Formatting and essentials operation of MS Excel
What is formatting in Excel
Formatting in Excel refers to the visual presentation and arrangement of data within a spreadsheet. It involves modifying the appearance of cells, text, numbers, and other elements to enhance readability, highlight important information, and improve the overall visual appeal. Excel provides a wide range of formatting options to customize the look of your data. Here are some common formatting techniques used in Excel:
1. Cell Formatting:
You can modify the appearance of individual cells or cell ranges by changing attributes such as font style, font size, font color, background color, and borders. This helps in emphasizing specific data or creating a consistent visual style.
2. Number Formatting:
Excel allows you to format numbers to display them in different formats, such as currency, percentages, dates, times, and more. You can choose the number of decimal places, add thousands separators, or apply specific formatting rules based on your data.
3. Conditional Formatting:
Conditional formatting enables you to automatically apply formatting based on specific conditions or rules. For example, you can highlight cells that meet certain criteria, such as values above a threshold, duplicates, or specific text patterns.
4. Cell Styles:
Excel provides predefined cell styles that allow you to apply consistent formatting across multiple cells or ranges. Cell styles combine various formatting attributes, such as font, fill color, borders, and number formats, into a single style.
5. Alignment and Orientation :
Excel allows you to align and orient text within cells. You can adjust horizontal and vertical alignment, wrap text within cells, merge cells, and rotate text to make it fit better within the layout of your spreadsheet.
6. Column Width and Row Height:
You can adjust the width of columns and the height of rows to optimize the display of your data. This ensures that the content is visible without being truncated or overflowing.
7. Themes and Templates:
Excel offers built-in themes and templates that provide a consistent look and feel to your spreadsheets. Themes apply predefined formatting styles to the entire workbook, while templates provide pre-designed layouts for specific purposes.
8. Charts and Graphs:
Excel allows you to create visually appealing charts and graphs to represent your data. You can customize chart elements, such as axes, legends, titles, colors, and data labels, to make them more informative and visually appealing.
Excel's formatting options provide flexibility in presenting and organizing data in a visually appealing manner, making it easier to interpret and analyze information effectively.
How to format data in Excel
Formatting data in Excel involves modifying the appearance and structure of cells, ranges, and other elements to enhance readability and presentation. Here are some steps to format data in Excel:
1. Select the Cells or Range:
Click and drag to select the cells or range of cells you want to format. You can select a single cell, multiple cells, or an entire column or row.
2. Apply Basic Formatting:
Right-click on the selected cells, and from the context menu, choose "Format Cells." Alternatively, you can find the "Format Cells" option under the "Home" tab in the "Number" group. This is used for opening the “Format cells” dialog box.
3. Modify Font and Cell Formatting:
In the "Format Cells" dialog box, you can modify various formatting options. For example:
- Font: Choose the font style, font size, and font color for the selected cells.
- Number: Select the number format, such as currency, percentage, date, time, or custom format, depending on your data.
- Alignment: Adjust the horizontal and vertical alignment, indentation, and text orientation.
- Fill: Apply background color or patterns to cells.
- Borders: Add borders around cells or cell ranges.
4. Apply Conditional Formatting:
Conditional formatting allows you to format cells based on specific criteria. To apply conditional formatting:
- Select the cells or range you want to apply the condition to.
- Under the "Home" tab, choose "Conditional Formatting" from the "Styles" group.
- Select the desired formatting rule, such as highlighting cells above a certain value, data bars, color scales, or icon sets.
- Customize the rule based on your specific conditions.
5. Adjust Column Width and Row Height:
To optimize the display of your data, you can adjust the width of columns and the height of rows. To do this, click and drag the boundary between column letters or row numbers to adjust their sizes manually. Alternatively, you can use the "Format" option in the "Home" tab to set specific column widths and row heights.
6. Apply Cell Styles and Themes:
Excel provides predefined cell styles and themes that allow you to apply consistent formatting to your data. To apply a cell style, select the cells, go to the "Home" tab, and choose a style from the "Cell Styles" gallery. To apply a theme, go to the "Page Layout" tab and select a theme from the "Themes" group. Themes apply predefined formatting styles to the entire workbook.
7. Create Charts and Graphs:
Excel provides various chart types and formatting options to present your data visually. Select the data you want to include in the chart, go to the "Insert" tab, choose a chart type from the "Charts" group, and customize the chart elements, such as axes, legends, colors, and titles, using the chart formatting options.
These steps cover the basics of formatting data in Excel. The specific formatting options and techniques you use will depend on your data, the desired presentation, and your preferences.
What is the basic task in Excel
Excel is a powerful tool with a wide range of capabilities. Here are some basic tasks commonly performed in Excel:
1. Data Entry:
Enter data into cells by typing directly or copying and pasting from other sources. You can input text, numbers, dates, and formulas.
2. Formulas and Functions:
Use formulas and functions to perform calculations and manipulate data. Formulas begin with an equal sign (=) and can include mathematical operators, cell references, and functions like SUM, AVERAGE, IF, and VLOOKUP.
3. Formatting:
Apply formatting to cells, such as font styles, sizes, colors, and backgrounds, to enhance readability and presentation. Adjust column widths and row heights to accommodate data.
4. Sorting and Filtering:
Sort data in ascending or descending order based on specific criteria, such as alphabetical order or numerical value. Apply filters to display specific data based on conditions or values.
5. Charts and Graphs:
Create visual representations of data using various chart types, such as bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts, and scatter plots. Customize the appearance of charts with labels, titles, and formatting options.
6. Conditional Formatting:
Apply formatting to cells based on specific conditions or rules. Highlight cells that meet certain criteria, such as values above or below a threshold, duplicates, or specific text patterns.
7. Data Validation:
Set validation rules to control the type and range of data entered into cells. Define criteria like whole numbers, dates, or values within a specified range.
8. Worksheet Management:
Create, rename, and delete worksheets to organize data and calculations within a workbook. Move and copy worksheets within a workbook or between different workbooks.
9. Copying and Pasting:
Copy cells or ranges of cells and paste them elsewhere in the worksheet or into other worksheets or workbooks. Use paste special options to specify how data is pasted, such as values only or formatting only.
10. Printing:
Customize print settings to print worksheets, including selecting the desired range, adjusting page orientation, setting print titles, and adding headers and footers.
These are just some of the basic tasks you can perform in Excel. The software offers many more advanced features, such as pivot tables, data analysis tools, macros, and automation through Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), which can be explored as you gain proficiency.
Shortcut keys of Excel
Basic shortcut keys of Excel
Excel provides a variety of shortcut keys that can help improve your efficiency and speed up your workflow. Some Excel commonly used shortcut is following
1. Navigation Shortcuts:
- Ctrl + Arrow Keys: Move to the edge of the current data region in the direction of the arrow key.
- Ctrl + Page Up/Page Down:
This is used for Switching between worksheets.
2. Selection Shortcuts:
- Shift + Arrow Keys: Extend the selection in the direction of the arrow key.
- Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Keys : Select the entire range from the current cell to the last non-empty cell in the same column or row.
3. Editing Shortcuts:
- F2 : Edit the active cell.
- Ctrl + X/C/V: Cut, copy, or paste the selected cells or range.
- Ctrl + Z : Undo the last action of the worksheet .
- Ctrl + Y: Redo the last action worksheet.
- F4: Repeat the last action.
4. Formatting Shortcuts:
- Ctrl + B/I/U: Apply bold, italic, or underline formatting to the selected text.
- Ctrl + 1: This is used for Opening the Format Cell dialog box.
- Ctrl + Shift + $/%/#: Apply currency, percentage, or date formatting to the selected cells.
- Ctrl + Shift + &: Apply borders to the selected cells.
5. Calculation Shortcuts:
- F9 :This is used for Calculating all worksheets in all open workbooks.
- Shift + F9: Calculate the active worksheet only.
- Ctrl +; : Insert the current date.
- Ctrl + Shift + ; : Insert the current time.
6. Other Useful Shortcuts:
- Ctrl + S: This is used for saving the current workbook.
- Ctrl + P: Print the current worksheet.
- Ctrl + F: Open the Find and Replace dialog box.
- Ctrl + H: Open the Find and Replace dialog box with the Replace tab selected.
- F1: This is key is used for opening the Excel Help window.
These are just a few examples of commonly used shortcut keys in Excel. The software provides numerous other shortcuts for specific functions and features. You can explore additional shortcut keys in the Excel documentation or by using the built-in Help function within Excel itself.