Introduction to MS-Excel

MS-EXCEL is a part of Microsoft Office suite software. It is an electronic spreadsheet with

numerous rows and columns, used for organizing data, graphically represent data(s), and
performing different calculations. It consists of 1048576 rows and 16384 columns, a row and
column together make a cell. Each cell has an address defined by column name and row number
example A1, D2, etc. this is also known as a cell reference.
Cell references: The address or name of a cell or a range of cells is known as Cell reference. It
helps the software to identify the cell from where the data/value is to be used in the formula. We
can reference the cell of other worksheets and also of other programs.
● Referencing the cell of other worksheets is known as External referencing.

● Referencing the cell of other programs is known as Remote referencing.

There are three types of cell references in Excel:
1. Relative reference.
2. Absolute reference.
3. Mixed reference.

The Ribbon in MS-Excel is the topmost row of tabs that provide the user with different
facilities/functionalities. These tabs are:
1. Home Tab: It provides the basic facilities like changing the font, size of text, editing the cells
in the spreadsheet, autosum, etc.
2. Insert Tab: It provides the facilities like inserting tables, pivot tables, images, clip art, charts,
links, etc.
3. Page layout: It provides all the facilities related to the spreadsheet-like margins, orientation,
height, width, background etc. The worksheet appearance will be the same in the hard copy as
well.
4. Formulas: It is a package of different in-built formulas/functions which can be used by user
just by selecting the cell or range of cells for values.
5. Data: The Data Tab helps to perform different operations on a vast set of data like analysis
through what-if analysis tools and many other data analysis tools, removing duplicate data,
transpose the row and column, etc. It also helps to access data(s) from different sources as
well, such as from Ms-Access, from web, etc.
6. Review: This tab provides the facility of thesaurus, checking spellings, translating the text,
and helps to protect and share the worksheet and workbook.
7. View: It contains the commands to manage the view of the workbook, show/hide ruler,
gridlines, etc, freezing panes, and adding macros.
Creating a new spreadsheet:
In Excel 3 sheets are already opened by default, now to add a new sheet :
● In the lowermost pane in Excel, you can find a button.
● Click on that button to add a new sheet.

● We can also achieve the same by Right-clicking on the sheet number before which you want
to insert the sheet.
● Click on Insert.
● Select Worksheet.
● Click OK.
Opening previous spreadsheet:
On the lowermost pane in Excel, you can find the name of the current sheet you have opened.
On the left side of this sheet, the name of previous sheets are also available like Sheet 2, Sheet 3
will be available at the left of sheet4, click on the number/name of the sheet you want to open
and the sheet will open in the same workbook.
For example, we are on Sheet 4, and we want to open Sheet 2 then simply just click on Sheet2 to
open it.
Managing the spreadsheets:
You can easily manage the spreadsheets in Excel simply by :
● Simply navigating between the sheets.
● Right-clicking on the sheet name or number on the pane.
● Choose among the various options available like, move, copy, rename, add, delete etc.
● You can move/copy your sheet to other workbooks as well just by selecting the workbook in
the To workbook and the sheet before you want to insert the sheet in Before sheet.

To save the workbook:

1. Click on the Office Button or the File tab.
2. Click on Save As option.
3. Write the desired name of your file.
4. Click OK.
To share your workbook:
1. Click on the Review tab on the Ribbon.
2. Click on the share workbook (under Changes group).
3. If you want to protect your workbook and then make it available for another user then click on
Protect and Share Workbook option.
4. Now check the option “Allow changes by more than one user at the same time. This also
allows workbook merging” in the Share Workbook dialog box.
5. Many other options are also available in the Advanced like track, update changes.
6. Click OK.
Excel data types

Here's a list of the four data types you can find in Microsoft Excel, with information about the
ways you can use them:

1. Number data

Data is this category includes any kind of number. These may include large numbers or small
fractions and quantitative or qualitative data. It's important to remember the difference between
quantitative and qualitative number values because some numbers may not represent an amount
of something. For example, you might enter a number that represents financial earnings in one
cell and a number that represents a date in another. Both count as number data, but may enter
differently in the spreadsheet. Make sure you use the appropriate symbols and formats to ensure
Excel reads your number data accurately.

Examples of number data may include:

Monetary totals

Whole numbers

Percentages

Decimals

Dates

Times

Integers

Phone numbers

Related: 30 of the Most Advanced Formulas And Functions in Excel

2. Text data

This kind of data includes characters such as alphabetical, numerical and special symbols. The
primary difference between number data and text data is that you can use calculations on number
data but not text data. Since there can be overlap between these two types of data, you may
manually change the format of a cell to ensure it operates the way you want. You may also use
text data to label columns or rows to help keep track of different categories. For example, you
may label a row "revenue" and a column "January 2022."

Excel may categorize figures it doesn't recognize as text data by default, so it's important to
format your data to fit the type you want. Examples of text data may include:

Words

Sentences

Dates

Times

Addresses

3. Logical data

Data in this type is either TRUE or FALSE, usually as the product of a test or comparison. This
means you can use a function to determine whether the data in your spreadsheet meets different
measures. For example, you may want to use your spreadsheet to set sales goals and measure
whether your sales performance matches. You may conduct these tests using logical functions
for different scenarios. The four logical functions are:

AND: An AND function may help you determine whether your data meets multiple conditions.
For example, you might use this function to test if data in one cell is larger than a certain amount
and the data in another cell is also larger than another amount.

OR: You may use this function to determine that at least one of your arguments meets your
conditions. If none of the data matches your conditions, Excel produces a FALSE value.

XOR: This function stands for "Exclusive Or," which means that only one argument may be
TRUE or FALSE. For example, you might use this function to ensure that only one of your cells
contains a certain value.

NOT: You might use this function when you want to filter out arguments that don't match your
conditions. This marks each argument as TRUE so you can assess possible patterns in data that
doesn't match your conditions.

Related: How To Use Conditional Formatting in Excel in 5 Steps

4. Error data

This type of data occurs when Excel recognizes a mistake or missing information while
processing your entry. For example, if you attempt to run a function on a cell that contains text
data, Excel produces the error value #VALUE!. This helps you identify where the issue is so you
can correct it and produce the result you want. A "#" character at the beginning of each error
value can help you easily recognize these instances. Knowing the different error values can help
you understand how to resolve different mistakes or add the appropriate information. These
values are:

#NAME?: You may see this value if you have a value inside a formula without quotes or with a
beginning or end quote missing. It may also populate if there's a typo in the formula.

#DIV/0: This error value might arise if you try dividing a number by zero. Since the result is an
undefined number, Excel uses #DIV/0 to represent where you can try a different equation.

#REF!: An invalid cell reference error value may result if you remove or paste items in a cell or
range of cells where you previously entered a formula. To correct this issue, you can undo your
previous action and place your new data in a cell or cell range that doesn't contain a formula.

#NUM!: A #NUM! value may appear if you enter an invalid formula or function. It may also
appear if the total that a formula or function produces is too large for Excel to represent in a cell.

#N/A: You may enter this error value when you want to indicate to yourself areas where you can
enter a value later. Excel may also automatically populate this value if imported data contains
empty or unreadable cells.

#VALUE!: This error indicates that an argument or operator in a function or formula is invalid.
For example, if you try to calculate the sum of a range of cells where one cell contains
alphabetical characters, you can get a #VALUE! result.

#NULL!: If you're referencing the intersection between a range of cells in a function, you may
see this error value because those cells don't actually intersect. It may also appear if a range of
cells for a function are missing separating commas.
 Excel TEXT Function

Summary
The Excel TEXT function returns a number in a given number format, as text. You can use the TEXT
function to embed formatted numbers inside text.

Purpose
Convert a number to text in a number format

Return value
A number as text in the given format.

Syntax
=TEXT (value, format_text)

Arguments
● value - The number to convert.
● format_text - The number format to use.
Version
Excel 2003

Usage notes
The TEXT function returns a number formatted as text, using the number format provided. You can use
the TEXT function to embed formatted numbers inside text.
The TEXT function takes two arguments, value and format_text. Value is the number to be formatted as
text and should be a numeric value. If value is already text, no formatting is applied. Format_text is a text
string that contains the number formatting codes to apply to value. Supply format_text as a text string
enclosed in double quotes (""). To see examples of various number format codes, see Excel Custom
Number Formats.
Note: The output from TEXT is always a text string. To format a number and maintain the numeric
value, apply regular number formatting.
The TEXT function is useful when concatenating a formatted number to a text string. For example, "Sales
last year increased by over $43,500", where the number 43500 has been formatted with a currency
symbol and thousands separator. Without the TEXT function, the number formatting will be stripped.
This is especially problematic with dates, which appear as large serial numbers. With the TEXT function,
you can embed a number in text using exactly the number format needed.

Examples

With the date July 1, 2021 in cell A1, the TEXT function can be used like this:

=TEXT(A1,"dd-mmm-yy") // returns"1-Jul-2021"
=TEXT(A1,"mmmm d") // returns "July 1"
With the number 0.537 in cell A1, TEXT can be used to apply percentage formatting like this:

=TEXT(A1,"0.0%") // returns "53.7%"

=TEXT(A1,"0%") // returns "54%"
The TEXT function is especially useful when concatenating a number to a text string with formatting. For
example, with the date July 1, 2021 in cell A1, concatenation causes date formatting to be removed,
since dates are numeric values:
="The date is "&A1 // returns "The date is 44378"
The TEXT function can be used to apply date formatting in the final result:

="The date is "&TEXT(A1,"mmmm d") // returns "The date is July 1"

Date & Time Functions in Excel
Year, Month, Day | Date Function | Current Date & Time | Hour, Minute, Second | Time Function
To enter a date in Excel, use the "/" or "-" characters. To enter a time, use the ":" (colon). You can also enter a date and a time in
one cell.

Note: Dates are in US Format. Months first, Days second. This type of format depends on your windows regional settings. Learn
more about Date and Time formats.

Year, Month, Day

To get the year of a date, use the YEAR function.

Note: use the MONTH and DAY function to get the month and day of a date.

Date Function
1. To add a number of days to a date, use the following simple formula.

2. To add a number of years, months and/or days, use the DATE function.

Note: the DATE function accepts three arguments: year, month and day. Excel knows that 6 + 2 = 8 = August has 31 days and
rolls over to the next month (23 August + 9 days = 1 September).

Current Date & Time

To get the current date and time, use the NOW function.

Note: use the TODAY function to enter today's date in Excel.

Hour, Minute, Second

To return the hour, use the HOUR function.

Note: use the MINUTE and SECOND function to return the minute and second.

Time Function
To add a number of hours, minutes and/or seconds, use the TIME function.

Note: Excel adds 2 hours, 10 + 1 = 11 minutes and 70 - 60 = 10 seconds.

Some Common Operations in Microsoft Excel
Deleting a Column or a Row

Click on the column or row header to highlight the entire column or row to be deleted. Right-
click on any cell in the highlighted column or row. Click on Delete from the menu.

Inserting a Column

Click on the column header directly to the right of where you want to insert a new column.
Right-click on any cell in the highlighted column. Click on Insert from the menu.

Inserting a Row

Click on the row header directly below where you want to insert a new row. Right-click on any
cell in the highlighted row. Click on Insert from the menu.

Sorting

Click on the grey rectangle between the "A" column header and the "1" row header in the upper
left corner of the worksheet to select the entire worksheet. Click on Data on the menu bar, and
then Sort... Under Sort by, select the column to sort by and select
either Ascending or Descending order.

Displaying Formulas in the Worksheet

Hold down the CTRL key, and press the left single quote key (this key also has the "tilde" (~)
symbol). Repeat this operation to return to numerical display. Note: spreadsheet data can be
printed in either the formula display or the numerical display.

Entering Formulas

Click on the cell in which you want to enter a formula, and type the formula. Note: all formulas
must begin with an equal sign (=). Additional information about functions can be obtained by
clicking on the equal sign (=) next to the formula bar.

Adjusting Column Width

Click on the column header to highlight the entire column. Right-click on any cell in the
highlighted column. Click on Column Width... from the menu and enter a value for the column
width. Note: the column width of several columns can be adjusted simultaneously by selecting
multiple columns.

Adjusting Row Height

Click on the row header to highlight the entire row. Right-click on any cell in the highlighted
row. Click on Row Height... from the menu and enter a value for the row height. Note: the row
height of several rows can be adjusted simultaneously by selecting multiple rows.

Adjusting the Format of Numerical Data

Click and drag over the cells containing the numerical data. Right-click on any cell in the
highlighted area. Click on Format Cells... Click on the Number tab, and select
the Category: for the type of data in the cells. Note: to adjust the number of decimal places in
numerical data, select Number and enter the number of Decimal places: to use.

Justification of Cell Contents

Click on the cell. Click on the justification button (i.e., either left justify, center, or right justify)
on the Formatting Toolbar. Note: these three buttons are found to the right of the bold, italics
and underline buttons.

Justification of an Entire Column or Row

Click on the column or row header to highlight the entire column or row. Click on the
justification button (i.e., either left justify, center, or right justify) on the Formatting
Toolbar. Note: these three buttons are found to the right of the bold, italics and underline
buttons.

Copying Cells, Columns or Rows

Select the cell(s), column(s) or row(s) by highlighting them. Right-click on any cell in the
highlighted area. Click on Copy. The selected cells will be copied (transparently) to the
Windows clipboard. Note: the Windows clipboard holds only the last copied data.

Pasting Cells, Columns or Rows

Select the cell(s), column(s) or row(s) into which you want to paste previously copied data (i.e.,
from the Windows clipboard). Note: the selected area must be the same size as the data you will
be pasting. Right-click on any cell in the highlighted area. Click on Paste.

Arithmetic Precedence

Microsoft Excel follows the rules of arithmetic precedence when evaluating formulas.
operations enclosed in parentheses are evaluated first;
()
nested parentheses are evaluated from the inside out
^ exponentiation
* and
multiplication and division, evaluated from left to right
/
+
addition and subtraction, evaluated from left to right
and -
Example

● the formula =5*3-4^2 evaluates as -1

● the formula =(5*(3-4)^2) evaluates as 5