Getting to know excel

The Excel 2010 interface is similar to Excel 2007. There have been some changes we'll review later
in this lesson, but if you're new to Excel first take some time to learn how to navigate an Excel
workbook.
After starting Excel, you will see two windows - one within the other. The outer window is the
Application Window and the inner window is the Workbook Window. When maximized, the Excel
Workbook Window blends in with the Application Window.

The excel interface

Title Bar – contains the name of the workbook. The default is Book1 (and then Book2, etc.). This is
replaced by the filename once the Excel workbook is saved.
Worksheet Tabs – a list of all the worksheets in the workbook. By default, these are labeled
Sheet1, Sheet2, etc. You can navigate to any worksheet in the workbook by clicking on that
worksheet tab. You can also use the four small arrows   to the left of the worksheet tabs
for navigation purposes. The first arrow is used to go to the first worksheet, the second to go to the
previous worksheet, the third to go to the next worksheet and the fourth to go to the last
worksheet. You can change the name of any of the worksheets by doubling clicking on its tab and
then entering a new name. You can add a new worksheet by clicking on the rightmost worksheet
tab icon  . You can also change the order of the worksheets in the list by left-clicking on a
worksheet tab and dragging it to a new location in the list. You can access other capabilities by
right-clicking on any of the worksheet tabs or the worksheet tab arrows.
Ribbon Tabs – the top-level menu items. In the example above this consists of Home, Insert, Page
Layout, Formulas, etc. The actual choices can change depending on the state that you are in. To
access most capabilities in Excel you click on one of these ribbon tabs. For each tab, a different
ribbon will be displayed. In Figure 1 the Home ribbon is displayed. This tab provides access to the
most common Excel capabilities.
Ribbon – a collection of Excel capabilities organized into groups corresponding to some ribbon tab.
For example, the Home ribbon displayed in Figure 1  is organized into the Clipboard, Font,
Alignment, Number, etc. groups. Each group consists of one or more icons corresponding to some
capabilities in Excel. For example, to center the content of a cell in a worksheet, click on that cell
and then click on the center icon   in the Alignment group on the Home ribbon. We use the
following abbreviation for this sequence of steps: Home > Alignment|Center.
In a similar manner, you can merge two neighboring cells by highlighting the two cells and
selecting Home > Alignment|Merge & Center; the two cells are combined and any content placed
in the merged cell will be centered. Also, cells, rows, columns and worksheets can be inserted,
deleted and formatted using Home > Cells.
There are also shortcuts for some icons. E.g., to center the contents of a cell, you can click on that
cell and then enter Ctrl-E.
To get some idea of the purpose of an icon, place the mouse pointer over that icon (without
clicking) and a tooltip will appear to provide some information about the icon.
Some of the groups on a ribbon are accompanied by a small arrow (to the right of the name of the
group). When you click on this arrow you will be presented with a dialog box that provides you
with various options to choose from. E.g. clicking on the arrow for the Font group on the Home
ribbon brings up a dialog box with tabs labeled Number, Alignment, Font, Border, etc. Each tab in
the dialog box presents you with a different set of options for formatting the range of cells that are
currently highlighted in the worksheet. For example, to specify that you want numbers in the
highlighted cells to be displayed with 3 decimal places, you select the Number tab and then
the Number option and finally fill in 3 in the box specifying the number of decimal places.
Some icons within a group are also accompanied by a small downward arrow. When you click on
this arrow you will be presented with a vertical list of options. E.g. clicking on the Insert icon in
the Cells group in the Home ribbon brings up the choices Insert Cells…, Insert Sheet Rows, Insert
Sheet Columns, Insert Sheet.
Some groups also contain scrollable drop-down lists accompanied by a downward arrow. E.g.
clicking on the arrow to the right of the Font drop-down list in the Font group on the Home ribbon,
presents a scrollable list of available fonts (Arial, Time New Roman, etc.) to choose from.
Office Button – the icon in the upper left side of the Excel 2007 interface that allows you to open,
save and print workbooks. When you click on this icon you will be presented with a menu of
options. In addition to opening, saving and printing workbooks, there is a button called Excel
Options. Clicking on this button displays a dialog box that offers you the ability to change various
configuration parameters.  It also contains the Add-In option that we will describe later.
Excel 2010 and Excel 2013 do not use the Office Button. Instead, they provide the same
functionality using the File tab. The File tab is the first ribbon tab in versions of Excel starting with
Excel 2010 and is located to the left of the Home tab.
Quick Access Toolbar – contains frequently used icons and is located in the upper left-hand corner
of the display (just to the right of the Office Button in Excel 2007 and above
the File and Home tabs in versions of Excel starting with Excel 2010). Initially, the toolbar contains
the Save, Repeat and Undo icons. You can add or delete icons from this toolbar by clicking on the
small downward arrow at the right end of the toolbar to display a customization dialog box.
Active Cell – displays the currently referenced cell. This is the cell which you last clicked on with
the mouse or moved to. This cell is highlighted on the display.
Name Box – contains the address of the active cell. You can navigate to another cell simply by
entering the address of that cell in the Name Box and pressing the Enter key.
Formula Bar – contains the contents of the active cell. When this is a formula, the formula appears
here while the value of the formula appears in the cell. You can optionally click on the fx symbol
located just to the left of the Formula Bar to bring up a dialog box that helps you find the
appropriate function as well as the arguments for this formula.
Vertical/Horizontal Split Controls – used to split the worksheet. The vertical split control is a small
rectangular box located just above the vertical scroll bar. If you move the control downward, the
display of the worksheet splits in two so that you can see two different parts of the worksheet at
the same time. If you move the control back to its original position the two parts reunite and only
one view of the worksheet is displayed.
The horizontal split control is located just to the right of the horizontal scroll bar and works in a
similar manner. If you move the control to the left the worksheet display splits horizontally into two
parts.
Status Bar – contains certain information, including by default the sum, count and average of any
highlighted range. It also contains the zoom and zoom slider, which are used to increase or
decrease the size of the worksheet display. You can customize what information appears on the
status bar by right-clicking on it to display a customization dialog box.

Working with your Excel Environment

The Ribbon and Quick Access toolbar are where you'll find the commands you need to perform
common tasks in Excel. If you are familiar with Excel 2007, you will find that the main difference in
the Excel 2010 Ribbon is that commands such as Open and Print are now housed in Backstage
view. 
Excel 2013 uses a tabbed Ribbon system instead of traditional menus. The Ribbon contains
multiple tabs,
each with several groups of commands. You will use these tabs to perform the most common tasks
in
Excel. 

The Ribbon
The Ribbon contains multiple tabs, each with several groups of commands. You can add your own
tabs that contain your favorite commands.

To customize the Ribbon:

You can customize the Ribbon by creating your own tabs that house your desired commands.
Commands are always housed within a group, and you can create as many groups as you need to
keep your tabs organized. You can also add commands to any of the default tabs as long as you
create a custom group within the tab.

To minimize and maximize the Ribbon:

The Ribbon is designed to be easy to use and responsive to your current tasks; however, if you find
that it's taking up too much of your screen space, you can minimize it.
 

Quick Access Toolbar

The Quick Access Toolbar is a set of icons that allows you to easily access the commands you use
the most. By default the quick access toolbar only contains 4 commands but the commands it
contains can be customized to suit the user.

1. Save allows you to quickly save a file.

2. Undo allows you to quickly undo the last command or action that was performed in the
workbook.
3. Redo allows you to quickly redo the last command or action that was undone in the workbook.
4. Mouse/Touch Mode Toggle (only for touch screen devices) allows you to toggle between a mouse
mode and a touch screen mode. In touch screen mode, commands in the ribbon are more spaced
out so they’re easily accessed by touch.

Creating and Opening Workbooks

Creating and opening workbooks

Excel files are called workbooks. Each workbook holds one or more worksheets (also known as
spreadsheets).

To create a new blank workbook:

1. Click the File tab. This takes you to Backstage view.

2. Select New.
3. Select Blank workbook under Available Templates. It will be highlighted by default.
4. Click Create. A new blank workbook appears in the Excel window
To open an existing workbook:

1. Click the File tab. This takes you to Backstage view.

2. Select Open. The Open dialog box appears.
3. Select your desired workbook, then click Open.

If you have opened the existing workbook recently, it may be easier to choose Recent from the File
tab instead of Open to search for your workbook.

1.3. Cell Basics

You will need to know the basic ways you can work with cells and cell content in Excel to be able
to use it to calculate, analyze, and organize data.
Cells are the basic building blocks of a worksheet. They can contain a variety of content such
as text, formatting attributes, formulas, and functions. To work with cells, you'll need to know how
to select them, insert content, and delete cells and cell content.
A cell is the intersection between a row and a column on a spreadsheet that starts with cell A1. In the
following example, a highlighted cell is shown in a Microsoft Excelspreadsh eet. D8 (column D, row 8) is the
highlighted cell. Any modifications made while this cell is highlighted will be limited to this item in the
spreadsheet.

Each cell in a spreadsheet can contain any value that can be called using a relative cell reference or called
upon using a formula. See our spreadsheet for further information on using spreadsheets.

The Cell
Each rectangle in a worksheet is called a cell. A cell is the intersection of a row and a column.
Each cell has a name, or a cell address based on which column and row it intersects. The cell
address of a selected cell appears in the name box. Here, you can see that C5 is selected.

You can also select multiple cells at the same time. A group of cells is known as a cell range. Rather than a
single cell address, you will refer to a cell range using the cell addresses of the first and last cells in the cell
range, separated by a colon. For example, a cell range that included cells A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5 would be
written as A1:A5.
If the columns in your spreadsheet are labeled with numbers instead of letters, you'll need to change the
default reference style for Excel. Review our Extra on What are Reference Styles? 
Click a cell to select it. When a cell is selected, you will notice that the borders of the cell appear bold
   and the column heading and row heading of the cell are highlighted.

2. Release your mouse. The cell will stay selected until you click another cell in the worksheet.

*You can also navigate your worksheet and select a cell by using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

To select multiple cells:

1. Click and drag your mouse until all of the adjoining cells you want are highlighted.

2. Release your mouse. The cells will stay selected until you click another cell in the worksheet.
Cell Content
Each cell can contain its own text, formatting, comments, formulas, and functions.

 Text
Cells can contain letters, numbers, and dates.
 Formatting attributes
Cells can contain formatting attributes that change the way letters, numbers, and dates are
displayed. For example, dates can be formatted as MM/DD/YYYY or M/D/YYYY.
 Comments
Cells can contain comments from multiple reviewers.
 Formulas and functions
Cells can contain formulas and functions that calculate cell values. For example, SUM(cell 1, cell
2...) is a formula that can add the values in multiple cells.

To insert content:
1. Click a cell to select it.
2. Enter content into the selected cell using your keyboard. The content appears in the cell and in
the formula bar. You can also enter or edit cell content from the formula bar
To delete content within cells:

1. Select the cells containing content you want to delete.

2. Click the Clear command on the Ribbon. A dialog box will appear.
3. Select Clear Contents.

You can also use your keyboard's Backspace key to delete content from a single cell or
the Delete key to delete content from multiple cells.

To delete cells:

1. Select the cells you want to delete.

2. Choose the Delete command from the Ribbon.

There's an important difference between deleting the content of a cell and deleting the cell itself.
If you delete the cell, by default the cells underneath it will shift up and replace the deleted cell.
To copy and paste cell content:

1. Select the cells you want to copy.

2. Click the Copy command. The border of the selected cells will change appearance

3. Select the cell or cells where you want to paste the content.
4. Click the Paste command. The copied content will be entered into the highlighted cells
To cut and paste cell content:

1. Select the cells you want to cut.

2. Click the Cut command. The border of the selected cells will change appearance

3. Select the cells where you want to paste the content.

4. Click the Paste command. The cut content will be removed from the original cells and entered into
the highlighted cells
To access more paste options:
There are more Paste options you can access from the drop-down menu on the Paste command.
These options may be convenient to advanced users who are working with cells that contain
formulas or formatting.

To access formatting commands by right-clicking:

1. Select the cells you want to format.

2. Right-click the selected cells. A dialog box will appear where you can easily access many
commands on the Ribbon.
To drag and drop cells:

1. Select the cells you want to move.

2. Position your mouse on one of the outside edges of the selected cells. The mouse changes from

a white cross to a black cross with 4 arrows .

3. Click and drag the cells to the new location.

4. Release your mouse, and the cells will be dropped there

To use the fill handle to fill cells

To use the fill handle to fill cells:

1. Select the cell or cells containing the content you want to use. You can fill cell content either
vertically or horizontally.
 2. Position your mouse over the fill handle so the white cross becomes a black cross

3. Click and drag the fill handle until all of the cells you want to fill are highlighted.

4. Release the mouse, and your cells will be filled

You can also double-click the fill handle instead of clicking and dragging. This can be useful with larger
spreadsheets, where clicking and dragging may be awkward.

1.4. Modifying Columns, Rows, and

Cells
When you open a new blank workbook, the cells are set to a default size. You have the ability to
modify cells, as well as to insert and delete columns, rows, and cells as needed. 
Working with columns, rows, and cells
By default, every row and column of a new workbook is set to the same height and width. Excel
allows you to modify column width and row height in different ways.

To modify column width:

1. Position your mouse over the column line in the column heading so the white cross becomes
a double arrow
2. Click and drag the column to the right to increase column width or to the left to decrease column
width.
3. Release the mouse. The column width will be changed in your spreadsheet.

If you see pound signs (#######) in a cell, it means the column is not wide enough to display the
cell content. Simply increase the column width to show the cell content.

To set column width with a specific measurement:

1. Select the columns you want to modify.

2. Click the Format command on the Home tab. The format drop-down menu appears.
3. Select Column Width.

4. The Column Width dialog box appears. Enter a specific measurement.

5. Click OK. The width of each selected column will be changed in your worksheet.

Select AutoFit Column Width from the format drop-down menu, and Excel will automatically
adjust each selected column so all of the text will fit.

To modify row height:

1. Position the cursor over the row line so the white cross becomes a double arrow

2. Click and drag the row downward to increase row height or upward to decrease height
3. Release the mouse. The height of each selected row will be changed in your worksheet

To set row height with a specific measurement:

1. Select the rows you want to modify.

2. Click the Format command on the Home tab. The format drop-down menu appears.
3. Select Row Height.
4. The Row Height dialog box appears. Enter a specific measurement.
5. Click OK. The selected rows heights will be changed in your spreadsheet.

Select AutoFit Row Height from the format drop-down menu, and Excel will automatically adjust
each selected row so all of the text will fit.

To insert rows
1. Select the row below where you want the new row to appear
2. Click the Insert command on the Home tab.
3. The new row appears in your worksheet

When inserting new rows, columns, or cells, you will see the Insert Options button by the inserted cells.
This button allows you to choose how Excel formats them. By default, Excel formats inserted rows with the
same formatting as the cells in the row above them. To access more options, hover your mouse over the
Insert Options button and click the drop-down arrow that appears.

To insert columns:

1. Select the column to the right of where you want the new column to appear. For example, if you
want to insert a column between A and B, select column B.
2. Click the Insert command on the Home tab
3. The new column appears in your worksheet.

By default, Excel formats inserted columns with the same formatting as the column to the left of
them. To access more options, hover your mouse over the Insert Options button and click the
drop-down arrow that appears.
When inserting rows and columns, make sure to select the row or column by clicking its heading so
all of the cells in that row or column are selected. If you select just a cell in the row or column, only
a new cell will be inserted.

To delete rows:

1. Select the rows you want to delete.

2. Click the Delete command on the Home tab.
3. The rows are deleted from your worksheet.

To delete columns:

1. Select the columns you want to delete

2. Click the Delete command on the Home tab
3. The columns are deleted from your worksheet

Wrapping text and merging cells

To wrap text:
1. Select the cells with text that you want to wrap.
2. Select the Wrap Text command on the Home tab
3. The text in the selected cells will be wrapped in your worksheet.

If you change your mind, reclick the Wrap Text command to unwrap the text.

To merge cells using the Merge & Center command:

1. Select the cells you want to merge

2. Select the Merge & Center command on the Home tab
3. The selected cells will be merged, and the text will be centered

If you change your mind, reclick the Merge & Center command to unmerge the cells.

To access more merge options:

Click the drop-down arrow next to the Merge & Center command on the Home tab.
The merge drop-down menu appears.

 Merge & Center: Merges selected cells into one cell and centers the text
  Merge Across: Merges each row of selected cells into larger cells; useful when merging content
across multiple rows of cells rather than creating one large cell
 Merge Cells: Merges selected cells into one cell
 Unmerge Cells: Unmerges selected cells

Although merging cells can be useful, it can also cause problems with some spreadsheets. Watch the video
below to learn about some of the problems with merging cells.

Summary
 Excel is a spreadsheet program that allows you to store, organize, and analyze information.
 The Excel 2010 interface is similar to Excel 2007. 
 The Ribbon and Quick Access toolbar are where you'll find the commands you need to perform
common tasks in Excel. 
 The Ribbon contains multiple tabs, each with several groups of commands. You can add your
own tabs that contain your favorite commands.
 You can customize the Ribbon by creating your own tabs that house your desired commands.
 The Ribbon is designed to be easy to use and responsive to your current tasks; however, if you
find that it's taking up too much of your screen space, you can minimize it.
 The Quick Access toolbar, above the Ribbon, lets you access common commands no matter
which tab you are on.
 Backstage view gives you various options for saving, opening a file, printing, and sharing your
document. 
 Excel files are called workbooks. Each workbook holds one or more worksheets (also known as
spreadsheets).
 Compatibility mode disables certain features, so you'll only be able to access commands found in
the program that was used to create the workbook. 
 Cells are the basic building blocks of a worksheet. They can contain a variety of content such
as text, formatting attributes, formulas, and functions.
 Each cell can contain its own text, formatting, comments, formulas, and functions.
 By default, every row and column of a new workbook is set to the same height and width.
 When inserting rows and columns, make sure to select the row or column by clicking its heading
so all of the cells in that row or column are selected. If you select just a cell in the row or column,
only a new cell will be inserted.
 Although merging cells can be useful, it can also cause problems with some spreadsheets. Watch
the video below to learn about some of the problems with merging cells.

2.2. Formatting Cells

Spreadsheets that have not been formatted can be difficult to read. Formatted text and cells can
draw attention to specific parts of the spreadsheet and make the spreadsheet more visually
appealing and easier to understand.
In Excel, there are many tools you can use to format text and cells. 
We use Format Cells to change the formatting of cell number without changing the number itself.
We can use Format cells to change the number, alignment, font style, Border style, Fill options and
Protection.
Formatting text
Many of the commands you will use to format text can be found in the Font, Alignment, and
Number groups on the Ribbon. Font commands let you change the style, size, and color of text.
You can also use them to add borders and fill colors to cells. Alignment commands let you format
how text is displayed across cells both horizontally and vertically. Number commands let you
change how selected cells display numbers and dates.

To change the font:

1. Select the cells you want to modify.
2. Click the drop-down arrow next to the Font command on the Home tab. The font drop-down
menu appears.
3. Move your mouse over the various fonts. A live preview of the font will appear in the worksheet
4. Select the font you want to use.

To change the font size:

1. Select the cells you want to modify.

2. Click the drop-down arrow next to the font size command on the Home tab. The font size drop-
down menu appears.
3. Move your mouse over the various font sizes. A live preview of the font size will appear in the
worksheet
4. Select the font size you want to use.

You can also use the Grow Font and Shrink Font commands to change the size.

To use the bold, italic, and underline commands:

1. Select the cells you want to modify.

2. Click the Bold, Italic, or Underline command on the Home tab

To add a border:

1. Select the cells you want to modify.

2. Click the drop-down arrow next to the Borders command on the Home tab. The border drop-
down menu appears.
3. Select the border style you want to use.

You can draw borders and change the line style and color of borders with the Draw Borders tools
at the bottom of the Borders drop-down menu.

To change font color:

1. Select the cells you want to modify.

2. Click the drop-down arrow next to the font color command on the Home tab. The color menu
appears.
3. Move your mouse over the various font colors. A live preview of the color will appear in the
worksheet
4. Select the font color you want to use.

Your color choices are not limited to the drop-down menu that appears. Select More Colors at the
bottom of the menu to access additional color options.
To add a fill color:

1. Select the cells you want to modify.

2. Click the drop-down arrow next to the fill color command on the Home tab. The color menu
appears.
3. Move your cursor over the various fill colors. A live preview of the color will appear in the
worksheet.
4. Select the fill color you want to use.

To change horizontal text alignment:

1. Select the cells you want to modify.

2. Select one of the three horizontal Alignment commands on the Home tab.
o Align Text Left: Aligns text to the left of the cell
o Center: Aligns text to the center of the cell
o Align Text Right: Aligns text to the right of the cell

To change vertical text alignment:

1. Select the cells you want to modify.

2. Select one of the three vertical Alignment commands on the Home tab.
o Top Align: Aligns text to the top of the cell
o Middle Align: Aligns text to the middle of the cell
o Bottom Align: Aligns text to the bottom of the cell

By default, numbers align to the bottom-right of cells, while words and letters align to the bottom-left of
cells.

Format Painter
If you want to copy formatting from one cell to another, you can use the Format Painter command on
the Home tab. When you click the Format Painter, it will copy all of the formatting from the selected cell.
You can then click and drag over any cells you want to paste the formatting to.

Formatting numbers and dates

One of Excel's most useful features is its ability to format numbers and dates in a variety of ways. For
example, you might need to format numbers with decimal places, currency symbols ($), or percent symbols
(%).

To format numbers and dates:

1. Select the cells you want to modify.

2. Click the drop-down arrow next to the Number Format command on the Home tab.
3. Select the number format you want. For some number formats, you can then use the Increase
Decimal and Decrease Decimal commands (below the Number Format command) to change the
number of decimal places that are displayed.

Saving workbooks
When you create a new workbook in Excel, you'll need to know how to save it to access and edit it
later. Excel allows you to save your documents in several ways.
To use the Save As command:
Save As allows you to choose a name and location for your workbook. Use it if you are saving a
workbook for the first time or if you want to save a different version of a workbook while keeping
the original.

1. Click the File tab.
2. Select Save As.
3. The Save As dialog box will appear. Select the location where you want to save the workbook.
4. Enter a name for the workbook, then click Save

If you are using Windows 7, you will most likely want to save files to your Documents library. For
other versions of Windows, you will most likely want to save files to the My Documents folder. For
more information, check out our lessons on Windows 7 and Windows XP
To use the Save command:

1. Click the Save command on the Quick Access toolbar.

2. The workbook will be saved in its current location with the same file name.

If you are saving for the first time and select Save, the Save As dialog box will appear.

To use AutoRecover:
Excel automatically saves your workbooks to a temporary folder while you're working on them. If
you forget to save your changes or if Excel crashes, you can recover the autosaved file.

1. Open a workbook that was previously closed without saving.

2. In Backstage view, click Info.
3. If there are autosaved versions of your workbook, they will appear under Versions. Click the file
to open it
4. A yellow caution note will appear on the Ribbon of the workbook. To restore this version of the
workbook, click Restore, then click OK.

By default, Excel autosaves every 10 minutes. If you are editing a workbook for less than 10
minutes, Excel may not create an autosaved version.
If you do not see the file you're looking for—or if you're looking for an autosaved version of a file
that has no previously saved versions—you can browse all autosaved files by clicking the Manage
Versions button and selecting Recover Unsaved Workbooks from the drop-down menu.

To save as an Excel 97-2003 workbook:

You can share your workbooks with anyone using Excel 2010 or 2007 because they use the
same file format. However, earlier versions of Excel use a different file format, so if you want to
share your workbook with someone using an earlier version of Excel you will need to save it as
an Excel 97-2003 workbook.

1. Click the File tab.
2. Select Save As.
 3. In the Save as type drop-down menu, select Excel 97-2003 Workbook
4. Select the location where you want to save the file.
5. Enter a name for the file, then click Save.

To save as a PDF
Saving your workbook as an Adobe Acrobat Document—which is called a PDF file—can be
especially useful when your recipients do not have Excel. A PDF will make it possible for recipients
to view the content from your workbook, but they will not be able to edit anything. If you are not
sure what a PDF looks like, you can download our PDF example for this lesson.

1. Click the File tab.
2. Select Save As.
3. In the Save as type drop-down menu, select PDF.
4. Select the location where you want to save the file.
5. Enter a name for the file, then click Save.

Excel defaults to saving the active worksheet only. If you have multiple worksheets and want to
save all of them in the same PDF file, click Options. The Options dialog box will appear.
Select Entire workbook from the Options dialog box, then click OK.

2.4. Creating Simple Formulas

Excel can be used to calculate numerical information. 
A formula is an equation that performs a calculation. Like a calculator, Excel can execute formulas
that add, subtract, multiply, and divide.
One of Excel's most useful features is its ability to calculate using a cell address to represent the
value in a cell. This is called using a cell reference.
To maximize the capabilities of Excel, it is important to understand how to create simple
formulas and use cell references.

Simple formulas
Excel uses standard operators for equations, such as a plus sign for addition (+), minus sign for
subtraction (-), asterisk for multiplication (*), forward slash for division (/), and caret (^) for
exponents.
The key thing to remember when writing formulas for Excel is that all formulas must begin with
an equals sign (=). This is because the cell contains—or is equal to—the formula and its value.

To create a simple formula in Excel:

1. Select the cell where the answer will appear 

2. Type the equals sign (=).
3. Type in the formula you want Excel to calculate 
4. Press Enter. The formula will be calculated, and the value will be displayed in the cell
If the result of a formula is too large to be displayed in a cell, it may appear as pound signs (#######)
instead of a value. This means the column is not wide enough to display the cell content. Simply increase the
column width to show the cell content.

Creating formulas with cell references

When a formula contains a cell address, it is called a cell reference. Creating a formula with cell
references is useful because you can update data in your worksheet without having to rewrite the
values in the formula.

To create a formula using cell references:

1. Select the cell where the answer will appear 

2. Type the equals sign (=).
3. Type the cell address that contains the first number in the equation 
4. Type the operator you need for your formula. For example, type the addition sign (+).
5. Type the cell address that contains the second number in the equation.
6. Press Enter. The formula will be calculated, and the value will be displayed in the cell

If you change a value in either B1 or B2, the total will automatically recalculate.

Excel will not always tell you if your formula contains an error, so it's up to you to check all of your
formulas. To learn how to do this, you can read the Double-Check Your Formulas lesson from
our Excel Formulas tutorial.
To create a formula using the point-and-click method:

1. Select the cell where the answer will appear

2. Type the equals sign (=).
3. Click the first cell to be included in the formula 
4. Type the operator you need for the formula. For example, type the multiplication sign (*).
5. Click the next cell in the formula 
6. Press Enter. The formula will be calculated, and the value will be displayed in the cell.

To edit a formula:

1. Click the cell you want to edit.

2. Insert the cursor in the formula bar, and edit the formula as desired. You can also double-click
the cell to view and edit the formula directly from the cell.
3. When you're done, press Enter or select the Enter command
4. The new value will be displayed in the cell

If you change your mind, use the Cancel command in the formula bar to avoid accidentally making
changes to your formula.
Summary
 Font commands let you change the style, size, and color of text. You can also use them to add
borders and fill colors to cells. 
 Alignment commands let you format how text is displayed across cells both horizontally and
vertically. 
 Number commands let you change how selected cells display numbers and dates.
 You can draw borders and change the line style and color of borders with the Draw Borders tools
at the bottom of the Borders drop-down menu.
 If you want to copy formatting from one cell to another, you can use the Format
Painter command on the Home tab.
 One of Excel's most useful features is its ability to format numbers and dates in a variety of ways.