Tabs.

Each tab
has a ribbon

Ribbon

Formula Bar

Cell reference
of the current
selected cell Columns

Headings

Row
headings

Current
selected cell
(active cell)

You can add more sheets

by clicking on this icon.

This workbook contains

only one Sheet.
Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum
 The name of this
spreadsheet/workbook is Book1.

Cells can contain only one data element

Value, Label and Formula

45 is an example of value

I am 38 years old is an example of label

=5+4 is an example of formulas

Font type

From the Home Ribbon

you can format cells. Font size

Bold Borders

Italics
Alignments

Font colour

Underline
Cell fill colour

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum

 From these icons, you can increase and decrease the number of decimal
places. Example if I have written 89.67 and I press the increase decimal
the number will change to 89.670. Each time I press the increase decimal
a zero will be added at the end. If on the other hand I press decrease
decimal the number will become 89.7 (inwaqqa’ 7 u kif naghmlu fil-maths
peress li 7 huwa ikbar minn 5 jaghti wiehed lis-6 u allura l-answer jigi 89.7)

Increase decimal decrease decimal

Note that even though

the € is visible in the Here you can format
cell, this is not visible in cells to display
the formula bar. currency.
Therefore, the contents
of this cell is still
considered to be a
number and can be used
in formulas and
functions.

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum

 Here you can format
cells to display the Here you can format cells to display
number as the thousand separator.
percentage.
Example:

1000000 after you apply the

thousand separator will be displayed
as 1,000,000

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum

 To enlarge the width of column G you can
either click and drag this thin line to the
This column is wider than desired position.
the rest of the columns.
OR

Same procedure applies If you have text already written in this

for the rows. column you can double click on this thin line
and the column width will be adjusted to fit
the contained data.

By right clicking on a column or row Heading

you can also adjust the width or height. This
way you can give the exact size. From this
menu, you can also delete or insert a row or
column.

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum

 One can also insert a new column, by
first select the column (in this example
we have column V selected) and then
choose Insert Sheet Columns from this
menu. New column is always inserted
before the one selected.

One can also insert a new row, by

first select the row and then choose
Insert Sheet Rows from this menu.
New row is always inserted above
the one selected.

One can also delete a row or

column, by first selecting the
column or row and then choose
Delete Sheet Rows or Delete Sheet
Columns from this menu.

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum

 From the Page Layout
Ribbon

From here you can change the page From here you can turn on and off display of
orientation to Landscape and Portrait. gridlines both for viewing or printing purpose.

Gridlines turned on
for viewing

Gridlines turned off

for printing

Gridlines turned off

for viewing

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum

 Printing and Print Preview
Click on the File Tab

Print Preview
From here you can change the Here you can preview the
number of copies to be printed. spreadsheet before printing.

From here you print a selected cell

range from a spreadsheet or the
entire spreadsheet.

From here you can change the

page orientation.

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum

 Functions

Excel can do calculations. It can work out:

 Addition +
 Multiplication -
 Division /
 Multiplication *

To be able to perform calculations, you need to learn how to write formulas. Formulas are
very easy to use.

Remember a Formula always starts with an =

Simple Formula
In Cell C6 we wrote a formula to find the
multiplication of 4 * 2.

A formula always begins with the equals sign and it

does not contain spaces.

Once you write the formula you have to press the

Enter key to display the result.

Result

Note that in the formula bar you will still see the formula
and not the answer.

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum

 In this example we are finding the sum
of cell B5, B6 and B7. In this example
we are using cell referencing.
When using cell referencing we are
telling the computer to add what is
found in B5 and B6 and B7. So if for
.
example I decide to change the value of
B5 to 5 the answer will be adjusted
automatically.

Even though the

formula is not visible
in cell B8, you can
see the formula in
the formula bar.

The answer of this

formula is 123.

We refer to this range of adjacent

cells as E3:G3
We refer to this range of adjacent The : means range, so it is as if
cells as B3:B5 you are saying from E3 till G3.
Therefore E3,F3, G3
The : means range, so it is as if
you are saying from B3 till B5.
Therefore B3,B4, B5

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum

 Functions

A function in Excel is a preset formula, that helps perform mathematical, statistical and
logical operations. Basically, it saves you the hassle to figure out the mathematical formulas
behind complex calculations. Also, you save time having to write the complex formula. We
are going to cover the following 4 Functions.

Here we are using the SUM function to find the total of cells
D4, D5 and D6. These are adjacent cells (next to each other),
so we use the : to refer to this range.

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum

 Here we are using the MAX function
to find the largest number from the
cells D4, D5 and D6.

Here we are using the MAX function to find the boys’

maximum mark. The boys marks are found in cells C4, C6,
C8, C9 and C10. Here we can see that the cells are not
adjacent so in the formula they are separated by a
comma. This function could also be written as

=MAX(C4, C6, C8:C10)

Reason being that C8, C9 and C10 are adjacent.

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum

 NOT FOR EXAM - Functions Error Messages

Error Name Description

########### Error

The formula produces a result that is too

long to fit in the cell. Solution: widen the
column containing the formula.

#REF!
Some columns or rows used in the formula
have been accidently deleted.

The cell F1 is used in the formula, if the

column F is deleted, a #REF error is
generated.

#DIV/0!
This error is generated when the formula
divide a number by 0.

The formula cell reference points to a cell

#VALUE! containing text instead of a number.

Excel does not recognise text contained

#NAME?
within a formula.

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum

 Relative Cell Referencing

Relative cell references are basic cell references that adjust and change when copied or when
using AutoFill. Relative references are especially convenient whenever you need
to repeat the same calculation across multiple rows or columns.

As an example, if you copy the formula =C2*D2 from cell E2 to E3, the formula in E2 adjusts
downwards by one row and becomes =C3*D3.

Excel Notes C3 – Mrs. R. Plum