Starting a Workbook

Introduction

You will need to know how to insert text and numbers into Excel workbooks to be able to use it to calculate, analyze, and organize data. In this lesson, you will learn how to create a new workbook, insert and delete text, navigate a worksheet, and save an Excel workbook.

To Create a New, Blank Workbook:

• Left-click the Microsoft Office Button.
• Select New. The New Workbook dialog box opens and Blank Workbook is highlighted by default.

• Click Create. A new, blank workbook appears in the window.

When you first open Excel, the software opens to a new, blank workbook.

To Insert Text:

• Left-click a cell to select it. Each rectangle in the worksheet is called a cell. As you select a cell, the cell address appears in the Name Box.

• Enter text into the cell using your keyboard. The text appears in the cell and in the formula bar.

Each cell has a name, or a cell address based on the column and row it is in. For example, this cell is C3 since it is where column C and row 3 intersect.

To Edit or Delete Text:

• Select the cell.
• Press the Backspace key on your keyboard to delete text and make a correction.
• Press the Delete key to delete the entire contents of a cell.

You can also make changes to and delete text from the formula bar. Just select the cell and place your insertion point in the formula bar.

To Move Through a Worksheet Using the Keyboard:

• Press the Tab key to move to the right of the selected cell.
• Press the Shift key and then the Tab key to move to the left of the selected cell.
• Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to navigate the worksheet.
• Use the arrow keys.

To Save the Workbook:

• Left-click the Microsoft Office Button.
• Select Save or Save As.
• Save As allows you to name the file and choose a location to save the spreadsheet. Choose Save As if you'd like to save the file for the first time or if you'd like to save the file as a different name.
• Select Save if the file has already been named.

You can save a workbook in many ways, but the two most common are as an Excel Workbook, which saves it with a 2007 file extension, and as an Excel 97-2003 Workbook, which saves the file in a compatible format so people who have earlier versions of Excel can open the file.

Setting Up Your Excel Environment

Introduction

Before you begin creating spreadsheets in Excel, you may want to set up your Excel environment and become familiar with a few key tasks and features such as how to minimize and maximize the Ribbon, configure the Quick Access toolbar, switch page views, and access your Excel options.

Exploring the Excel Environment

The tabbed Ribbon menu system is how you navigate through Excel and access the various Excel commands. If you have used previous versions of Excel, the Ribbon system replaces the traditional menus. Above the Ribbon in the upper-left corner is the Microsoft Office Button. From here, you can access important options such as New, Save, Save As, and Print. By default the Quick Access Toolbar is pinned next to the Microsoft Office Button, and includes commands such as Undo and Redo.

At the bottom, left area of the spreadsheet, you will find worksheet tabs. By default, three worksheet tabs appear each time you create a new workbook. On the bottom, right area of the spreadsheet you will find page view commands, the zoom tool, and the horizontal scrolling bar.

To Zoom In and Out:

• Locate the zoom bar in the bottom, right corner.
• Left-click the slider and drag it to the left to zoom out and to the right to zoom in.

To Scroll Horizontally in a Worksheet:

• Locate the horizontal scroll bar in the bottom, right corner.
• Left-click the bar and move it from left to right.

To Change Page Views:

• Locate the Page View options in the bottom, right corner. The Page View options are Normal, Page Layout, and Page Break.
• Left-click an option to select it.

The default is Normal View.

To Add Commands to the Quick Access Toolbar:

• Click the arrow to the right of the Quick Access toolbar.
• Select the command you wish to add from the drop-down list. It will appear in the Quick Access toolbar.

OR

• Select More Commands from the menu and a dialog box appears.
• Select the command you wish to add.
• Click the Add button.
• Click OK.

The Save, Undo, and Redo commands appear by default in the Quick Access toolbar. You may wish to add other commands to make using specific Excel features more convenient for you

To Minimize and Maximize the Ribbon:

• Click the drop-down arrow next to the Quick Access toolbar.
• Select Minimize Ribbon from the list. The Ribbon disappears.
• To maximize the ribbon, click the arrow again and select Minimize the Ribbon to toggle the feature off.

You can also minimize and maximize the Ribbon by right-clicking anywhere in the main menu and selectingMinimize the Ribbon in the menu that appears.

The new, tabbed Ribbon system replaces traditional menus in Excel 2007. It is designed to be responsive to your current task and easy to use; however, you can choose to minimize the Ribbon if you would prefer to use different menus or keyboard shortcuts.

The Microsoft Office Button

The Microsoft Office Button appears at the top of the Excel window. When you left-click the button, a menu appears. From this menu you can create a new spreadsheet, open existing files, save files in a variety of ways, and print. You can also add security features, send, publish, and close files.

To Change the Default Excel Options:

• Click the Excel Options button. A dialog box will appear.
• Select a category on the left to access different Excel options.

• Modify any of the default settings.
• Click OK.

As you learn more about Excel and become proficient at using it, you may want to modify some of the settings. As a beginning user, it is usually best to leave the default settings.