BASIC MICROSOFT EXCEL 2008 FOR THE MAC INSTRUCTIONS

Tip 1: Be sure to save your spreadsheet every 10-15 minutes 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 File, then on Save As. Type a name for the spreadsheet, such as Budget 2009  in the File name: box, then click on the Save button.

To save the same spreadsheet the second, third, fourth, etc. time (after you've made changes to it), click on File, then on Save (or use the Command-S key combination).

Note: The Command key is the one with the Apple logo and the “pretzel” on it: z.

Tip 2: Change the file name slightly when you make a major change to your spreadsheet (such as changing the number of sheets of paper it prints out on). Click on File, then on Save As, then type a letter after the file name, such as Budget 2009A, then Budget 2009B and so on. If you do this, you will always have a backup file to go back to if you mess up the current Excel file. When you are sure that everything works properly in the new Budget 2009B file, you can delete the Budget 2009A file.

INSERTING/DELETING ROWS: 

1) 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 (è).

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

2) Click on Insert, then on Rows.

3) Repeat step # 2 if you need to insert more rows.

4) To delete a row, click on the Row Number button, then click on Edit, then on Delete.

CHANGING THE COLUMN WIDTH:

1) Move the White Cross Cursor       onto the short vertical line between the 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 gray Column Letter buttons (between the, e.g., A and B buttons).

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.    (It has a picture of a paintbrush on it.)

Note: If you cannot see the Format Painter button, click on View, then on Toolbars, then on Standard.

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

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

CHANGING 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 Format, then on Cells. Then click on Currency.

3) Click on OK.

CHANGING THE MARGINS:

1) Click on File, then on Page Setup, then on the Margins tab.

2) Type in the values you want, or click on the tiny Down Arrow buttons to make the Left and Right Margins smaller. The minimum value you can type in is limited by the “Printer Margin,” which is probably about 0.25 inches. (This value depends on your printer.)

Note: You can also change the Top and Bottom Margins here.

3) Click on OK. (Or click on the Print Preview button to see how the page will look with the new margin values).

CHANGING THE PAGE ORIENTATION FROM PORTRAIT TO LANDSCAPE:

1) Click on File, then on Page Setup.

2) Click to select:  ¤Landscape. (It has a picture of a person turned sideways next to it.)

3) Click on OK.

CHANGING THE SIZE OF THE TEXT:

1) Click on the Column Header of the column you want to change (or click on the Select All button   ¯   in the upper left-hand corner where the Row Number and Column Header buttons intersect if you want to change the size of all of the text on your spreadsheet).

2) Click on Format, then on Cells…

3) Click on Font.

4) Change the font size to whatever you want. You can click on one of the values listed, or type in a value, even if it is not one of the values listed. [Size 7 is probably the smallest that you can easily see.]

5) Click on OK.

ADDING OR SUBTRACTING TWO CELLS TOGETHER:

1) Click once in the cell where you want the sum to go (for example, the G5 cell, which is in the Over (Under) column).

2) Type a equal sign ( = ). 

Note: All formulas begin with an equal sign.

3) Click once on the D5 cell (for example, the cell that contains the Subtotal data).

4) Type a Minus sign ( - ).

5) Click once on the C5 cell (for example, the cell that contains the Budget).

6) Press the Return key. You should then see the difference between the Subtotal and the Budget data. Here is the formula you inserted in the G5 cell:

= D5-C5          [or  = Subtotal – Budget].

Tip: You can also just click in the G5 cell and type the above formula (except for the part in the brackets [ ] ).

COPYING THE FORMULA DOWN THE ENTIRE COLUMN (FOR EXAMPLE, THE G COLUMN):

Note: This is how you can extend the formula you typed in the section above ( = Subtotal Budget) down the entire column of data in Column G.

1) Click once on the cell that has the formula that you want to copy to the cells under that cell–for example, the G5 cell, which is in the Over (Under) column.

2) Move the White Cross Cursor       onto the lower right-hand corner of the, for example, G5 cell until it changes to a Black Cross Cursor

3) Click & drag the corner down to the bottom of the group of cells where you want to copy the formula to.

4) Each cell you highlight in that column will have an updated formula–for example, the G6 cell will have the following formula:

= D6 – C6

    The G7 cell will have the formula:  = D7 – C7  and so on.

5) If you make a mistake, click on Edit, then on Undo Fill Down.

SUMMING A WHOLE BUNCH OF CONTIGUOUS CELLS:

1) Click into the cell where you want the sum to go (for example, click into the D12 cell).

2) Type the following formula (for example):

=SUM(D5:D11)

    which will sum all of the cells between D5 and D11 and put the total into the D12 cell.

PRINTING THE SPREADSHEET:

1) Click on File, then 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.

2) If the spreadsheet prints out on more than one sheet of paper and you want it to print out on only one sheet, make all of the columns narrower using the Double-Headed Horizontal Arrow Cursor. (See the section above titled, "CHANGING THE COLUMN WIDTH.")

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

3) Click on File, 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 File, then on Page Setup, then click on:

¤Fit to:  1  page(s) wide by  1  tall. 

Caution: The text may get very small if you force it to print on one sheet of paper.

4) Click on the OK button.

5) Click on File, then on Print to print out the spreadsheet.