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Microsoft Excel
Colour your
sheet tabs
You can
colour-code
the tabs on
your Excel
spreadsheets
for easier
navigation.
Click the
tab you'd
like to
colour, then
right click
on it and
choose
Tab
Color.
Select the
colour you
want and
click
OK.
Your
tabs can
be
coloured
however
you like
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Sort things out
You can
rearrange the
data in a
spreadsheet any
way you like by
clicking the
column(s) or
row(s) you want
and then
clicking on the
Data
menu, and
selecting
Sort.
In the Sort
window, select
the column you'd
like to sort by
and whether you
want the data in
ascending or
descending
order.
Sort your
data to
prioritise
your
information
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Make Excel 2007
save to .xls by
default
Excel 2007 uses
a highly
incompatible .xlsx
file format for
saving files,
making it
difficult to
share with
friends and
colleagues who
don't have the
same version. To
change this:
- Click
the Office
button in
the top left
- Click
the
Excel
Options
button
- On the
left-hand
side, select
Save
- Change
the
Save files
in this
format
drop down
box to
Excel 97 -
2003
Workbook
- Click
OK
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Mathematics and
formulas
Excel supports a
whole range of
maths to
calculate the
data you need.
The basics are
easy enough to
get a grip on:
- To start
a formula,
you need to
enter
=
in a cell
first
- Use the
row and
column
addresses to
perform
operations
- You can
use +, -, /
(divide), *
(multiply),
^ (power of)
and brackets
to separate
the
operations.
So for
example,
typing
=(A1+B1)/C2*D5^2
would take
the value in
A1, add it
to the value
in B1, then
divide it by
the value in
C2
multiplied
by the
square of
the value in
D5. As you
update
entries in
A1, B1, C2
and D5, the
formula will
also update
to reflect
this
- To
simply add
up values
quickly, use
the SUM
command. For
example,
=SUM(A1:A6)
would add up
all the
values in
A1, A2, A3,
A4, A5 and
A6
You can see
the formula
for cell B7
in the
formula
field (shown
next to the
fx).
Here it's
adding up
all the
values from
B1 through
B5, even
though the
numbers only
start at B2.
If any
values were
updated, or
a number put
into B1, the
value in B7
would also
change to
reflect this
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All together now
To select the
entire
spreadsheet in
one shot, click
the box in the
top left corner
that joins the
columns and
rows.
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Insert date
and time
To insert
the current
date in a
cell, press
CTRL
+ ;.
To insert
the time,
press
CTRL
+
SHIFT
+ ;.
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Hide
your sheet
You can hide
Excel worksheets
to reduce the
number of sheets
on your screen.
In Excel 2003,
just select the
sheets you'd
like to hide and
select
Format
> Sheet
> Hide.
To restore them,
go to
Format
> Sheet
> Unhide.
In Excel 2007,
right click on
the sheet tab
you want to
hide, and select
Hide.
To reveal it,
right click on
any sheet tab
and choose
Unhide.
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Clear formatting
To clear the
formatting in an
Excel 2003
spreadsheet,
highlight the
cells you want
changed and
select
Edit >
Clear
>
Formats.
In Excel 2007,
highlight the
cells you wish
to reset, click
the Home
menu, then click
Clear,
then
Clear Formats
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The
extend
series
function
The best
way to
explain
this
function
is a
demonstration.
-
Type
out
in a
vertical
column:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
then
select
the
entries
as
shown
below
-
See
the
little
dot
at
the
bottom
right-hand
corner
of
the
selection?
Left
click
and
drag
that
down
a
few
cells,
then
release.
Low
and
behold,
Excel
has
figured
out
the
number
series
and
has
added
the
extra
values
automatically
-
You
can
also
do
the
same
with
formulas,
and
it
will
alter
all
the
cells
referenced
in
the
formulas
accordingly.
In
our
example
below,
we
have
added
one
formula
for
the
initial
total:
A2+B2.
We
then
clicked
and
dragged
down,
and
Excel
has
intelligently
created
all
the
other
total
formulas
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