Week 1

FUNDAMENTALS OF EXCEL

Important Definitions

Workbook
Excel files are called workbooks. Whenever you start a new project in Excel, you'll need
to create a new workbook. The general extension for an Excel sheet is .xlsx

Worksheet
A Worksheet is a single page containing a collection of cells where the user can store,
update and manipulate the data. Worksheet is also called a spreadsheet. It is made up

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of rows, columns and cells.

Columns

A column in Excel is a vertical alignment of cells. Each column has its unique address,
which is labeled as an alphabet (from A to XFD).

Rows

A row consists of cells arranged horizontally, and each row is uniquely identified by a
number.

Cells

A cell is the intersection of a row and a column. Each cell has its unique address which
is labeled as A1, B2 and so on.

Range

Range represents a set of one or more contiguous cells such as a cell, a row, a column,
or a block of cells which is used basically with a function to make calculations across
multiple cells in Excel.A range in Excel is defined with a Colon( :) sign, and if multiple
ranges are selected then Excel differentiate them with a comma (,) sign.
Selecting Single Range
Starting Cell : Ending Cell
A1:D2

Selecting Multiple Range

Press Ctrl
Starting Cell:Ending Cell, Starting Cell:Ending Cell

The picture given below shows how to show a range MS Excel.

The picture given below shows how to select multiple ranges. To select multiple ranges in
MS Excel Press Ctrl and then select ranges you want to work with.
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Types of Data in Excel

We can enter various types of data in Excel cells, but there are 4 main types i.e., Numeric,
Text, Date, Logical data.
 NUMERIC DATA : It shows in number in MS Excel i.e, 70, 36 etc.

TEXT DATA : Such data in Excel is entered in text form i.e, Shivam, 9082828827 etc.

POINTS TO REMEMBER :
Any numeric data with text string is considered as text data in Excel. Eg : BM001.
When using a formula or function in Ms Excel text data should be written within a double
quote. E.g : "Total Number of tickets sold".
In number formatting a text data is shown with a sign @.
To add two text values of different cells

DATE DATA : In Excel date and numeric data is considered same if the start with
01/01/1900 and end on 31/12/9999. It means Date = Numeric

POINTS TO REMEMBER :
Date is written as dd/mm/yy or mm/dd/yy in Ms Excel (where d is date, m is month and y is
year). To enter the right date format check the date setting of your computer.
In Excel we can not enter a date before 01/01/1900 and after 31/12/9999. If a date is
entered before 01/01/1900 Excel treats it as a text data.

LOGICAL DATA: True/False or Yes/No type of data in Excel is called logical data. To
perform logical operations logical operators and logical functions are used in Ms Excel.

Operation

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An operation is a process of making calculations among different cells in MS Excel. To
make operation between two cell an equal sign = is used.

Operators
Operators in Excel helps to perform a variety of operations in Excel Calculations.
We can divide the Excel Operators into 4 major categories.

Reference Operators
Excel Reference Operators are used to refer to the Excel Ranges and Cells in the Formula.
Colon, Space and Comma are the Reference Operators in Excel.

Operators Used for

Colon : To refer a range

Comma , Union operator, which combines multiple references into one reference.

Intersection Operator, this operator only refers to those cells common in

Space
two-range arguments
Arithmetic Operators
Excel Arithmetic Operators are used to perform the mathematical calculations in Excel.
+,-,*,/,^,-,% are the Arithmetic Operators in Excel.

Operators Description Precedence

(1 = Top; 3 = Bottom)

% Percentage Operator 1

^ Exponential Operator 1

* Multiplication Operator 2

/ Division Operator 2

+ Addition Operator 3

- Subtraction Operator 3
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Text Concatenation Operator
Use the ampersand (&) to join, or concatenate, one or more text strings to produce a
single piece of text.

Logical Operators
When two values are compared by using logical operators, the result is a logical value
either TRUE or FALSE.

Operator Name Description

= Equal to Compare one value to other value.

Test whether the value is greater than a

> Greater than
certain value or not
 Test whether the value is less than a
< Less than
certain value or not

Greater than or Test whether the value is greater than or

>=
Equal to equal to a certain value or not

Less than or Equal Test whether the value is less than a or

<=
to equal to a certain value or not

Test whether a particular value is not equal

<> Not equal to
to a certain value.

Calculations In MS Excel
A formula in Excel always begins with an equal sign (=). The equal sign tells Excel that the
characters that follow constitute a formula.

Calculations between two cells

To make calculations between two cells, Excel uses their cell addresses.

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Example : A1+B1

Calculations Among Ranges

To make calculations between two ranges, Excel uses their range references.
Example : Sum (A1:A10, B1:B10)
Important note : Sum is an inbuilt function in Ms Excel, used to sum numeric values among
ranges.

Calculations Among Different Sheets

in an Excel reference to another worksheet, you use the following format:

Sheet_name!First_cell:Last_cell
=Sum(Sheet1!A2:A8, Sheet2!A2:A8)
=SUM(Sheet1:Sheet9!A2) (3D sum)

Important note : ! Sign is used to define a sheet name.

Calculation from one workbook to another

I) External reference to an open workbook
When the source workbook is open, an Excel external reference includes the workbook
name in square brackets (including the file extension), followed by the sheet name,
exclamation point (!), and the referenced cell or a range of cells.

[Workbook_name]Sheet_name!Cell_address

ii) External reference to a closed workbook

When you reference another workbook in Excel, that other workbook does not necessarily
need to be open. If the source workbook is closed, you must add the entire path to your
external reference.

=SUM('D:\Reports\[Sales.xlsx]Jan'!B2:B5)

File Path. It points to the drive and directory in which your Excel file is stored (D:\Reports\ in
this example).

Workbook Name. It includes the file extension (.xlsx, .xls, or .xslm) and is always enclosed
in square brackets, like [Sales.xlsx] in the above formula.

Sheet Name. This part of the Excel external reference includes the sheet name followed by
an exclamation point where the referenced cell(s) is located (Jan! in this example).

25 Daily Used Shortcut Keys in MS Excel

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Action Shortcut Key

Creating a new workbook Ctrl + N

Adding new column Ctrl + Spacebar then Ctrl +

Adding new row Shift + Spacebar then Ctrl +

Ctrl + 1 Format cell dialogue box

To activate a cell F2

Select Range ▶️Edit Cell (F2) ▶️

Copy a formula into range
Press Ctrl + Enter
 Navigate among sheets Ctrl + Pageup & Ctrl + Pagedown

Naming a range Ctrl + F3

Pasting name range F3

Paste special Ctrl + Alt + V

Lock cell address F4

Convert data into table Ctrl + T

Navigate among tabs Alt

Switch between opened workbooks Ctrl + Tab

Go to next cell Tab

Go to previous cell Shift + Tab

7 Find Ctrl + F

Replace Ctrl + H

Save as F12

In cell editing mode, enter a new line Alt + Enter

Autosum Alt + =

Insert a new sheet Shift + F11

Check spelling mistakes F7

Add comments Shift + F2

Repeat the last task F4

 The End
"Dear students hope, you have done a great start in your journey of learning Excel during this
first week. I tried my levels best to make you understand some of the technical concepts, still
if there is any doubts or queries coming to your mind, ask them during the next doubt
session".

Shivam Bahuguna, Manager @Brilliant Makers