How to Use Excel

Excel is a powerful spreadsheet program made by Microsoft Office. You can create and format spreadsheets and workbooks (collections of spreadsheets), build models for analyzing data, write formulas, perform many calculations, and present professional charts. Cash flow statements, income statements, budgets, calendars, or profit and loss statements can all be easily created if you know how to use excel .

Open the Excel program. There may be a shortcut on your desktop, or you may need to go to “Start” and then “Programs” to locate the Excel icon.
Start a new workbook (an Excel file). Click “File” and “New.” Under “Available templates,” click “Blank Workbook,” then “Create.” A blank workbook will open.
Save the workbook. Click the Office button (or File tab if you have an earlier version of Excel) and select “Save as.” Choose a location on your computer to save your file (such as the “my documents” folder), type the name of your workbook in the “File name” box, and be sure your file type is set to “Excel Workbook”

1. 

Familiarize yourself with the tabs on the ribbon at the top of your workbook.They are File, Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review and View.

Familiarize yourself with the language needed to use Excel. Knowing the terminology of the technology is important for being able to use it easily and understand step-by-step guides.
A row is a section that goes right to left across the screen (indicated by numbers along the left side of the screen).

2. A column is a set of data that goes from the top to the bottom of the worksheet, and it is identified with a letter at the top of the sheet.

A cell is any individual square of the worksheet that data may be placed in.

6. Prepare your worksheet for data storage. Every Excel workbook has 3 worksheets by default. Sheet 1 opens by default and you can see this tab at the bottom of the window.

Rename a sheet by right clicking on the Sheet 1 tab. 
Select “Rename” and type the new name for your sheet.

If necessary, add sheets by clicking the button to the right of “Sheet 3” that shows a sheet of paper with a star in the corner.


On the top row of your sheet, type a title in each cell to identify what will be placed in each column. For example, you might type Name, Date, and Amount. The rows underneath these titles are for your data.
Save frequently. When you are entering data, you may want to save your work frequently by clicking the floppy disk symbol at the top left of your screen or clicking on the office button and selecting “Save.” Alternately, you can hold down the control “Ctrl” key on your keyboard while you type “S.”