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Introduction to Microsoft Excel 97

 

Welcome to Microsoft Excel 97. This program is designed to make your number crunching needs easy to accomplish. Let’s jump in and see how this is done.

Screen Layout

  • Title Bar
    •      		At the very top of the screen is the Title Bar. If the Title Bar is colored, it designates the active window. On the left side of the title bar is the Excel icon. Double Clicking on the Excel Icon will exit the program. On the right side of the title bar is the minimize button, the maximize or restore button, and the "X" Exit button.
  • Menu
    •      		The second line is the menu. Use the mouse to click on the option desired, or ALT key plus the underlined character of the option for keyboard access to the menu.
  • Toolbars
    •      		The next two lines are toolbars. Excel provides 14 different toolbars, although you’ll normally display only two or three at any one time. Microsoft’s "factory settings" display only the Standard and Formatting toolbars. The other toolbars include: Chart, Control Toolbox, Drawing, External Data, Forms, Picture, Pivot Table, Reviewing, Visual Basic, Web, Word Art, and Standard*.

    You can display any available toolbar by opposite mouse-clicking on any toolbar displayed on your screen and selecting the toolbar from the drop-down menu that appears.

    Placing the mouse pointer on the icon brings up a word description of what the icon does. The Toolbars provide a quicker access to functions normally found in the menu, maybe buried under several selections.

    You can select or unselect Toolbars by choosing View, Toolbar, or by clicking on the toolbar with the right mouse button and unselecting, or selecting from the list.
  • Scroll Bars
    •      		The Scroll Bars allow quick movement both Vertically (on the right side of the document window, and Horizontally (at the bottom of the document window). To the left of the horizontal scroll bars, are the worksheet pages, and to their left is the icons to move from worksheet to worksheet.
  • Status Bar
    •      		The bar at the bottom of the screen displays information about a selected command or an operation in progress.
    • When a command is selected, the left side of the status bar briefly describes the command.
    • The left side of the status bar also indicates operations in progress, such as opening or saving a file, copying cells, or recording a macro.

    The right side of the status bar shows whether keys such as CAPS LOCK, SCROLL LOCK, or NUM LOCK are turned on.
  • Function Keys
    •      		You can use the 12 function keys to access features.
    F1 Display Help or the Office Assistant
    Shift F1 What’s This?
    Alt F1 Insert a chart sheet
    Alt Shift F1 Insert a new worksheet
    F2 Edit the active cell
    Shift F2 Edit a cell comment
    Alt F2 "Save As" command
    Alt Shift F2 "Save" command
    F3 Paste a Name into a formula
    Shift F3 Paste a function into a formula
    Ctrl F3 Define a name
    Ctrl Shift F3 Create names by using row and column labels
    F4 Repeat the last action
    Shift F4 Repeats the last find (Find Next)
    Ctrl F4 Closes the window
    Alt F4 Closes Microsoft Excel
    F5 Go To
    Shift F5 Display the Find dialog box
    Ctrl F5 Restores window size
    F6 Move to the next pane
    Shift F6 Move to the previous pane
    Ctrl F6 Move to the next workbook window
    Ctrl Shift F6 Move to the previous window
    F7 Checks spelling
    Ctrl F7 Move command (document Control menu)
    F8 Extend a selection
    Shift F8 Add to the selection
    Ctrl F8 Resize the window
    Alt F8 Display the Macro dialog box
    F9 Calculates all sheets in all open Workbooks
    Shift F9 Calculates the active worksheet
    Ctrl F9 Minimizes the workbook
    F10 Make the menu bar active
    Shift F10 Display a shortcut menu
    Ctrl F10 Maximize or restore the workbook window
    F11 Create a chart
    Shift F11 Insert a new worksheet
    Ctrl F11 Insert new Microsoft Excel 4.0 macro Sheet
    Alt F11 Display Visual Basic Editor
    F12 Save As command
    Shift F12 Save command
    Ctrl F12 Open command
    Ctrl Shift F12 Print command
  • Transition Navigation Keys
    •      		When you choose the Options command from the Tools menu and select the Transition Navigation Keys check box on the Transition tab, the following keyboard shortcuts are in effect.

    Navigation Keys

    Ctrl + Left Arrow Left one page
    Ctrl + Right Arrow Right one page
    Ctrl + Page Up In a workbook, next sheet
    Ctrl + Page Down In a workbook, previous sheet
    Tab Right one page
    Shift + Tab Left one page
    Home Selects cell in the upper-left corner of the sheet
    FUNCTION KEYS
    F5 Go To Command
    F6 Next window of same workbook
    Shift F6 Previous pane of the same window

    In Data Find Mode

    Left Arrow Moves to the previous field of the current record
    Right Arrow Moves to the next field of the current record
    Home Moves to the first record
    End Moves to the last record

    Text-Alignment Prefix Characters

    ‘ (apostrophe) Aligns data in the cell to the left
    " (double quote) Aligns data in the cell to the right
    ^ (caret) Centers data in the cell
    \ (backslash) Repeats characters across the cell

     
  • Full Screen Edit
    •      		BUT, for those wanting a "clean screen" with nothing else showing, from the Menu, select View, and then Full Screen. To change back to the menus, click on the icon at the bottom of the screen that says "FULL" to restore the menus back. You can also press the ESCape key to return to the normal screen.
  • Keys for Windows 95
    • Alt+Tab Switch to the next program
    Alt+Shift+Tab Switch to Previous Program
    Ctrl+ESC Show the Windows START Menu
    Ctrl+W Close the active workbook window
    Ctrl+F5 Restore the active workbook window
    Ctrl+F6 Switch to next workbook window
    Ctrl+Shift+F6 Switch to previous workbook window
    Ctrl+F7 Carry out the MOVE command
    Ctrl+F8 Carry out the SIZE command
    Ctrl+F9 Minimize the workbook window to an icon
    Ctrl+F10 Maximize or restore the workbook window
    Alt+0 Select the folder list in the Open or Save as dialog box (arrow keys to select a folder)
    Alt+number (1 is the leftmost button, 2 is the next, and so on) Choose a toolbar button in the Open or Save As dialog box (file menu)
    F5 Update the files visible in the Open or Save As dialog box
  • Format Data by Using Shortcut Keys
    •
    Alt+’ (‘ is the apostrophe) Display the Style command (format menu)
    Ctrl+1 Display the Cells command (format menu)
    Ctrl+Shift+~ Apply the General number format
    Ctrl+Shift+$ Apply the Currency format with 2 decimal places (negative numbers appear in parenthesis)
    Ctrl+Shift+% Apply the Percentage format with no decimal places
    Ctrl+Shift+^ Apply the Exponential number format with two decimal places
    Ctrl+Shift+# Apply the Date format with the day, month, and year
    Ctrl+Shift+@ Apply the Time format with the hour and minute, and indicate A.M. or P.M.
    Ctrl+Shift+! Apply the Number format with two decimal places, 1000 separator, and – for negative values
    Ctrl+Shift+& Apply the outline border
    Ctrl+Shift+_ Remove all borders
    Ctrl+B Apply or remove bold formatting
    Ctrl+I Apply or remove italic formatting
    Ctrl+U Apply or remove underline
    Ctrl+5 Apply or remove strikethrough formatting
    Ctrl+9 Hide rows
    Ctrl+Shift+( Unhide rows
    Ctrl+0 (zero) Hide columns
    Ctrl+Shift+) Unhide columns
  • Work in Cells or the Formula Bar by using Shortcut Keys
    •
    = (Equal sign) Start a formula
    ESC Cancel an entry in the cell or formula bar
    F2 Edit the active cell
    Backspace Edit the active cell and then clear it, or delete the preceding character in the active cell as you edit the cell contents
    F3 Paste a name into a formula
    Ctrl+F3 Define a name
    F9 Calculate all sheets in all open workbooks
    Shift+F9 Calculate the active worksheet
    Alt+= Insert the AutoSum formula
    Ctrl+; Enter the date
    Ctrl+Shift+: Enter the time
    Ctrl+K Enter a hyperlink
    ENTER Complete a cell entry
    Ctrl+Shift+* Copy the value from the cell above the active cell into the cell or the formula bar
    Ctrl+’ (‘ is the single left quotation mark) Alternate between displaying cell values and displaying cell formulas
    Ctrl+’ (‘ is the apostrophe) Copy a formula from the cell above the active cell into the cell or the formula bar
    Ctrl+Shift+Enter Enter a formula as an array formula
    Ctrl+A Display for Formula Palette after you type a valid function name in a formula
    Ctrl+Shift+A Insert the argument names and parentheses for a function, after you type a valid function name in a formula
    Alt+Down Arrow Display the AutoComplete list
  • Enter Data by Using Shortcut Keys
    •
    ENTER Complete a cell entry
    ESC Cancel a cell entry
    F4 or Ctrl+Y Repeat the last action
    Alt+Enter Start a new line in the same cell
    Backspace Delete the character to the left of the insertion point, or delete the selection
    Delete Delete the character to the right of the insertion point, or delete the selection
    Ctrl+Delete Delete text to the end of the line
    Arrow Keys Move one character up, down, left or right
    HOME Move to the beginning of the line
    Shift+F2 Edit a cell comment
    Ctrl+Shift+F3 Create names from row and column labels
    Ctrl+D Fill down
    Ctrl+R Fill to the right
    Ctrl+Enter Fill the selected cell range with the current entry
    Enter Complete a cell entry and move down in the selection
    Shift+Enter Complete a cell entry and move up in the selection
    Tab Complete a cell entry and move to the right in the selection
    Shift+Tab Complete a cell entry and move to the left in the selection

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