Hello there, welcome to this video! Let's discover in a short time all
the main features you need to know to start using Microsoft Excel 2019!
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video tutorials dedicated to Microsoft Excel!
Excel is a professional software belonging to Office, developed by
Microsoft. This is the most complete and the most used product to
collect and organize data, make calculations and realize tables and
charts, in order to get a visual representation of your data.
This 2019 Release works just on laptops with Windows 10, and on all
Mac computers having the 'Office for Mac' version.
When opening Excel a start-up page opens, showing your recent Excel
documents (or Workbooks) on the left side, and several ready-made
templates on the right, used to start with a new document.
In order to see how to use Excel, let's just start from a new empty
document by going to Blank workbook.
The Excel Workbook shows up as a big empty table, with several columns
named with letters, and rows with numbers. These get extended as you
need while working on your document. Columns and rows together divide
the document into cells, which can contain numbers or text.
On top you have the Menu bar, divided in several tabs, collecting all
the features and tools to work inside Excel. At the bottom you find all
the pages (or Sheets) composing your Workbook. You can add new pages by
using the plus button, and rename, color or delete a page by
right-clicking on it.
Let's see how to work with cells. These are used singularly to type
titles, notes or numbers, or taken in series along a column or a row to
collect a large amount of data.
Click on a cell to select it. This will get its borders highlighted
in green color, and its name on the Name Box in the top left corner.
Double-click on the cell to start typing inside. You can type in text,
in order to write titles and description on rows and columns, or leave
numbers to start making calculations.
To remove any content from the cell, just select it and use the
Backspace key.
In case text is too long, this will overlap the next cell. You can
solve this by clicking and dragging its column edges, until the whole
text is fully contained. You can also use Wrap Text to extend the row
height until it fits the text content. Consider that any modification
applied to columns and rows will also affect all the cells belonging to
these.
Pay attention when adding decimals: the separator changes according to
the system language you use. For example, if your language is English,
and you use a dot, the cell saves the value as a number correctly,
showing a right alignment. If you use a comma, the value is written as
text, with a left alignment on the cell.
Now, let's see how to manage the cells. To cut a cell, just select it
and use CTRL+X (or CMD+X for Mac). This shows a green dashed contour.
Then, if you select another cell, and use CTRL+V (or CMD+V), you will
paste the cut content on the new cell. This cut-paste operation is
often used to move content between cells.
If you make any mistake, just use CTRL+Z (or CMD+Z) to undo your last
action.
You can also cut, copy and paste an entire row or column content by
clicking on its letter or number, and then right-clicking on it. You
can also use Delete to remove the content, and Insert to add a new
empty column or row by shifting everything aside.
If you click and drag on the cells, you can select a series of cells
along a column or a row, or even a table. Once these are selected, you
can cut and paste these as seen for single cells. When you paste, the
first cell over a white background is taken as reference.
To remove content from multiple cells, just right-click and go to
Delete..., and choose whether to shift the existing cells or to remove
the whole columns and rows interested.
With the Home tab above you can edit and manage the appearance of the
cells, series and tables you have selected on the Workbook.
Under the Font section you can change the font family, size, style,
color with Font Color, and add fill with Fill Color.
Inside Alignment, you can adjust the text distribution to the left,
right, or make it centered. Use Orientation to change the text
inclination as you like.
For additional text and cell properties, just click on Font Settings
or Alignment Settings.
You can use Merge & Center to merge multiple cells, series or tables
together.
The merged cell can be customized just as seen for standard cells. As
you type in, the content is placed at the bottom, according to the
alignment options located on the Home tab. Here you can switch to
Middle or Top Align.
If you merge cells with content, just the content of the white cell is
saved and extended to the others. To unmerge, just click again on Merge
& Center.
You can also add borders to your cells by using the Border button.
When you select multiple cells, you can fill the external sides of the
whole selection by using Bottom, Top, Left, Right and Outside Borders.
To add borders within the selection, use All Borders. This respects the
cells that are merged or unmerged.
Excel offers several tools to work with your data!
When selecting one or multiple cells you get a green node in the
bottom right corner. If you click and drag it along the column or row,
you will copy the cell content on all the cells selected in this way.
If you drag on the other way, you remove all the copies quickly.
Inside Excel you can also import external data in several formats.
If you go to Data, and then to Get Data, you can import files from
Excel Workbooks, any .csv or .txt file, or from the internet. When
importing a .csv file, Excel shows a preview of it, according to the
Delimiter option chosen at the top. When you click on Load, a new
Sheet is created with the whole data imported from the .csv file.
You can use the Formulas to make math and calculations with your data.
When typing into a cell, introduce an equals sign to start with a
Formula. Then add the first argument by typing the number or the cell
name that contains the value interested. Introduce the operation, such
as plus (+) for additions, minus (-) for subtractions, an asterisk (*)
for multiplications, and a slash (/) for divisions. When you finish
importing arguments and operations, use the Enter key to calculate.
This remains a live calculation: as the numbers inside the cells
change, the result will be updated immediately.
Excel collects a very large amount of Formulas you can use. As you
insert the equals sign, type any letters to get a full list of functions
that match them. You can click on a function to get tips about it, and
double-click on it to insert it on the cell. Excel also suggests how
you to complete the Formula: some of these require a single argument
(such as any number or cell), some others a list of arguments. These can
be single cells or entire series, represented by the first and the last
cell of the series, divided by a double dot. Use the Enter key to
apply. You can check the expression used on the selected cell from the
Formula bar on top.
In addition, you can check the Function Library section under Formulas,
to get the full list of functions available.
Inside Excel you can also add extra objects, such as images, shapes and
icons to make your Workbook clearer. Inside the Insert tab, use Pictures
to import a picture; Shapes to drop arrows and regular shapes by
clicking and dragging; and Icons to drop icons. All these objects can
be edited independently. You can move by clicking and sliding these;
scale by using their nodes, and rotate by using their top arrow.
In addition, you can use the Format tab to edit the object appearance,
for example to set its Fill; add and edit its Outline, deciding color,
line style and thickness, or add any effect.
Within the list of the shapes, you can use Text Box to add pieces of
text. Just click and drag on the Workbook to drop the text borders
and then type inside. This box can be moved, scaled and
rotated just like any other object.
Use the Home tab to adjust the text properties and color, and the
Format tab to add Fill or Outline to both the text box and the text
characters inside.
Now, let's see how to create tables and charts with your data!
As you select a series or tables of cells, the Quick Analysis icon shows
up, with several quick options and operations you can apply.
Under Formatting and Sparklines you can add immediate visual analysis
on the selected data. You can hover over the samples to get a preview,
and click on these to apply.
Under Totals, you can make quick operations on each column or row
selected.
Under Tables, you can go to Table to create a formatted table, with
colors and titles set. You can adjust its appearance by using the
Design tab above, and extend it by using its node in the bottom right
corner. To remove the table, just select it all, right-click and go to
Clear Contents.
Excel has advanced and professional tools to make charts, which are
visual representations of your data.
To create charts, just select the table collecting your data, and go to
Charts inside the Quick Analysis dialog box to pick a ready template
from the list. You can go to More... and then to All charts for the
full list of templates available on the left, complete with their
preview on the right. When you select one and go to OK, the chart shows
up as an independent object, that you can move and scale as seen for
other objects.
This chart is made by several parts: the Plot Area, with the visual
representation of your data, and the Chart Elements, which are all the
items around it, such as titles, axes, gridlines and legends. Each of
these objects can be moved and scaled within the chart. You can also
type inside the titles and edit their properties by using the Home tab.
Use the Format tab to adjust the Fill, the Outline and add any Effect
on the Chart Element selected.
Next to the chart you have three buttons. Use Chart Elements to show
or hide any element; Chart Styles to change the chart template to use;
and Chart Filter to enable or disable any of the series shown on the
Plot Area. To change the chart type, just go to Change Chart Type under
the Design tab.
To manage the series inside the Plot Area, just go to Select Data under
the Design tab. The dialog box shows the list of all the series inside
the chart on the left, that you can edit by selecting one and going to
Edit.
Under Series name, type its name (which is shown on the legend), and
under Series values insert the column or the row collecting its data by
clicking on the arrow icon and selecting directly from the Workbook.
Use Add and Remove to add new series or remove the one selected.
If you double-click on the chart, you will open the right panel, used
to edit the chart appearance in detail, such as the series properties,
the axes range, or the Plot Area options.
To save and export your Workbook, go to File, and then to Save As...,
choosing where to save it. Then, type the file name and, as file type,
choose .xlsx to save your work as an Excel Workbook, to open and edit
it later; .csv or .txt to export the content as a database, excluding
any visual content; or choose .pdf to print your Workbook as it is.
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