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Excel Beginner Lesson 1 - v2019-365

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15 views4 pages

Excel Beginner Lesson 1 - v2019-365

Uploaded by

Khloe N
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Excelling at Excel (2019-365)

Beginner Lesson 1
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that allows you to organize information, do mathematical
operations on it, create graphs and charts, and much more. It is usually used for things that involve
math, but there are other uses also.

These mini-lessons will get you started with the program. Follow the instructions and make sure you are
saving your file when asked.

Step 1: Opening the Program and Entering Information

1. Open Microsoft Excel by clicking on the “Start” menu at the bottom left of your screen and
choosing “Microsoft Office”. Another menu appears showing all the different MS Office
programs. Click on Microsoft Excel.
2. Information is entered in Cells. Columns (vertical) are named with letters and rows (horizontal)
with numbers and the intersection of those is called a cell. To enter information, click on the
cell you want your information in.

Enter This
Type "January" in Cell A1, press TAB or RIGHT ARROW to move to the next cell to the right
Type "February" in Cell B1, press TAB or RIGHT ARROW to move to the next cell to the right
Type "March" in Cell C1, press TAB or RIGHT ARROW to move to the next cell to the right

Your Excel Spreadsheet should look like this:

Save your file as LastFirstExcel1 (example: George Jones saves his file as JonesGeorgeExcel1). Do not
close your file – you will be continuing work on it.

Step 2: Selecting Multiple Cells (a Range) and Formatting Them

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Multiple cells that touch each other are called a range in MS Excel. Selecting a group of cells that you
want to change in the same ways saves time.

1. Click on Cell A1 with your left mouse button and hold and drag it over to include Cell C1. You
should have all three months highlighted if you are doing this correctly.
2. Formatting changes how a cell looks. You will be formatting the three cells you have highlighted
in the font Arial and changing the color of the font to red.
3. With the cells highlighted, choose the font and then choose the color.

More formatting options are found on the Format Menu:

Save your file again so you don’t lose your work, but leave it open to continue on.

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Step 3: Change the Width of your Columns
Many times you will be entering information that is wider than the column and then some of your
information seems to disappear. (Don’t worry, it’s still there!). You might also want to space things
differently to make the spreadsheet more attractive. Don’t skip columns – it creates problems with
formulas and charts and graphs later on. Instead widen the column.

1. This is one of the ways you can change the column width (you’ll learn others later, but this is
the one you will use most of the time). We are going to widen column B so that “February” has
more space.
2. Roll your mouse up to where the column heading letters are, in between columns B and C. Your
cursor with change to a “+”.

3. Hold down your left mouse and drag the column until it is as wide as you need.
4. Note: You can do the same thing to make a row taller or shorter. Just click between the
numbers and drag.

Save your file again so you don’t lose your work, but leave it open to continue on.

Step 4: Now it’s your turn to create! Using what you’ve learned above, and the “Help” feature in the
software (blue question mark at the top right of your screen), create a spreadsheet with this
information:

1. Create your new spreadsheet in the SAME FILE, but on Sheet 2. Click on the “+” to add a sheet.

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2. Your spreadsheet should have appropriate column headings and formatting (like you learned
above) and contain a list of your favorite 10 songs, the artist/band who performs them, and the
year they were published.

3. Save your file again (it is still named LastFirstExcel1) and submit it for grading.

Grading
Expectations Possible Points
Steps 1-3 completed correctly on Sheet 1 25
Step 4 includes all information 25
Step 4 includes column headings, a title, columns an appropriate width with none 50
skipped, and attractive formatting
TOTAL 100

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