Excel Basics

Getting Started

The key for unlocking all that potential of Excel is the grid of cells. Cells can contain numbers, text, or formulas. You put data in your cells and group them in rows and columns. That allows you to add up your data, sort and filter it, put it in tables, and build great-looking charts.

Excel Basic Topics Covered

Create a New Workbook

Excel documents are called workbooks. Each workbook has sheets, called spreadsheets. You can add as many sheets as you want to a workbook, or you can create new workbooks to keep your data separate.

From the File tab, click on New.
Under New, click on Blank workbook.

Screenshot of Excel workbook. Across the top, the headers are A, B, C. Down the left-hand side, the rows are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Below the table, text reads Blank workbook.

Insert a Worksheet

Select the + plus icon at the bottom of the screen. Or, from the Home tab, click on Insert, and select Insert Sheet.

Rename a Worksheet

Double-click on the sheet name on the Sheet tab. Or, right-click on the sheet tab, select Rename, and enter a new name.

Delete a Worksheet

Right-click the Sheet tab and select Delete. Or, select the sheet, and from the Home tab, click on Delete, and select Delete Sheet.

Screenshot of Excel menu options. Across the top, the options are: Insert (with a white table icon and a dropdown arrow), Delete (with a table icon and a red "x" on it and a dropdown arrow), Format (with a white table that has a blue cell filled in and a line with arrows on either end above the table and a dropdown arrow). The insert option is open. There are three options within the Insert menu. The first is Insert Cells (with an icon that shows a row of cells then a blue arrow pointing to the left and two blue cells. Below that are two more rows of white cells). The next option is Insert Sheet Rows (with a white cell, a blue cell with a blue arrow pointing to the left below it and a white cell below that). The next option is Insert Sheet Columns (with a white cell, a blue cell and a blue arrow pointing upward to the right, and then a white cell to the right of that). The last option is Insert Sheet (with a white table icon).

Enter Data

Click in empty cell. For example, cell A1 on a new sheet. Cells are referenced by their location in the row and column on the sheet, so cell A1 is in the first row of column A.
Enter text and/or a number in the cell.
Press Enter or Tab to move to the next cell.

Apply Cell Borders

Select the cell or range of cells that you want to add a border to.
From the Home tab, within the Font group, click the down arrow next to Borders, and then click to select the border style.

Screenshot of Excel text formatting options. There is a dropdown bar to choose fonts with Calibri selected. To the right of that is a dropdown for font size and "11" is selected. To the right of that is the icon of a capital "A" with a blue carrot icon pointing upwards. To the right of that, a slightly smaller "A" with a blue carrot icon pointing down. The next row has a "B" icon, an "I' icon, and a "U" icon with a line underneath it. There is a dropdown arrow next to it. There is a table icon with a white background and a dotted border. There is a red square around the table with a dropdown arrow next to it. To the right of that, there is a white paint icon with a thin yellow bar underneath with a dropdown arrow. To the right of that, there is a blue "A" icon with a thin red line underneath with a dropdown arrow. Below that is text that reads, Font. There is also an arrow pointing to the bottom right corner.

Apply Cell Shading

Select the cell or range of cells that you want to apply cell shading to.
From the Home tab, within the Font group, choose the down arrow next to Fill Color, and then under Theme Colors or Standard Colors, select the color that you want.

Use AutoSum to Add Data

When you've entered numbers in your sheet, you might want to add them up. A fast way to do that is by using AutoSum.

Select the cell to the right or below the numbers you want to add.
Click the Home tab, and then click AutoSum in the Editing group.

AutoSum adds up the numbers and shows the result in the cell you selected.

Screenshot of Excel options with two columns. The first column has a summation symbol with the text, AutoSum and a dropdown arrow. All of that has a red square around it. Below that is a square with a blue thin line at the top and a white background. On top of the white background is a blue arrow pointing down with text that says Fill. it has a dropdown arrow next to it. Below is a red eraser icon with the text, Clear, and a dropdown arrow. In the secon column, there is an icon with a blue "A" and a purple "Z". To the right of that is a cone icon. To the right of that is a blue magnifying glass with a white lens. Below that, there is text that reads Sort & Filter with a dropdown arrow, and a Find & Select option with a dropdown arrow. Below both columns, there is text that reads Editing.

Create a Simple Formula

Adding numbers is just one of the things you can do, but Excel can do other math as well.

Select a cell, and then type an equal sign (=), that tells Excel that this cell will contain a formula.
Enter a combination of numbers and calculation operators, like the plus sign (+) for addition, the minus sign (-) for subtraction, the asterisk (*) for multiplication, or the forward slash (/) for division.
For example, enter =2+4, =4-2, =2*4, or =4/2.
Press Enter, this runs the calculation.

Number Formatting

To distinguish between different types of numbers, add a format, like currency, percentages, or dates.

Select the cells that have numbers you want to format.
From the Home tab, and then click the down arrow within the General box.
Select the number format.

Screenshot of Excel Number options. The first option is a dropdown field with the word, General, in it. There is a a carrot arrow icon pointing down. There is a req square around the carrot icon. The row below has five icons. The first icon is a dollar sign. There is a carrot arrow pointing down next to it. Next, there is a percent icon. Then there is a comma icon. There is a vertical line. After that, there is a icon with a blue arrow pointing left, ".0" and .00. To the right of that, there is another icon with .00, a blue arrow pointing right, and a .0. Below all of that, there is text that reads Number. There is an icon in the bottom right that has an arrow pointing to the bottom right.

Sort Quick & Easy

Select a single cell within the column you want to sort.
From the Data tab, within the Sort & Filter group, click on the A-Z Sort icon to sort in ascending sort ( from A to Z, or smallest number to largest). Or, click on Z-A Sort icon to sort in descending order.

Screenshot of Excel options. The first icon is a blue "A" and a purple "Z" with a black arrow pointing down and a purple "Z" and a blue "A" with a black arrow pointing down. There is a red-outlined circle around all of that. There is a vertical black line. To the right of the line, there is a black filter icon with the word, Filter, underneath it. To the right of that, there is a filter icon with a black "x" on it and the word, Clear. Below that is a filter icon with an arrow pointing right and another arrow pointing left, together they create a circle. The text with it reads Reapply. Both Reapply and Clear are grayed out. Below that, there is a filter with a blue pencil icon with text that says Advanced. Below all of that is text that reads Sort & Filter.

Filter Data

Filtering data temporarily hides some of the data in the table allowing you to focus on the specific data you want to see.

Select any cell within the range.
From the Data tab, within the Sort & Filter group and click on Filter.
Select the down arrow within the column header.
Uncheck Select All and select the boxes you want to display and click OK.

The column header arrow changes to a Filter icon. Select this icon to change or clear the filter.

Screenshot of Excel options. The options read: Sort A to Z (with a blue "A" icon and purple "Z" icon with an arrow pointing downwards), Sort Z to A (with a purple "Z" to a blue "A" and an arrow pointing down), Sort by color (with a carrot icon pointing to the right), Create Filter From "(Column F)" which is grayed out and has a filter icon with an x on it), Filter by Color, which is also grayed out (with a right pointing carrot), Text Filters (with a black arrow pointing right). Below the options, there is a Search Box with a magnifying glass. Below the search box are checkmark options that include: Select All, Friday, Maybe, NO, no clue, Wednesday, yes.

Save Workbook

Click the Save button within Quick Access Toolbar, press CTRL +S, or from File menu select Save or Save As.

First time saving file:
- Under Save As, select where to save the workbook.
- Within the File name box, enter the name for the workbook.
- Click on Save.

Screenshot of Excel toolbar options. There is a black background and the options are in white. The first icon is a floppy disk, the next icon is a curved left arrow with a carrot dropdown arrow, the next icon is a curved right arrow with a dropdown arrow (all in gray), and a triangle pointing downwards with a horiztonal line on top of it.

Screenshot of an Excel Workbook. The left side of the screen has navigation options with a black background. At the top of the navigation, there is a white outline of a circle with a white arrow pointing left. Below that are menu options. The first is Info (with a green background) and the others are New, Open, Save (with a green background), and Save As. The right side of the screen is cut off.

When using educational technology tools, be FERPA aware. To learn more, visit the Registrar's FERPA Guidelines site.