Lecture 2

Topic 2: Introduction to MS
Excel
Lecture Overview
 MS Excel
•A spreadsheet product of Microsoft.
•Versions: Excel 97, 2000, 2003, 2007,
2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2021.
•Other versions: Excel 365 (Cloud
version), Excel for Android.
Starting Excel 2016 (Windows 10)
Steps
1. Type Excel in the Search Box on the
Task Bar.
2. Click the Excel 2016 App option
3. Select Blank Workbook from a list of
templates.
➢A new MS Excel session launches
 Excel Terminologies
1. Cell – intersection of a row and a
column.
2. Active Cell - the currently selected cell.
•Has thick borders
3. Cell address – unique cell identity.
4. Range – a group of adjacent cells.
5. Worksheet
• MS Excel’s working area.
• It consists of a grid of rows and
columns.
• Its made up of 1,048,576 rows and
16,384 columns.
6. Workbook
• an Ms Excel file.
• It acts a container for holding
worksheets.
• By default, it comes with one
worksheet.
• However more worksheets can be
added later.
The Excel Cell Referencing System

•An address consists of column letter and

row number e.g. B3, D2 etc.
The Excel Window Elements

Column Header

Row Header
Sheet Tabs
1. File Button
• Holds the Backstage View window.
• Back Stage View – acts as a central
place for managing your workbooks.
• contains most frequently used
commands e.g. New, Open, Save, Print,
Close etc.
2. Quick Access Toolbar
•Provides a quick access to commands
icons compared to the Backstage view
window.
•By default it contains 3 buttons: Save,
Undo, and Redo.
•However it is customizable to user
preference.
3. Title bar – displays the name of the
workbook and the software.
4. Help button – used to access Excel
Help.
5. Control pane – Minimize,
Maximize/Restore and Close Buttons.
6. The ribbon -a task oriented command
center.
•Consists of 3 parts:
i. Tab – a task oriented main grouping of
tasks.
ii. Tab group – divides a task into
subgroups.
•Each Tab has got its own set of Tab groups
iii. Command – carries out a computer
operation.
• Each Tab group has got its own set of commands
7. Name Box- displays the address of the
active cell.
8. Formula Bar- displays the contents of
the active cell.
9. Column Headers – letters acting as
column identifier.
10. Row Headers – numbers acting as
row identifiers.
11. Mouse pointer – used to select a
cell(s), commands.
12. Sheet Tabs – Used to navigate from
one worksheet to another.
13. status bar – displays the current
status of the worksheet e.g. Ready, Error
etc.
14. scroll bars – vertical and horizontal scroll
bars used to change the vertical or horizontal
view of worksheet areas.
15. View Shortcuts – used to change the
view of the active worksheet
16. Zoom button –used to change the
magnification (zoom) of the worksheet view
17. Zoom Slider – used to change the
magnification of the worksheet view
 Navigating in a Worksheet

•N/B: Home cell – cell A1.

Can use:
i. Arrow keys – move one cell: left,
right, down or up.
ii. Tab key – move one cell to the right
iii. Enter key – move one cell down
• Home cell – cell A1.
•Keyboard shortcuts
 Excel Data Types
1. Labels/Text
• Any text or alphanumeric data
• Makes a worksheet more readable
2. Numbers
• Numerical values that can be
manipulated mathematically
3. Date
•Calendar values
4. Time
• Clock data
5. Formula
• User defined mathematical
expression
6. Function
• Excel inbuilt mathematical/text
operation
Entering Text and Numbers
Video clip
•Observation: By default, Excel aligns
text to the left of a cell while numbers
to the right.
 Adding a Worksheet
• Click the New Sheet button once.

New Sheet Button

Video clip
 Entering Fractions
•Create a space between the number
and the fraction.
Example 1: 6 ¼: 6 1/4
•N/B: a fraction must align to the right.
•Entering simple fraction:
Example 2: ¾ : 0 3/4
•N/B: Excel automatically simplifies
fractions
•i.e. 2 4/8 ➔ 2 ½
Video Clip
 Navigating Worksheets
•Click on the Sheet Tab of choice to open
it.

Click on sheet Tab

Clip
 Using AutoFill Feature

•AutoFill- feature that inserts a series of

values or text items in a range of cells.
1. Key in the initial value e.g. 1
2. Drag the Autofill Handle with Right
Button up to the last cell in the range
➢The Short Cut menu appears
3. Select the Fill Series command
➢The values fill the range
 Entering Numbers as Text
•Precede the number with an apostrophe
(‘) e.g ‘001, ‘002.
•N/B: Such numbers are aligned to the
left of the of the cell.
 Saving a Workbook
1. Click File tab and select Save As option.
•Step 2: Select the Browse option.
•the Save As Dialog Box appears.
•This windows allows you to:
i. Specify location
ii. File (Workbook) name
iii.Save (File) type
N/B: By default, Excel’s Save as type is
.xlsx format
Step 3 − Select a folder where you would
like to save the sheet
Step 4: Enter file name e.g. hello or
HELLO
Step 4: Leave the Save Type option at the
default i.e. Excel Workbook
Step 5: click on Save button
•The file is saved as: hello.xlsx
 Saving Updates

•Press Ctrl + S keys

 Closing a Workbook
•Click the close button.
 Opening an Existing Workbook
1. Open File Explorer
2. select location (drive)
3. Double-Click the file name