eg to hide background calculations

Try out the following:

1. Select cells I12 to K12 by dragging though them then right clickon the selection2. Click on the list arrowattached to [Font Color] and choose White from the palette

This is a very easy way to hide information (the data is still present in the cells). Another tip is to move yourcalculations onto a separate sheet (which could be hidden) and just display the results on the main sheet.

3. Next, select cells A1 to D1 by dragging though them then right clickon the selection4. Click on the list arrowattached to [Fill Color] and choose a colour from the palette5. Press to select all the data then click on [ConditionalFormatting] on the Home tab6. Choose Highlight Cell Rules and choose Equal To7. TypeMonday and change the with setting, if you like8. Repeat steps 5 to 7 and set a different conditional format for Sunday

You should find that some of your cells have been coloured. This isn't a particularly useful example, but itdoes demonstrate what conditional formatting is. This takes precedence over all other formatting:

9. Click then right clickon cell C2 then, using the [Font Color]list arrow, choose White - it stays red10.Right clickinside the cell and, from the pop-up menu, choose Pick From Drop-down List...11.Choose Friday - the cell now picks up the white font colour setting (press for [Undo])

Tip: Once cells have been coloured, they can be sorted or filtered by colour. You can also use conditional

formatting to add colour scales, data bars or icon sets to your cells.Another feature for indicating problems or explaining things on a spreadsheet is a comment:

1. Right clickon cell C2 and choose Insert CommentA box appears with a comment heading giving the User Name. This can be useful in an office, where severalpeople may be using the same spreadsheet file and may need to indicate to each other what changes theyhave made. You can set the UserName in the [Excel Options]

2. Use to delete the UserName (if you don't like it) then type your own comment3. Press twice (or click away from the cell) to return to normal working

Comments can be permanently displayed or hidden (a red triangle in the top right corner indicates that a cell

has a comment) and can also be printed out if required.4. Move the mouse over cell C2 and the comment temporarily reappears5. Right clickon cell C2 and choose Show/Hide Comments to show the comment (or hide it again)

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Cell ReferencingWhen you enter a cell reference in a formula in Excel, it is not fixed by default. This means that the referencecan change if the formula is copied and pasted to another cell (or if it is dragged out across a range of cells).Sometimes, you need to fix a cell reference so that it doesn't change. This can be done by naming the cell (orrange of cells) or adding a $ before the column letter and/or row number to create an absolute reference.

A colon between two cell references indicates a range (ie all cells between the two references) To reference a whole row/column, repeat the row number or column letter - egA:A or 3:3 Several rows/columns can similarly be referenced - eg 1:50 or C:E A comma can be used to separate cell references in a formula - eg SUM(A2,A5:A8,A10) To reference cells on another sheet, separate the sheet name from the cells with an exclamation mark To fix any part of the cell reference, use the $ notation - eg $A$5 or $A5 orA$5 Use when entering a formula to add the required $ notation to a cell reference To create named ranges from column/row headings, press In a macro, it's usually best to use relative references, not absolute references

In this next exercise you are going to name the cells and then divide the numbers in columnA by a fixed cell,B11. This isn't a particularly useful calculation but if you use B11 (ie 100), it will be easy to check the answers.

1. Press to select your data then 2. In the dialog box which appears, select Create names from values in the: Top row3. Move to cell E2 then type =x/B11 then double clickon the black cell handle to fill down the column

If you examine the results carefully, you'll see they are wrong (apart from the answer in D2). This is becausethe cell reference B11 was not fixed - it has become B12 in cell D3 and B13 in D4. At the end of the columnthere are error messages because you are dividing by empty cells. To fix the cell reference in the formula:

4. Press to enter edit mode then press onceThis should have changed the formula to =x/$B$11, which fixes both the B and the 11.

5. Finally, press which copies the new formula down the whole columnThe alternative to using the $ notation is to give the cell you want to fix a name. To do this:

1. Using the mouse, click on cell B112. Next click in the Name Box(where it currently reads B11 to the left of the Formula Bar)3. Type a name for the cell, eg type xxx, then press 4. In cell F2 type =x/xxx then double clickon the cell handle to fill down the column

You should find you have the same values as in column E.

ChartsThere isn't time to cover Excel charts in detail in this course. Here's just a few tips, which should be of interest:

It's a good idea to create them on separate Chartsheets (unless you need to see the data too) To move a chart to a different or new sheet use [Move Chart] from the Chart Tools Design tab Use anX-Ygraph if you want the data plotted along the horizontal axis (as well as vertical) Charts can have two vertical y-axes - double clickon a data series and go to theAxis tab To create a chart quickly, select the data then press or You can Copy data and Paste it directly to a chart - Paste Special gives further options You can create your own customised chart types (like a template)

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Printing TipsExcel provides various additional printing features (compared to other Microsoft Office applications), whichyou should be aware of:

You can define the area to be printed using [Print Area] on the Page Layout tab

You can zoom the print area in or out using [Scale] on the Page Layout tab The [Width] and [Height] buttons let you fit your data onto an exact number of pages Via the [Margins] button you can centre the output horizontally and/or vertically The [Print Titles] button lets you set column (or row) headings at the top (or left) of each page If you use [Page Break Preview] (on the View tab) you can adjust where page breaks occur by

dragging them with the mouse - this also resets the Print Area

Hide (right click) any rows/columns in the print area which you do not wish printed out

Other TipsFinally, here are a few more useful tips: Use [Arrange All] on the View tab to see two open worksheets side by side (these could either be

from different files or the same one)

To add text to a formula, type it in double quotes and separate it from the calculation by & Use [Merge and Center] on the Home tab to centre a title over several columns Using the [Orientation] button, text in a cell can be rotated to any angle between +90 and -90 If you have more than one data value in a cell, the [Text to Columns] button on the Data tab can be

used to separate the values into several columns

Be aware of the numerous functions that are available. For example:o SUM - gives the total value of data held in several cellso IF - allows you to set more than one value depending on a conditiono SUMIF/COUNTIF - sums the values or counts the cells if a condition holds trueo COUNT/COUNTA - counts the cells containing numeric/any datao VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP - searches for a value in the leftmost column (or top row) of a range and

returns the value in the specified column (or row)

End the session by closing down Excel:

1. If you want to save the changes to this file, press for [Save]2. Now press (or if you want to close this file and leave Excel running)

If you have completely finished using the computer, a quick way to log off is to:

3. Press the key (between and )4. Type the letter (for Log Off)5. Press again (for [Log Off]) to confirm this

Trademark owned by Microsoft Corporation. Screen shot(s) reprinted by permission from Microsoft Corporation.Copyright 2009: The University of ReadingLast Revised: December 2010