EDUCBA

EDUCBA

MENUMENU
  • Free Tutorials
  • Certification Courses
  • 120+ Courses All in One Bundle
  • Login

Excel Basic Functions

By Madhuri ThakurMadhuri Thakur

Home » Excel » Blog » Excel Formula and Functions » Excel Basic Functions

Excel Basic Functions

How To Use The Excel Basic Functions

Excel Basic Functions For Beginners and excel definition – Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet. It is a powerful application that allows users to do calculations, produce tables and graphs effortlessly. These can range from simple formulas easy to complex functions and mathematical models. It has helped an individual to work and manage his time effectively. In order to start working on excel, you need to first open the Excel workbook on your desktop. You open your excel workbook either by double-clicking on this icon

Office Excel Icon

OR

Start Your Free Excel Course

Excel functions, formula, charts, formatting creating excel dashboard & others

If you don’t find the icon you can open the file by going on the start menu and once you see the excel icon click on the icon using the left button of the mouse

Start menu

Once you have clicked on the excel icon an excel workbook opens. Let’s see the difference between excel workbook and excel worksheet.

Excel Basic Functions -Excel Workbook

  • An Excel file is called a workbook
  • Initially, each workbook consists of 3 worksheets (you can add and remove worksheets as needed)

Excel Basic Functions – Excel Worksheet

  • Each worksheet consists of columns and rows that intersect to form boxes called cells in which you enter text and numbers
  • The tabs at the bottom of the workbook (labeled Sheet1, Sheet2, and so on) allow you to flip through the worksheets by clicking them with a mouse
  • Double-clicking on a tab will allow you to change the name of a worksheet

Let’s understand the details of the excel window

Excel Sheet Bar

Excel sheet Bar

Here are some important tools  Excel For Beginners

Heading Excel for Dummies – Explanation
Menu Bar
  • Contains menus that organize familiar commands
Toolbars
  • A collection of icons displayed in a long bar
  • Each icon represents a common command or task
    • Standard Toolbar
    • Formatting Toolbar
Formula Bar
  • Contains tools for creating and editing formulas
  • Displays the contents of the active cell
  • The cell’s location/reference address also appears in this bar
  • Consists of the cell name box and the cell editor
Cell Name Box
  • Displays the name of the active cell(s); otherwise displays the cell address
Cell Editor
  • Displays the content of the active cell; can be changed by typing new information
Cell
  • An intersection of row and column where data are entered
Column Headings
  • Letters across the top of the worksheet, which identifies the columns in the worksheet
Row Headings
  • Numbers down the side of the worksheet, which identify the rows in the worksheet
Status Bar
  • Displays information about a selected command
Worksheet Tabs
  • Individual worksheets in a workbook where data are entered and analyzed
Task Pane
  • A window within MS Office software that provides commonly used commands

Let’s understand the different basic navigation panes which one can use in Excel For Beginners

To Move Command
One Cell Up, Down, Left or Right One cell
Up One Screen [PAGE UP]
Down One Screen [PAGE DOWN]
Left One Screen [ALT] [PAGE UP]
Right One Screen [ALT] [PAGE DOWN]
To Edge of Worksheet (or current block of data) [CTRL] [Relevant Arrow Key]
To a Particular Cell [F5] then type the reference for the cell required & press Return
To column A in the current row [HOME]
To cell A1 [CTRL] [HOME]

Moving between the workbook sheets

  • Each new workbook contains worksheets, named sheets 1 to sheet 3. The sheet name appears on a tab at the bottom of the workbook window
  • Click on the appropriate tab
  • If the sheet required is not in view, use the tab scrolling buttons to display the sheet
  • Press CTRL PAGE DOWN to move to the next sheet or CTRL PAGE UP to move to the previous sheet

Sheet Number

Excel Basic Functions – Entering Values:

  • ENTER – When done entering data; active cell will be the next cell down
  • TAB – Enter the text and move to next cell to the right
  • Arrow key – Enter the text and move to another cell
  • ESC – If you made a mistake and you want to cancel your entry or edit
  • Data can be text or numeric
  • The text is defined as any combination of numbers and letters.
  • Numeric entries are limited to numbers
  • Numbers can exist as independent values or values derived from formula (calculated values)

Cut, Copy, Paste

In order to cut or copy paste the data select the cell which you want to cut or copy and go to the home menu and select the option as required.

In order to paste the data select the cell in which you want to paste the data and then go to the home menu and select the paste option.

Here are some Editing the Data point for Excel For Beginners

  • Editing a cell’s data is done by clicking on the cell to modify and typing in the new entry
  • If the cell to modify has an existing entry, the new entry will replace the old one
  • You may append data to an existing cell entry through any of the following:
    • Double click on the cell to edit and type in the additional data
    • Click on the cell to edit and then click once in the formula bar. Anything you type in the formula bar will be added to the existing cell’s data
    • Click on the cell to edit and press F2. Type in the cell directly

You can use different options from the home menu in order to edit the data

Popular Course in this category
All in One Excel VBA Bundle (120+ Courses)120+ Online Courses | 500+ Hours | Verifiable Certificates | Lifetime Access
4.9 (2,356 ratings)
Course Price

View Course

Related Courses
Excel Training (18 Courses, 9+ Projects)Excel Advanced Training (14 Courses, 23+ Projects)Excel Data Analysis Training (12 Courses, 8+ Projects)

Toolbar

Excel help

If you are stuck up with any function in excel you can click on the question mark for the excel help. you can press an F1 a key from a keyboard for Excel help.

Close bar

Save the file and Exit

In order to save the file, you can either use the Save icon or the save options from the file option then you can exit the excel file. If you exit the file before saving excel will ask for a confirmation whether you want to exit without saving so you can save your file even at that point in time.

Save

Recommended Articles

Here are some articles that will help you to get more detail about the Excel Basic Functions For Beginners so just go through the link.

  1. 9 Amazing Steps on How to Use Microsoft Excel Skills
  2. 8 Awesome & Useful Features of 2016 Excel Workbook
  3. Top 25 Useful Advanced Excel Formulas and Functions
  4. How to Improve your Microsoft Excel Skills?

All in One Excel VBA Bundle (120+ Courses)

120+ Online Courses

500+ Hours

Verifiable Certificates

Lifetime Access

Learn More

0 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Primary Sidebar
Excel Functions
  • Excel Formula and Functions
    • VLOOKUP Names
    • Advanced Formulas in Excel
    • Excel Function for Range
    • Excel Sum Time
    • Payroll in Excel
    • Complex Formulas in Excel
    • Pivot Chart in Excel 2016
    • Advanced Excel Formulas
    • Best Basic Excel Formulas
    • Use Excel As Your Calculator
    • Print Command Button in Excel
    • Excel SUM MAX MIN AVERAGE
    • Excel Basic Functions For Beginners
    • Interactive Excel Dashboard
    • Features of 2016 Excel Workbook
    • What's New In Excel 2016
    • Microsoft Excel Skills
    • Microsoft Excel Shortcuts
    • Microsoft Excel Tips and Tricks
    • Excel Skills
  • Excel Functions (12+)
  • Excel Tools (110+)
  • Financial Functions in Excel (17+)
  • Logical Functions in Excel (13+)
  • Lookup Reference Functions in Excel (33+)
  • Maths Function in Excel (47+)
  • TEXT and String Functions in Excel (25+)
  • Date and Time Function in Excel (22+)
  • Statistical Functions in Excel (58+)
  • Information Functions in Excel (4+)
  • Excel Charts (55+)
  • Excel Tips (220+)
  • Workplace Productivity (4+)
  • Microsoft Office Tools (15+)
  • MS Excel Shortcuts (4+)
Excel Functions Courses
  • Excel Training
  • Excel Advanced Training
  • Excel Data Analysis Training
Footer
About Us
  • Blog
  • Who is EDUCBA?
  • Sign Up
  • Corporate Training
  • Certificate from Top Institutions
  • Contact Us
  • Verifiable Certificate
  • Reviews
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  •  
Apps
  • iPhone & iPad
  • Android
Resources
  • Free Courses
  • Excel Charts
  • Excel Tips
  • All Tutorials
Certification Courses
  • All Courses
  • Excel VBA Course - All in One Bundle
  • VBA Course
  • Excel Data Analysis Course
  • Excel for Marketing Course
  • Excel for Finance Course
  • Excel for HR Training

© 2020 - EDUCBA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE CERTIFICATION NAMES ARE THE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

EDUCBA Login

Forgot Password?

EDUCBA
Free Excel Course

Excel functions, formula, charts, formatting creating excel dashboard & others

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you
Book Your One Instructor : One Learner Free Class

Let’s Get Started

This website or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy. By closing this banner, scrolling this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to our Privacy Policy

EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you
EDUCBA
Free Excel Course

Excel functions, formula, charts, formatting creating excel dashboard & others

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

Special Offer - All in One Excel VBA Bundle (120+ Courses) Learn More