Unit 2. How to Start Working with Excel (II).

Quick movement within a book

There are several spreasheets within a workbook. By default, three worksheets appear in the screen but that number could be changed.

  In this section we are going to deal with the different methods of moving in the different sheets of a workbook.

We'll begin by using the labels bar.

As you can see, in this case we have three spreadsheets and one of them is the active sheet, that is, the sheet on which we are working, Sheet 1.

Clicking on any or the tabs you will change sheet. That is to say, if you click on tab Sheet 3, you will go to work on that sheet.

If the number of sheets is too high for the labels bar, we will use the buttons on the left of the bar in order to dispaly the sheets:

  To display from Sheet 1.

  To display the previous sheet , previous to the one displayed.

  To display the following sheet , the sheet that follows the one displayed.

  To display the last sheets.

Once the sheet we want to have access to is displayed, just click on the label.

When all the sheets in the book fit in the bar, these buttons will not have an effect.

You can also use key combinations to scroll within a workbook. These are:

If you have any doubts concerning the methods for moving inside a workbook,

we would advise you to do the Exercise for scrolling in a book.

Introducing data

In each of the cells in a sheet, you can introduce, texts, figures or formulas. In all cases the steps to follow will be these:

Place the cursor on the cell you want to introduce the data and type the data you wish to introduce.

It will show in two places: in the active cell and in the Formula bar, as you can see in the picture below:

To introduce the value in the cell, you can use any of the three methods we are going to see now:

ENTER: validates the value introduced in the cell and also the active cells becomes the one just below.

CURSOR MOVEMENT KEYS: validate the value introduced in the cell and also the active cell will change according to the arrow key you press, that is to say, if you press RIGHT ARROW the active cell will be the one next to the right.

TICK SQUARE: this is the button on the formula bar, when you click on it the value introduced in the cell is validated but the active cell remains the same one.

If you change your mind when you are about to introduce information and you wish to restor the cell content to its original value, all you have to do is press key Esc of the keyword or to click on the button Cancel on the formula bar. That way the data will not be introduced and the cell will continue to have its original value.

  If you introduce a formula in a incorrect way, in all probability, a box will be shown giving information above the error you have made. Read it slowly so you can understand and accept or not the correction.

It is also possible that the formula will be wrong but you won't be warned. In that case something strange will show in the cell and you will have to check the formulas bar to find the error.

How to modify data

You can modify the content of a cell as you write in it or later, after the introduction.

If you have not validated the data introduction and you make an error, you can correct it using the key Return in the keyboard to delete the character to the left of the cursor, making it return one position. You can't use the key LEFT ARROW because it validates data entry.

If you have already validated the entry of data and you wish to modify, you will select the appropiate cell, then you will activate the Formula bar pressing key F2 or you may go directly to the formulas bar and click on the part of the data you wish to modify.

The Status Bar will change from Ready to Edit.

In the Formula bar the insert point or cursor will appear at the end, then you can modify the information.

After you have typed the changes press ENTER or click on the button OK

If after you have modified the information, you change your mind and wish to restore the original content and value of the cell, all you have to do is press key Esc of the keyboard or click on the button Cancel on the formulas bar. In that way, data will not be introduced and the cell will show the informationa it had.

If you wish to replace the content of a cell, select the cell and type the new value directly on it.

Pag. 2.2