Beginner’s guide to understanding Excel spreadsheets
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Workbooks in Excel are made up of spreadsheets, also called worksheets. The spreadsheets have grids with rows (horizontal) which are identified by numbers as well as columns (vertical) which are identified by alphabetical letters. The cells are the intersections between the specific rows and columns and the cells can contain numbers, formulas or text.
The numbers are normally the data entered into the cells while the formulas are used for calculation of numbers to get a specific result. The text is used as labels to help identify what the numbers mean. The text can be a combination of words, letters and numbers. On top of the columns in spreadsheets you will find column headings while the row headings appear on the left side of the screen. |
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A cell is known as the current cell when it is active, thus when you are working in that particular cell at a given time. You will know that a cell is active when the border is darker than the borders of the surrounding cells.
On top of your screen you will find a Name Box which is used to display a cell reference for the current cell. Every cell has a cell reference which uniquely identifies it. In addition to the Name Box Excel also provides a Formula Bar to help identify the specific content of that cell.
To navigate between worksheets in a workbook you can click on the sheet tabs at the bottom of the screen which are located in the taskbar. To learn more about working with Excel spreadsheets view our online tutorials in the training section.
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