Working with Cells

Introduction

It is important to know how to move information from one cell to another in Excel. Learning the various ways will save you time and make working with Excel easier. Certain methods are more appropriate depending on how much information you need to move and where it will reside on the spreadsheet. In this lesson you will learn how to cut, copy, and paste, as well as drag and drop information.

To Copy and Paste Cell Contents:

• Select the cell or cells you wish to copy.
• Click the Copy command in the Clipboard group on the Home tab. The border of the selected cells will change appearance.

• Select the cell or cells where you want to paste the information.
• Click the Paste command. The copied information will now appear in the new cells.

To select more than one adjoining cell, left-click one of the cells, drag the cursor until all the cells are selected, and release the mouse button.

The copied cell will stay selected until you perform your next task, or you can double-click the cell to deselect it.

To Cut and Paste Cell Contents:

• Select the cell or cells you wish to copy.
• Click the Cut command in the Clipboard group on the Home tab. The border of the selected cells will change appearance.

• Select the cell or cells where you want to paste the information.
• Click the Paste command. The cut information will be removed from the original cells and now appear in the new cells.

The keyboard shortcut for Paste is the Control Key and the V key.

To Drag and Drop Information:

• Select the cell or cells you wish to move.
• Position your mouse pointer near one of the outside edges of the selected cells. The mouse pointer changes from a large, white cross to a black cross with 4 arrows.

• Left-click and hold the mouse button and drag the cells to the new location.

• Release the mouse button and the information appears in the new location.

To Use the Fill Handle to Fill Cells:

• Position your cursor over the fill handle until the large white cross becomes a thin, black cross.

• Left-click your mouse and drag it until all the cells you want to fill are highlighted.

• Release the mouse button and all the selected cells are filled with the information from the original cell.

The fill handle doesn't always copy information from one cell directly into another cell. Depending on the data entered in the cell, it may fill the data in other ways. For example, if I have the formula =A1+B1 in cell C1, and I use the fill handle to fill the formula into cell C2, the formula doesn't appear the same in C2 as it does in C1. Instead of =A1+B1, you will see =A2+B2.

You can use the fill handle to fill cells horizontally or vertically.

Creating Simple Formulas

Introduction

Excel can be used to calculate and analyze numerical information; however, you will need to know how to write formulas to maximize Excel's capabilities. A formula is an equation that performs a calculation using values in the worksheet. In this lesson you will learn how to create simple formulas using mathematical operators such as the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division signs.

To Create a Simple Formula that Adds Two Numbers:

• Click the cell where the formula will be defined (C5, for example).
• Type the equal sign (=) to let Excel know a formula is being defined.
• Type the first number to be added (e.g., 1500)
• Type the addition sign (+) to let Excel know that an add operation is to be performed.
• Type the second number to be added (e.g., 200)
• Press Enter or click the Enter button on the Formula bar to complete the formula.

To Create a Simple Formula that Adds the Contents of Two Cells:

• Click the cell where the answer will appear (C5, for example).
• Type the equal sign (=) to let Excel know a formula is being defined.
• Type the cell number that contains the first number to be added (C3, for example).
• Type the addition sign (+) to let Excel know that an add operation is to be performed.
• Type the cell address that contains the second number to be added (C4, for example).
• Press Enter or click the Enter button on the Formula bar to complete the formula.

To Create a Simple Formula using the Point and Click Method:

• Click the cell where the answer will appear (C30, for example).
• Type the equal sign (=) to let Excel know a formula is being defined.
• Click on the first cell to be included in the formula (C5, for example).
• Type the subtraction sign (-) to let Excel know that a subtraction operation is to be performed.
• Click on the next cell in the formula (C29, for example).

• Press Enter or click the Enter button on the Formula bar to complete the formula.

To Create a Simple Formula that Multiplies the Contents of Two Cells:

• Select the cell where the answer will appear (E32, for example).
• Type the equal sign (=) to let Excel know a formula is being defined.
• Click on the first cell to be included in the formula (C9, for example) or type a number.
• Type the multiplication symbol (*) by pressing the Shift key and then the number 8 key. The operator displays in the cell and Formula bar.
• Click on the next cell in the formula or type a number (12, for example).
• Press Enter or click the Enter button on the Formula bar to complete the formula.

To Create a Simple Formula that Divides One Cell by Another:

• Click the cell where the answer will appear.
• Type the equal sign (=) to let Excel know a formula is being defined.
• Click on the first cell to be included in the formula.
• Type a division symbol. The operator displays in the cell and Formula bar.
• Click on the next cell in the formula.
• Enter or click the Enter button on the Formula bar to complete the formula.

Using Cell References

As you can see, there are many ways to create a simple formula in Excel. Most likely you will choose one of the methods that enters the cell address into the formula, rather than an actual number. The cell address is basically the name of the cell and can be found in the Name Box.

The following example uses actual numbers in the formula in C5.

When a cell address is used as part of a formula, this is called a cell reference. It is called a cell referencebecause instead of entering specific numbers into a formula, the cell address refers to a specific cell. The following example uses cell references in the formula in C30.