Best Ways to use Microsoft Excel Skills
Excel skills have become a part and parcel of almost all types of industries, big or small. The software has multiple uses due to its eminent features of data handling, organizing, maintaining and interpreting. Learning how to use Microsoft Excel Skills is always an added advantage for an aspirant in his future.
Microsoft Excel Skills is like bliss for everyone. Its usefulness is not limited to the business world only. Learning Microsoft Excel helps us to make useful charts for presentation in academic life, organize data of the great volume and to interpret future trends. The software might seem a little complex in the beginning but when you start using the basics it becomes a great tool to use and deliver results in proper time.
About the Microsoft Excel software
- It is a 2-dimensional grid of rows and columns which we popularly call it as a spreadsheet. Microsoft Excel worksheet comprises of a lot of salient features which makes its use infinite. The columns are alphabetically numbered starting from A and the rows are chronologically numbered starting from 1. This numbering helps you to assign the names of the cells for further references and executions.
- The cell references are used to create formulas and functions to input, manage and execute data. Let us take an example. To add the numbers in cell B2 and B3 enter the command =B2+B3 and you will get the answer.
- Above column A there is a Name Box that displays the name of the selected cell or the reference or where the cursor is stagnant. The cursor position will change the respective column and row color to highlight the reference.
- Above column D, there is a tab which starts with ‘fx’ in italics. That bar is your formula bar. This bar displays the content of the cells that have been selected.
- When you open a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, it looks like a workbook with three blank sheets to work on. You c switch from one sheet to another just by clicking the tabs below at the bottom of the window. The tabs can be renamed as per convenience.
- The quick access toolbar is the place where you can enlist the important tools that you frequently use other than Save, Redo, and Undo. You can add any feature available in Microsoft Excel for your convenience.
- Microsoft Excel Skills has a lot and lots of functions which can be enlisted in a small window. That is why the Ribbon concept is introduced where the features are grouped in ribbons and displayed. Out of all the, most important ribbons that you will need while working with Excel are Home, Excel Formulas, Insert, Data and Page Layout.
Basics of how to use Microsoft Excel Skills
After familiarizing with the feature panel, it is time to get some hands-on experience to use Microsoft Excel Skills.
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Cell to cell movement
The arrow keys in your keyboard can be used to migrate from cell to cell. You can use your cursor also for your convenience. After entering data in a cell press the ‘Enter’ key to drop down to the immediate cell below the current one. This is for vertical movement. To move horizontally right, you can use the ‘Tab’ key.
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Cell selection
There are various types of selection process regarding the volume.
- For one cell selection just click on the cell.
- To select an entire row click on the row number or drag the mouse holding the left click button.
- To select one or more column click on the column(s) number or drag the mouse by holding the left click button.
- To select cells that are not continuous select them individually just by holding the CTRL key and clicking the left mouse button.
- If you want to select the entire spreadsheet then click the uppermost right corner to the left of column A.
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Data entry
Entering data in the cell is quite easy. Just select a cell and start writing. The written part will be displayed in the formula bar. When you are entering dates, It will take the current year in the account unless the year portion is not entered by you.
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You can edit the contents by going to the formula bar. You can also edit by double-clicking the cell or select the cell and press F2. After the editing is done you can press enter to complete your editing or click outside elsewhere to unselect the cell. Each individual cell has the particular format which can be altered as per your choices.
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Filling propagation of cells
There are two keyboard shortcuts with which you can fill data and propagate from one cell to the adjacent ones.
- To propagate the data to the adjacent cells first select the cell with the content you want to copy and the adjacent ones by dragging the cursor and holding the left mouse button. Then press CTRL+D together to propagate downwards.
- Select the cell with the content and the adjacent ones and press CTRL+R to fill the right adjacent cells.
If the cells are not in a conventional way then propagating with the FILL HANDLE is the right way. Click the cell with the data and move the cursor over the lower right corner of the cell. The cursor will change into either a + sign or square block. Then drag right, left, up or down as you wish to propagate the data to the selected cells.
When you need the data to be filled in a series then the FILL HANDLE will input the data by adding them in sequence in the selected cells. As for example, if the first cell has January then selecting 12 cells in the column with the January cell will propagate the months sequentially without any hassle.
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Copying and moving
It is easier than the other operations. To move the cell content select the cells first and click cut by right-clicking the mouse and paste wherever you want. To copy just select the copy option and the duplicate data will be pasted in the cells where you will select the paste option thereafter.
If you want to paste a bunch of cells, right-click in the position where the top left cell of the bunch will be located and then paste. The animated border can be removed by pressing escape or clicking elsewhere and starting to write.
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Addition and deletion of rows and columns
If you want to insert the entire row it can be a problem if the row is long. The dragging action might not be a good option. First, you right click on the particular row number and select insert. If you want to continue the actions then press F4. The rows are always added above the selected row. If you want to remove a row then right click on the row and select Delete. It can be done continuously by highlighting them and then clicking the delete option. If the rows are not continuous then press CTRL and select the rows you want to omit and then click Delete.
If you want to add a column then first right-click the column letter and select insert. The columns are always added at the left of the selected column. If you want to add more then press F4. To delete a column select it and press delete. If you want to delete continuous column then highlight them and remove them via selecting the delete option. If the columns you want to omit are not in continuous form then select them individually by pressing and holding the CTRL key and then clicking the Delete key.
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How to lock cells and protect a worksheet
The cells which contain important data must be saved from overwriting or deletion. The cell can be locked and the spreadsheets can be protected to save the sensitive work you have done in the past.
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About worksheets or spreadsheets
- Inserting, deleting and renaming tabs
As mentioned earlier the worksheets open with a three tabs window which can be seen and selected at the left bottom corner of the Excel window. The tabs might get bigger than the screen. Use the arrow keys to select the particular tab you are looking for or you can right click on the tabs to get the list of the tabs at once. Then you can go to the particular tab by selecting it. You can rename, insert or delete a tab from the group of tabs by right-clicking the tab bar and going for the particular options available very easily.
- How to move worksheets
If you want to arrange the tabs properly right-click on the tab line and select Move or Copy. A window will appear where you can see the names and can arrange them accordingly as per your needs.
If you want to move a worksheet to a new workbook then right click on the tab and select Move or Copy. The window will again appear where you can check out another option ‘To Book’. Select it and the selected tab will be erased from the older workbook and a new workbook will be formed with the spreadsheet you wanted to move.
When you want to move a worksheet in another existing workbook, select all the cells by right-clicking on the top left corner and selecting Copy. Now open the existing workbook where you want to copy the spreadsheet and find an empty spreadsheet. Right-click the top left the cell and click Paste. The spreadsheet will be copied to the existing workbook.
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Other salient features of how to use Microsoft Excel Skills
There are a lot of formulas and functions that can be performed with Microsoft Excel Skills. You can prepare charts, graphs, and so many other fascinating things. You can highlight a portion of your data as per your choices and needs. An advanced user can use this formatting tool to his or her benefit in several ways like the combination of formulas and functions with the conditions and Microsoft Excel will highlight the data that meet the condition as guided.
Preparing a report is very easy with Microsoft Excel Skills. A novice might find it difficult but with the regular use, he can find it very helpful to create tables in proper formats or large calculations in minutes. Microsoft Excel Skills has innumerable possibilities if learned properly.
In a nutshell
Microsoft Excel Skills is a powerful tool that can alter the dimensions of a business due to its usability. You will find Microsoft Excel Program fascinating at the very beginning and will definitely want to learn more. There is no end to learning Microsoft Excel and the application is quite overwhelming. That is why there are a lot of institutions which provide professional training in Microsoft Excel where great insight is provided to students who want to see themselves as an expert Microsoft Excel user some day.
The demand for Microsoft Excel Program experts will never go down due to the versatility of the software. Microsoft Excel Program has worked a lot easier and saves time and resources immensely. The volume of work that can be met in the particular deadline is more than the normal paperwork. Advanced Microsoft Excel Program users can even build charts that predict the future trend for the company. It forecasts the probabilities and the strategies are built accordingly to meet the odds.
The trend analysis is so much detailed in the graphs and charts that Microsoft Excel adds an extended trend line beyond the graph to show the mathematically calculated predictions of the future activities in the next time span of business. Most importantly Microsoft Excel program is used for financial and accounting purposes. Microsoft Excel Program is also used in the Human resource department to organize, maintain and analyze employee data properly. The intelligent platform even lets you compare a large amount of data very effectively. Recently Microsoft Excel program can be handled via cloud versions of Microsoft Office 360 which makes it even more convenient. Microsoft Excel program can be accessed and used with multiple types of devices like tablets and smartphones. In fact, the software does not demand high configuration of the computers and other devices. It is surely morphing the complex picture of data handling to a simpler easy one. Learn Microsoft Excel program brilliantly and excel over time.
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