BASIC MICROSOFT EXCEL 2007 INSTRUCTIONS

<for Windows>

Tip: Be sure to save your spreadsheet every 10-15 minutes or so, so you won’t lose all of the work you've done if the computer loses power or freezes. The first time you save your spreadsheet, click on the Office button (the round red, yellow, green and blue button at the upper left), then on Save As. Type a name for the spreadsheet, such as My Income and Expenses in the File name: box, then click on the Save button.

To save your spreadsheet the second, third, fourth, etc. time, click on the Office button, then on Save (or use the Ctrl-S key combination).

INSERTING/DELETING ROWS: 

1) Right-click on the Row Number button (along the left edge of the spreadsheet) above where you want to insert the new row with the Right Arrow Cursor (à).

For example, to insert a blank row above row 17, right-click on the 17 button at the far left.

2) Click on Insert.

3) Press the F4 key to insert additional blank rows if needed.

Tip: F4 is the Repeat key in just about every Microsoft program.

4) To delete a row, right-click on the Row Number button for the row you wish to delete.

5) Click on Delete.

CHANGING THE COLUMN WIDTH:

1) Move the White Cross Cursor       onto the short vertical line between the blue-gray Column Letter buttons above (for example, between the A and B buttons) until the pointer changes to a Double-Headed Black Horizontal Arrow Cursor:

2) Click & drag the short vertical line between the Column Letter buttons with the Double-Headed Black Horizontal Arrow Cursor to the left or right to change the column width.

Tip: To quickly change the column width to “auto-fit” the widest entry in that column, double-click with the Double-Headed Black Horizontal Arrow Cursor on the short vertical line between the blue-gray Column Letter buttons (between the, for example, A and B buttons).

TO WORD-WRAP TEXT IN A CELL:

Note: This is how you can type more than one line of text in a single cell. The cell will automatically get taller to enclose the multiple lines of text.

1) Click once into a cell, such as into the E3 cell.

2) Click on the Wrap Text button on the Ribbon at the top. (Be sure the Home tab is selected. If it is not, click on the Home tab at the top left of the Ribbon.)

Note: The Ribbon is the extra-tall Button Bar at the top of the Excel 2007 window.

3) Type the multiple lines of text.

4) To top-align, center-align or bottom-align the text within the, e.g., E3 cell, click on the Top Align, Center Align or Bottom Align buttons on the Ribbon. These buttons are about two buttons to the left of the Wrap Text button.

TO SPAN TEXT ACROSS MULTIPLE COLUMNS (USING THE "MERGE & CENTER" BUTTON):

Note: This is how you can create one extra-wide cell that spans multiple columns. Any text you type in this long cell will be centered across the multiple columns that you combined into the one cell.

1) Click & drag over two or more cells with the White Cross Cursor.

2) Click on the Merge & Center button   on the Ribbon. The Merge & Center button is right under the Wrap Text button.

3) Type the text you want, such as Income 2008.

4) To left align, center align or right align the text within the merged cells, click on the Left Align, Center Align or Right Align button. These buttons are about three buttons to the left of the Merge & Center button.

      

TO ADD LINES OR BORDERS TO THE CELLS:

Note: This procedure will only add lines where you click & drag and not through the entire spreadsheet area that has data. To add gridlines throughout your spreadsheet, click on the Page Layout tab on the Ribbon, then click to put a check mark next to  üPrint  under Gridlines.

1) Click & drag across the cells you want to add lines to with the White Cross Cursor

2) Click on the tiny Down Arrow next to the Border button   (it has a frame or rectangle on it), and then click on  the button with the type of gridline you want:

Single-width underline, Right side line, Left side line, Double-width underline, Single-width box, Double-width box, No border (to remove the border), etc.

TO QUICKLY TRANSFER THE FORMATTING OF A CELL TO ANOTHER CELL OR GROUP OF CELLS USING THE FORMAT PAINTER:

1) Click once on the cell that has the formatting (for example, the text color or size, the background color of the cell, the font style, etc.) you want to transfer.

2) Click on the Format Painter button at the top of the screen.    The Format Painter button has a picture of a paintbrush on it and is found at the far left on the Ribbon.

3) Click & drag with the Format Painter Cursor (it has an I-beam and a paintbrush) over the cell(s) you want to transfer the formatting to.

4) If you make a mistake, then click back on the cell which has the formatting you want, then click on the Format Painter button again, then click & drag over the cell(s) you want to transfer the formatting to.

TO CHANGE ALL OF THE NUMBERS IN A ROW OR COLUMN TO CURRENCY:

1) Click on a single cell, a Row button, or a Column button (or click & drag over a number of cells)  where you want to change the formatting.

2) Click on the Dollar Sign button on the Ribbon. It has a “$” on it and is in the center of the Ribbon.

3) Click on the tiny Down Arrow next to Accounting, which is above the Dollar Sign button, then click on Currency. This will move the “$” closer to the leftmost number in the currency amounts.

TO GET RID OF THE DECIMAL POINTS IN THE CURRENCY AMOUNTS:

1) Click on a single cell, a Row button, or a Column button (or click & drag over a number of cells)  where you want to change the formatting.

2) Click on the Decrease Decimal button twice. The Decrease Decimal button looks like this:

  

  .00

à.0

TO CALCULATE A PERCENTAGE:

1) Click once in the cell where you want the percentage value to go (for example, the G3 cell–see below).

2) Type an equal sign ( = ).

3) Click once on the numerator value in, for example, the E3 cell.

4) Type a Forward Slash ( / ), which is the Division symbol*.

5) Click once on the total or denominator value in, e.g., F3.

So, the formula in the Formula Box at the top of the window will look like this:

=E3/F3

Tip: Keep in mind that you can always just type the formula instead of clicking on the relevant cells.

6) Press the Enter key (or click on the Check Mark button ü to the left of the formula in the Formula Box at the top).

7) You should then see “0.333333” in the cell.

8) To convert the “0.333333” into a percentage, click once back into the G3 cell, then click once on the Percentage button on the Ribbon. The Percentage button is just to the right of the Dollar Sign button. You should then see 33% in the cell.

  

 

E

F

G

3

2500

7500

.333333  will change to   33%

4  
5  

 

TO SUM A SERIES OF CONTIGUOUS CELLS:

1) Click into the cell where you want the sum to go (for example, click into the C9 cell).

2) Type the following formula (for example):

=SUM(C3:C8)

which will sum all of the cells between C3 and C8 and put the total into the C9 cell.

TO PRINT THE SPREADSHEET:

1) Click on the Office button in the upper left-hand corner of the window.

2) Click on Print, then on the Preview button in the lower left-hand corner. Click on the Close Print Preview button when you want to return to the spreadsheet.

3) If the spreadsheet prints out on more than one sheet of paper (press the Page Down key on the keyboard to see the other pages) and you want it to print out on only one sheet, make all of the columns narrower using the Double-Headed Horizontal Arrow Cursor.

Note: If you see “#####” in a cell, this means the column is too narrow. Make that column a little wider.

4) Click on the Office button, then on Print, then on the Preview button to see if the spreadsheet prints out on one sheet of paper.

Tip: An easy way to force the spreadsheet to print out on one sheet of paper is to click on the Page Setup button on the Preview Ribbon, then click on:

¤ Fit to:  page(s) wide by  1  tall      (Caution: The text size may get very small if you do this.)

5) Click on the OK button.

6) Click on the Office button, then on Quick Print to print the spreadsheet.

* OTHER EXCEL FUNCTIONS:

                      Addition:    =C1+C2   (for example)

Subtraction:  =C1-C2

  Multiplication: =C1*C2