Excel Tutorial for Beginners | Excel Made Easy

Summary

This beginner's Excel tutorial offers a comprehensive introduction to the application, guiding users through creating and saving workbooks, navigating sheets, and inputting data into cells. It covers essential concepts like cell addressing, formula bars, and using shortcuts for efficiency. The tutorial also touches on advanced features such as cell formatting, range referencing, and data manipulation, providing a solid foundation for users to enhance their Excel skills.

Takeaways

• 📘 Open Excel to see a blank workbook or recent files, and save it using 'Save' or the shortcut Ctrl + S.
• 📒 A workbook is a single Excel file, containing at least one sheet, and you can add more sheets by clicking the plus sign.
• 🔢 Enter data into cells by typing directly or replacing existing values without needing to double-click.
• 📍 Each cell has an address, such as D4 for column D, row 4, representing the intersection of a column and a row.
• 🔄 Use the formula bar to input formulas starting with an equal sign, and it will display the formula instead of the result.
• 🔑 The name box shows the active cell address and can be used to quickly jump to a specific cell by typing its address.
• 🔠 Excel offers various shortcuts for selecting rows, columns, and using functions like Ctrl + Space to select an entire column.
• 🔍 Right-clicking provides options to insert or delete columns, and shortcuts like Ctrl + Plus and Ctrl - for inserting and deleting rows or columns.
• 📏 Excel sheets can have over 16000 columns and a million rows, accessible using shortcuts like Ctrl + Down Arrow for the last row.
• 📋 A range is a group of cells, referenced by the top-left and bottom-right cell addresses, used in formulas like D4:F7.
• 🖌️ The fill handle (a cross symbol) allows you to fill cells below with the content of the cell above, useful for copying text or formulas.
• 🎨 Excel's ribbon contains different tabs for various functionalities like formatting, inserting, and data manipulation.
• 📊 Excel can automatically recognize patterns like months when typing and fill adjacent cells accordingly, and Ctrl + R fills data to the right.
• 📈 Use the 'Alt =' shortcut to sum values in a range and apply formatting to titles and headers for better presentation.

Q & A

What is the first step when opening Excel on the desktop?

The first step is to decide between opening a blank workbook or selecting a recent file that has been opened in Excel.

How do you save a newly created Excel workbook?

To save the workbook, you go to the 'File' menu, click on 'Save', and choose the location where you want to save it. Alternatively, you can use the shortcut key 'Control + S'.

What is the term used to refer to a single Excel file?

A single Excel file is referred to as a workbook or a spreadsheet.

How can you add more sheets to an Excel workbook?

You can add more sheets by clicking on the plus sign at the bottom of the existing sheets.

How can you change the name of a sheet in Excel?

To change the name of a sheet, double-click on the sheet name, type the new name, and then press 'Enter'.

What is the address of a cell at the intersection of column D and row 4?

The address of the cell at the intersection of column D and row 4 is D4.

What is the purpose of the formula bar in Excel?

The formula bar is used to input and display the content of a cell, whether it is text, numbers, or formulas.

How can you quickly navigate to a specific cell in Excel?

You can quickly navigate to a specific cell by typing its address in the name box and pressing 'Enter'.

What is the maximum number of columns and rows an Excel sheet can have?

An Excel sheet can have more than 16,000 columns and over a million rows.

How do you define a range of cells in Excel?

A range of cells is defined by referencing the address of the top-left cell and the bottom-right cell separated by a colon. For example, D4:F7.

What is the shortcut key to cut and paste in Excel?

The shortcut keys to cut and paste in Excel are 'Control + X' for cut and 'Control + V' for paste.

How can you adjust the column width to fit the content in Excel?

You can adjust the column width to fit the content by hovering over the boundary of the column header and dragging or by double-clicking on the boundary to automatically adjust the column width.

What is the purpose of the 'Wrap Text' setting in Excel?

The 'Wrap Text' setting in Excel allows the content of a cell to wrap to the next line within the same cell, ensuring that the content is visible without the need to widen the column.

How can you insert a chart or pivot table in Excel?

You can insert a chart or pivot table by going to the 'Insert' tab in the ribbon and selecting the desired item from the options.

What is the purpose of the 'Data' tab in Excel?

The 'Data' tab in Excel provides shortcuts and tools for inputting and managing data, such as sorting and filtering.

How can you quickly sum up values in a range of cells?

You can quickly sum up values in a range of cells by using the 'Sum' button in the 'Home' tab or by using the shortcut key 'Alt + ='.

What is the 'Fill Handle' and how is it used in Excel?

The 'Fill Handle' is a small cross symbol at the bottom-right corner of a selected cell. It is used to fill the content of the cell above to the cells below or to fill formulas across a range of cells.

How can you move a cell's content to a new location without replacing existing data?

To move a cell's content to a new location without replacing existing data, select the cell, use the move handle, and while dragging, hold down the 'Shift' key to indicate a non-replacing move.

What is the 'Paintbrush' icon used for in Excel?

The 'Paintbrush' icon in Excel is used to copy the formatting of a selected cell to other cells. It can be used for applying a range of formatting options, such as font style, color, and borders.

Outlines

00:00

📊 Excel Basics for Beginners

This segment provides an introductory tutorial to Excel, focusing on navigating the application and understanding its basic components. It covers opening a new workbook, saving files, and the concept of sheets within a workbook. The tutorial explains how to input and replace values in cells, the significance of cell addresses, and the use of the formula bar. It also introduces the name box for quick navigation to specific cells and the concept of cell ranges, which are essential for formula usage. Additionally, it touches on Excel's grid system, the number of columns and rows available, and the various ways to select and manipulate cells, including shortcuts for inserting and deleting rows and columns.

05:04

🔄 Manipulating Data and Formatting in Excel

This paragraph delves into the manipulation of data within Excel, such as moving and filling content using the selection, move, and fill handles. It discusses the default cell size and how to adjust column width to fit content, either by dragging or using the 'AutoFit' feature. The tutorial also covers text wrapping, right-click options for inserting and deleting cells, and the Excel ribbon's organization into tabs for different functionalities. It introduces the concept of a range and how to reference it, as well as the use of Excel's menu for formatting and other common tasks. The segment concludes with tips on hiding gridlines for report creation and how to access and use advanced options through dialogue boxes.

10:06

📝 Efficient Data Entry and Formatting Techniques

The third paragraph focuses on efficient data entry techniques in Excel, such as using the tab key to navigate cells and the control-enter combination to stay in the same cell after pressing enter. It demonstrates the automatic recognition of months when typing and the use of the fill handle to extend data or formulas across cells. The tutorial also covers editing modes, the importance of not overwriting cell content, and the use of keyboard shortcuts for filling data to the right. It introduces the concept of highlighting an area for easier data input and provides tips on adjusting cell width and formatting, such as merging cells for titles, making text bold, and applying borders. The segment also explains how to move cells without overwriting existing data and how to use the format painter tool to apply formatting to multiple cells.

15:07

🎓 Summarizing Data and Further Learning Resources

In the final paragraph, the tutorial demonstrates how to sum up values in Excel using the 'Sum' button and the 'Alt =' shortcut. It shows how to apply this function to a selected area for quick calculations. The segment wraps up by encouraging viewers to explore more Excel features and functions through additional videos on the channel and to consider the Excel essentials course on Excelplus.com for mastering the software. The tutorial ends with a call to action for viewers to subscribe to the channel for more Office app tips and tricks, and thanks them for watching.

Keywords

💡Excel

Excel is a widely used spreadsheet program developed by Microsoft. It is fundamental to the video's theme as it serves as the platform where all the discussed features and functionalities are applied. The script introduces Excel to beginners, explaining how to navigate and utilize its basic features such as creating a workbook, entering data, and using formulas.

💡Workbook

A workbook in Excel is a file that contains one or more sheets. It is a central concept in the video, as the tutorial begins with creating a blank workbook. The script mentions that a workbook is also referred to as a spreadsheet, emphasizing its role as the primary workspace in Excel.

💡Cell

A cell is the basic unit in a spreadsheet where individual data entries are made. The script explains that cells can contain numbers or text and are identified by their addresses, such as 'D4' for column D, row 4. Cells are the focus of many operations discussed in the tutorial, including entering data, applying formulas, and formatting.

💡Formula Bar

The formula bar is a component of the Excel interface that displays the content or formula of the currently selected cell. The video script illustrates its use when entering data or formulas, emphasizing its importance in viewing and editing cell content.

💡Range

A range in Excel refers to a group of cells. The script explains how to select a range by highlighting cells and how to reference it using the address of the top-left and bottom-right cells, such as 'D4:F7'. This concept is crucial for applying operations to multiple cells simultaneously and is used in formulas.

💡Fill Handle

The fill handle is a tool in Excel used for copying the content of a cell to adjacent cells. The script demonstrates its use for filling a series of cells with the same value or formula, showcasing a time-saving feature for data entry.

💡Shortcut Keys

Shortcut keys are keyboard combinations that perform specific actions quickly in Excel. The video script provides multiple examples, such as 'Control S' for saving a workbook or 'Control Home' for jumping to the first cell. These shortcuts are presented as efficiency tools for navigating and manipulating data within Excel.

💡Ribbon

The ribbon is the menu bar in Excel that contains various tabs and options for different tasks. The script describes how it changes based on the selected tab, such as 'Home' for basic formatting and 'Insert' for adding charts or tables, highlighting its role in accessing Excel's extensive features.

💡Merge Cells

Merging cells is an Excel feature that combines two or more adjacent cells into a single cell. The video script shows how to use this feature to center a title across a range of cells, demonstrating its use in formatting reports and creating visually appealing spreadsheets.

💡Data Formatting

Data formatting in Excel refers to the process of changing the appearance of cells, such as font, color, borders, and alignment. The script explains various formatting options, including making text bold, adjusting cell width, and applying colors and borders, to enhance the readability and presentation of data.

💡Sum

Summing in Excel is the process of calculating the total of a range of numbers. The script introduces the 'Sum' button in the 'Home' tab and the shortcut 'Alt Equals' as methods to quickly perform this calculation, illustrating a basic yet essential function for data analysis.

Highlights

Introduction to Excel for beginners, explaining the basics of navigating the application.

Explanation of how to create and save a new Excel workbook.

Understanding the structure of Excel workbooks, sheets, and cells.

Demonstration of how to input and replace values in cells.

Identification of cell addresses and the significance of columns and rows.

Use of the formula bar for inputting text and formulas.

Navigating to specific cells using the name box and shortcuts.

Selecting multiple rows or columns using mouse and keyboard shortcuts.

Inserting and deleting columns and rows using shortcuts for efficiency.

Understanding the vast size of an Excel sheet with over 16000 columns and a million rows.

Concept of a range in Excel and how to reference it.

Moving and copying cell content using handles and shortcuts.

Using the fill handle to propagate data or formulas in a column.

Adjusting column and row sizes to fit content and wrap text.

Exploring Excel's right-click context menu for additional cell and column options.

Introduction to Excel's ribbon interface and its various tabs for different functionalities.

Hiding gridlines for a cleaner look in reports and dashboards.

Using the backstage view to access file information and options.

Efficient data entry techniques and auto-filling months in Excel.

Formatting data in Excel, including merging cells and adjusting text alignment.

Applying and transferring cell formatting using the format painter tool.

Using Excel's sum function and shortcuts for quick calculations.

Encouragement to learn more about Excel through additional resources and courses.

Transcripts

In this Excel for beginners tutorial,

I'll give you a quick introduction to Excel,

so you can start to feel comfortable inside the application.

You'll have an idea where things are,

how the spreadsheet is set up and how you can input value.

(upbeat music)

When you open Excel on your desktop, you get to this view.

You can decide between a blank workbook

or if you've opened a recent file in Excel,

you will see it pop up here.

In this case, I'm just going to go ahead

and create a blank workbook.

This workbook isn't saved until you decide to do so.

To save the workbook, just go here,

click on save and then you can decide

where you want to save it.

You can also use the shortcut key, control S.

A single Excel file is also referred to

as a workbook or a spreadsheet.

A workbook consists of at least one sheet.

You can easily add more sheets by clicking on the plus here.

When you double click on a sheet name,

you can change the name and then press enter.

A sheet contains many cells, this box here is a singe cell.

You can input numbers or text in here,

just start typing and then press enter.

If you want to replace this value,

just go to that cell and start typing,

you don't have to double click, you can type over it.

Each cell has an address, what do you think

the address of this cell is, it's D4,

which means column D, row four.

The intersection of a column and a row is a cell.

Up here, you have the formula bar.

Once we input text here, we can see it in the formula bars.

If I move to the cell to the side, there is nothing there.

Now if instead of text, you have formulas,

so if I go to the side here, type in an equal

and then go with my arrow keys to D4 and press enter,

notice what's in the formula bar.

It has the formula and not the text.

In this case, there is no formula, it shows the text.

On the left here, we have the name box,

this also shows us the active cell address,

so in his case it's D4, when I go here, it's F4.

Now here's a useful tip for you,

you can also use this to jump to a specific cell.

Just type in the cell address.

So let's say I want to jump to A100,

I'm going to type it in, press enter and I jump to that cell.

Now to jump back to the first cell,

you can use the shortcut key, control home.

On the Excel grid, you can select

multiple rows or multiple columns.

Just go with your mouse and highlight the rows

or highlight columns, just select and drag.

There are also a lot of shortcuts in Excel you can use.

So for example, the shortcut key control space,

selects an entire column.

If I hold down the shift key and the arrow keys,

I can select multiple columns.

Now I have a separate video in Excel shortcuts

and I've added the link to the description of this video.

Now here, if you right mouse click,

you're going to get a lot of options.

You can for example, insert columns in between these.

If I right mouse click again,

I can delete the columns that are in between these

and since we're talking about shortcuts,

a great shortcut is to use control plus

to insert columns or rows

and control minus to delete them.

An Excel sheet has more than 16000 columns

and over a million rows.

Now you can see that by jumping to the bottom of the sheet,

if you use the shortcut key control

and then the arrow down key.

This jumps to the last row in Excel.

If I use the control key and the right arrow key,

I jump to the last column.

Now the way to get back, do you remember

where that shortcut was?

That was control, home.

Another term you need to know is range.

A range is a group of cells.

If I highlight this area, so just click

on the first cell and then drag.

If you want to use your keyboard key,

just select the first cell and then hold down shift

and highlight the other cells with your arrow keys.

Now how do I reference this range?

What's the address of it?

You reference it by the address of the cell

on the top left hand corner

and the bottom right hand corner separated by a column.

So this would be D4 until F7.

So you would write that as this, D4, to with a column, F7.

Now this is something that's going to be used inside formulas.

So whenever you see a syntax like this,

this is referencing a range of cells.

If I wanted to move the value of this cell

to another cell, I could use the move handle.

So this here that you see, this mouse icon,

this is the selection icon.

So you just go and click and you're selecting a cell,

if you drag, you select a range.

But here, if I move it to the boarder,

I get this four arrows, that's the move icon.

When you see this, you can click and drag

and you move the content of that cell somewhere else.

You can also use the shortcut key control X

and control V, to cut and paste.

Okay, so we have the selection handle,

we have the move handle, there is another handle

that's called the fill handle.

So when you go to the side, to the corner of the cell,

you get this cross that symbol,

if you drag that, you fill the content

of the cells below with the cell above.

So in this case, because I have text,

I am filling them up with the text.

If I drag the formula, I'm going to fill these

up with the formula, so if I go here,

it's the formula that's been copied down.

Cells have a default size here but you can change them.

So for example, if I input text that's too long,

it's going to go over to the next cell.

So it looks like the contents of this

is in these cells as well but it's not,

it's only sitting in this cell.

You can see that from the formula bar,

when I'm here, there is nothing in that cell.

To expand the column, I can hover my mouse

over here and just drag.

Or, I can double click to make the column expand,

to be big enough to fit the content of my cell.

Now you might not want to expand it horizontally,

you might prefer to let it flow vertically.

So instead of it going all the way to the side

and your column being so wide,

you want to keep the width like this

but you want the row to expand.

Now even if I pull down the row,

this is not going to wrap inside the cell.

There is a setting for this and it's right here,

it gives you the ability to wrap the text.

Now if you see that the whole text is not fitting here

because the new part is missing,

just double click on the row to make it expand to fit.

If you want to unwrap this text,

just click on the wrap setting here

and it's going to unwrap it.

You'll find a lot of widely used options in Excel

if you right mouse click, so if you right mouse click

on a cell, you get the ability

to insert, delete, you can clear the contents,

add a comment and so on.

If you right mouse click on a column,

you get similar options and some additional ones

that only apply to columns.

Now let's take a look at Excel's menu.

This is commonly referred to as the ribbon.

It consists of different tabs,

every time you click on a tab,

the options in the menu bar change.

The most common one is the home tab,

here's where you can do formatting

and common tabs like inserting, deleting

or sorting and filtering data.

If I go to the insert tab, I can insert a chart here

or insert pivot tables.

If you hover over a feature, you get more information

about the feature and also the shortcut key

you can use for that feature if it has one.

Now it does pay off, if you take some time

and go through the different tabs

and the different options you have.

One comment option I use is for example,

to hide the grid lines.

This is something you can do from the page layout tab

under grid lines, take away this check mark

and the grid lines are gone.

So this is good for creating reports and dashboards.

Click it again and the grid lines are back.

Some of the groupings have additional options.

You can see that from this tilted arrow here.

So if I click this, I come to this dialogue box.

Now a lot of these options might be duplicates,

it's just these options organize differently

but you might have some additional options in here as well.

If you want to increase the space of your grid,

you can collapse the ribbon.

Just go to this arrow here and collapse the ribbon

or use the shortcut key, control, F1.

Every time you go and select a tab,

the ribbon appears, when you click away, it disappears.

To make it stick again, you can pin it

or use the shortcut key, control F1.

The file tab is different to the rest.

This is also referred to as the backstage view.

Here you can see information about your file,

you can save it as PDF, you can print it out,

or you can check which version of Excel you have

by going and checking your account.

To go back to normal view,

either use the arrow here or press escape.

Now let's go to the data tab and there is some shortcuts

when it comes to inputting values.

So here, I'm going to input headcount by department,

for a few different months.

I want to give this a title, so I'll call this,

headcount by department, and press enter.

Now let's say I want to go from Jan till June,

I can just type in Jan here.

Now when I press tab, I go to the next cell.

By default, if I press enter, you go to the cell below.

If you want to press enter and stay on the same cell,

you have to press control enter.

Now if I go to the next cell,

I can type in Feb and then March and so on

but Excel has this already built in.

So if you type in Jan, it recognizes

that this is a month, now when I pull this to the side,

notice I can see May and then at the bottom

I have June here.

So now the first department is marketing,

I'll just type it in.

If you ever need to go to edit mode, you can press F2.

This is going to take you to the end

of the text that you have, so if you want to continue

with that text, you can just start typing.

So and sales for example.

If you just start typing over the cell,

remember, it's going to replace

everything that was in the cell.

I'm typing marketing here then I'm going to press tab,

let's say type in 20 and then 20 and 20

and in case this is 20 for all these months,

again, don't forget that you can use the filler handle.

So you can click and drag and if you want

a shortcut for this, there is one,

just highlight with the keyboard keys

and then press control R.

This is going to fill to the right.

Now when you're on the end here and you press enter,

you jump to the cell below.

One way to make it easier for you

to input a bunch of data, is to highlight the area first.

So in this case, when I highlight this,

notice when I press tab and I get here

and I press tab again, it goes to the first cell

of the next row, so now I can type

and then press tab, tab, tab and so on.

To get out of this, you can just click away

or use the arrow key to move out of the space.

Now I'm just quickly going to add some data to this

and then let's do some formatting.

Okay, so now we have some more data,

let's adjust the formatting of this.

I want to center this across my report.

So highlight the range, go to home and merge these cells.

When you click it, it automatically merges

and centers the cell.

We can make these bold, highlight and click on bold.

And while we're here, let's also adjust the cell width,

to match the content of the cell.

So I'm going to highlight all of these together

and then double click to make this fit.

Now if it's too tight for you,

you can expand this a little bit.

If you just select any of these

while the rest are highlighted,

it's going to make the same adjustment to the rest as well.

Now you can go ahead and add color to this

or add boarders, so here you have a bottom boarder,

you'll have thick bottom boarder, so let's go with that.

In case you want to move something to be in the middle,

so let's say I don't want HR on the bottom,

I want HR between marketing and sales,

you can select it and then use the move handle

to move it but while you're moving it,

don't just drop it because if you try to do that,

it says there's already data in there,

do you want to replace it?

No, we definitely don't want to replace it.

So what we want to do is bring it

and put it in between marketing and sales.

So while you're dragging this,

hold down the shift key and then you see that line changes,

it shows you where it's going to drop it.

Now if you let go of the mouse,

it's going to drop HR in between marketing and sales.

Now you have other options to do this as well,

if you don't want to use this combination,

just right mouse click and cut

or use the shortcut key control X

and then go to where you want this range to sit,

right mouse click and insert cut cells.

Let's give the title some color as well

and if you ever adjust the formatting of the cell

and you want to apply that formatting to other cells,

you can use the paintbrush icon.

So for example, let's say for some reason I made this red

and I want to apply that to the other ones,

I can just go and click on the paintbrush,

click on the cell I want

and it automatically applies the formatting.

Now this is not just for color,

it's any type of formatting you have,

it can be a combination of bold font,

cell boarders and so on.

If you want to apply that formatting to multiple cells,

double click on this paintbrush

and then you can reuse that formatting

and apply to multiple cells.

Once you're done, press escape to remove it.

If you want to sum up these values,

you can go to home and sum them from here.

There's also a great shortcut key for this

which is alt equals.

When you click it, it tries to pick up the range,

this is correct, you just have to press enter.

Now you can fill the rest in

and the formula will be copied over

and the ranges will reflect the direct ranges above.

If you want to do this in one go, you can first

select your area and just use the shortcut key,

alt equals and you're done.

This wraps up our introduction to Excel

in case you like to learn more about Excel

and other features and functions,

check out the other videos I have on this channel.

Now if you really like to master Excel

and learn by solving actual problems,

check out my Excel essentials course on Excelplus.com.

Link to it is below the video.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial,

if you did, hit that thumbs up

and do subscribe to this channel

in case you haven't subscribed already,

so you can improve your Excel skills

and learn some tips and tricks when it comes to Office apps.

Thank you for watching and I'll see you in the next video.

(upbeat music)