How to Learn Microsoft Excel as a Beginner

Learning Excel as a beginner requires learning the basics first.

Microsoft Excel is the spreadsheet component of the Microsoft Office suite. Use Excel to list, analyze and dissect data. Excel can handle your numerical calculations with ease. Learning Excel requires learning how to use the Excel interface and how it applies to your data.

Instructions

1. Open Excel, which will display a blank workbook. You will see three worksheets, which will be displayed at the bottom of your workbook. Think of your workbook as a notebook; notebooks have paper just as your workbook has worksheets.

2. Notice the grid in your Excel workbook. This grid is composed of columns and rows. Columns are the vertical portions of the grid and rows are the horizontal portions of the grid. Columns begin with letters while rows begin with numbers. The intersection of the column and row is known as a cell. Cells are named first by the column and then the row of the intersection. Cell A2 is the intersection of column A and row 2.

3. Click on cell A2. Type a value in this cell and press the "Enter" key. Move around the spreadsheet by using the "Page Up" and "Page Down" keys on your keyboard. Use the arrow keys to move around within the cells.

4. Type your first name in cell A1 and your last name in cell B1. Expand column A by pointing to the line between columns A and B. Notice how your cursor changes to a line with an east-west arrow. This is your indicator that you can drag the line to resize column A. When you see the line with the east-west arrow, drag the line back and forth so you can see the column resize. This is helpful when your column is too narrow or too wide.

5. Right-click on column B. A shortcut menu will appear. Select "Insert." Notice that an extra column appears between columns A and B. This is helpful when you need to add information to your spreadsheet.

6. Right-click on column A and select "Delete." The column with your first name is now gone. Delete columns and rows when you no longer need them in Excel.

7. Save changes to your workbook by clicking on the "Save" icon on the toolbar. This icon resembles a floppy disk. Saving your work enables you to retrieve it at a later date to review or modify it.

References

• Microsoft: Get to know Excel 2007: Create your first workbook