EXCEL Basics - FINAL Lecture by Mr.

Dhoy Santiago

Microsoft Excel
Spreadsheet is a file that exists of cells in rows and columns and can help arrange, calculate and sort
data. Data in a spreadsheet can be numeric values, as well as text, formulas, references and
functions.

The electronic spreadsheet has been in existence since 1978, but it was 1982 that Microsoft became
involved. The first major leap occurred in 1978 when VisiCalc was created by Dan Bricklin, a student
at Harvard Business School. It was basic software, capable of producing a spreadsheet of only 5
columns by 20 rows. Bob Frankston partnered with Bricklin to create the version that eventually hit the
markets and became a major success. VisiCalc (for "visible calculator") was the first spreadsheet
computer program for personal computers, originally released for the Apple II by VisiCorp.

The next major spreadsheet success after VisiCalc was Lotus 1-2-3, created by a team headed by
Mitch Kapor in 1983. Lotus 1-2-3 is a discontinued spreadsheet program from Lotus Software. It was
the IBM PC's first killer application, was hugely popular in the 1980s and contributed significantly to the
success of the IBM PC.

Lotus 1-2-3 improved on VisiCalc by including charting and basic database functions in addition to
VisiCalc’s calculation capabilities. It became a huge success, far outshining VisiCalc. In 1982, while
major progress was being made by Lotus 1-2-3, Microsoft developed their own spreadsheet
application called MultiPlan.

Microsoft originally marketed a spreadsheet program called Multiplan in 1982. Multiplan was an early
spreadsheet program developed by Microsoft. Known initially by the code name "EP" (for "Electronic
Paper"), it was introduced in 1982 as a competitor for VisiCalc. Multiplan became very popular on
CP/M systems, but on MS-DOS systems it lost popularity to Lotus 1-2-3.

MultiPlan was improved, then in 1985 was renamed Excel and, for the first time, included a graphical
interface. It was usable only on the Apple Mac, which first came into production in 1984. After
Microsoft produced (and established) the Windows operating system, Excel was re-engineered for
this new platform and in 1987 Microsoft produced the first version of Excel for windows, called Excel
2.0.

The first version of Excel for the Macintosh on September 30, 1985, and the first Windows version was
2.05 (to synchronize with the Macintosh version 2.2) in November 1987.

In 1993, Microsoft released Excel v5.0 for Windows which included VBA (Visual Basic for
Applications), aka Macros. This opened up almost unlimited possibilities in automation of
repetitive tasks for crunching numbers, process automation, and presenting data for businesses.
EXCEL Basics - FINAL Lecture by Mr. Dhoy Santiago

The Excel Window:

QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR - Gives you with access to the commands you frequently use.
TITLE BAR - Displays the name of the workbook you are currently using.
CONTROL BUTTONS – toggles to Minimize, Restore down/Maximize and Close the Excel window
RIBBON - Located near the top of the Excel window, below the quick access toolbar. Consist of tabs such
as Home, Insert, Page layout, Formulas, Data, Review, View, Add ins
NAME BOX - It displays the address of the active or current cell.
FORMULA BAR - Located at the right side of the name box. This is where you can enter formula or data.
COLUMN - The letters across the top of the worksheet.
COLUMN HEADING - The letters across the top of the worksheet which identify the column in the
worksheet.
ROW HEADING - The numbers down the side of the worksheet the row in the worksheet.
ROWS - The numbers down the side of the worksheet.
ACTIVE CELL - The selected cell in which data is entered when you begin typing.
ACTIVE SHEET - The sheet that you are working on in a workbook.
SCROLL BAR - Use to move the screen display horizontally and vertically.
WORKBOOK - The file in which you work and store data. It contains one or more worksheets.
WORKSHEETS - The primary document that you use in Excel to store and work with data. It is also called a
spreadsheet.
WORKSHEET TABS - The tabs at the bottom of the workbook which are labeled Sheet 1, Sheet 2, Sheet 3.
STATUS BAR - Appears at the very bottom of the Excel window and provides such information as the sum,
average, minimum, and maximum value of selected numbers.

How to go to cells quickly: How to edit cells quickly:

• F5 • F2
• Ctrl G • Double Click the cell
• Namebox • Formula bar

Texts , Values, Formulas and Functions

• Is used to calculate values.
Formula • You may use an EQUAL SIGN (=) or the
AutoSum function to build formula.
• Is a number that you enter into a cell
Value
that you may use in a formula later.
• Are letters, symbols, numbers and
Text spaces or any combination that you
enter into a cell.
• Are built-in formulas you can use to
Functions make your worksheet construction
easier.
EXCEL Basics - FINAL Lecture by Mr. Dhoy Santiago

Commonly used basic Excel Functions:

• =SUM calculates the sum of the values of a range of cells.
• =AVERAGE calculates the arithmetic mean of a range of cells or values.
• =MAX gives the maximum value in a range of cells or values.
• =MIN gives the minimum value in a range of cells or values.
• =IF shows a series of calculations using the same formula but a different value for each calculation
to determine whether the formula is TRUE or FALSE.
• =if( hypothesis , value if-TRUE, value if-FALSE)

Dealing with ERRORS

Type of Error Description

#####? • This means that the numeric value entered into a cell is too wide to display within the cell.

• The #N/A error value occurs when a value is not available to a function or a formula. If
#N/A certain cells on your worksheet contain data that is not yet available, then #N/A will appear
in the cell.

• The #NAME? error value occurs when Microsoft Excel doesn’t recognize text in a formula.
#NAME? This means that you may have misspelled the name of a range or function, or referred to a
name that does not exist, or left out the colon in a range.

• The #REF! error occurs when a cell reference is not valid. Perhaps you deleted some cells
#REF!
that this formula refers to.

• This means you entered text when a formula requires a number or a value such as true or
#VALUE!
false.