About Entering Information into Excel

When you enter any sort of data into Excel, you'll enter it into a spreadsheet. Of course, starting to enter information is as simple as clicking on a cell in the spreadsheet and typing, but there are some things that are helpful to know – and that you can do – before you ever type that first letter or number.

The first thing you want to do before you type anything is to spend a little time planning the spreadsheet. Beginning to type in Excel is perhaps not as easy as it might be in, let's say, a word processing program because you're going to enter all information into rows and columns. A little more organization is required to save you the time of having to create and then recreate the spreadsheet to get it as you want it.

To organize your spreadsheet, you'll need to determine:

• What is the point of the spreadsheet?
• What information do you need to include?
• What headings are you going to need to explain the information in the spreadsheet?
• Do you want to use columns, rows, or both?

Take a little time to plan out your spreadsheet, and you'll save yourself a lot of time and headaches down the road.

Entering Data

When you have your spreadsheet organized and you're ready to begin, entering information is as easy as clicking on a cell. When you click on a cell, the cell will be highlighted with a black border as shown below.

Once it's highlighted with border, you can type inside of it. When you're finished entering information into one cell, you can click the mouse in another cell to type more information.

However, moving and clicking your mouse each time you want to change cells becomes time consuming. Most people who use Excel want to move a little faster and save as much time as possible. That said, you can also use the following keys to navigate the spreadsheet as you enter information.

Enter. Enters the data into the current cell, then moves the cursor to the next cell in the same column. In other words, using the example above, if we pressed ‘Enter' it would move the cursor down to cell A2. We could then type in A2.

Tab. Tab enters the data into the current cell, then moves on cell over in the same row. In this example, it would move to B1.

Arrows. You can navigate through columns or rows in the spreadsheet using the arrows.

Esc. Cancels the current entry

Entering Labels and Values

Cells can contain labels, values, logical values, or formulas. Before we delve into how to enter these things into an Excel 2003 worksheet, it's important to know what each one is.

Labels are used for things such as titles, headings, names, and for identifying columns that contain data.

Values contain numbers. They can be used in calculations.

A logical value is a mathematical equation that is either true or false. There are six logical operators: = or equal to, < less than, >greater than, >= greater than or equal to, <= less than or equal to, and <>not equal to.

Formulas are groups of symbols that create a mathematical statement.

Unless you format a cell to enter either a value or a formula, Excel will automatically consider it a label and align it to the left side of the cell. All labels are aligned to the left side of the cell by default.

If you are creating a large spreadsheet and will be using the same label for several cells, you can use the AutoComplete function. The AutoComplete function will recognize words that you have typed before and finish them for you. This saves you time in typing.

Another method that you can use to quickly enter repeated labels is to use the Pick List feature. All you have to do is right click on any cell, then select ‘Pick from List.' It will provide a menu of all other entries in cells from that same column. See the snapshot below.

When you click on Pick From Drop-down List, a drop down box will appear:

Select the label you want to appear by highlighting it, the clicking the mouse.

Entering Values

As we discussed earlier, a value is a number, date, or time. It can also include a few symbols if the symbol is necessary to define the number. Such symbols are the comma, period, plus sign, minus sign, parentheses, percentage, dollar sign, /, or ].

In MS Excel 2003, all numbers are assumed to be positive numbers. If you need to use negative numbers, use either the minus sign "-", or put the number in parentheses.

All dates in Excel are stored as MM/DD/YYYY. However, you do not have to enter it that way. For example, you can enter in July 4. Excel will recognize it and format it correctly, using the current year. If you're referring to a past year, then you'll have to enter the four-digit year as well. You could enter July 4, 2005. Excel will then format it to read 7/4/2005. If you wish to enter the current date, just press Control and ";" at the same time.

To enter a time into Excel, use "a" or "p" to indicate am and pm respectively. You can enter in 8a. Excel will automatically convert it to 8:00 AM. If you want to enter the current time, press Control and ":" or shift-semicolon at the same time.

All entries that are values are aligned to the right side of the cell.

In the example above, note that all labels are aligned to the left side of the cell, while all values are aligned to the right.

Multiple Entries

If you have several cells that you want to enter the same data into, you can do this very quickly and easily with MS Excel 2003. Let's say that you want to add the number 43 into seven cells within your spreadsheet Instead of scrolling through your worksheet and entering it in seven different times, you can do this instead:

• First, select or highlight the range of cells that you want to enter the same data.

• In the active cell, type the data, then press Control and Enter at the same time.

• This will fill in all the cells for you.

Note: If the cells are not adjacent, select the first cell or range of cells, then hold down Control while you select the other cells or range from cells. As you can see in the snapshot below, two non-adjacent cells are selected.

Copying Cells, Rows, and Columns

Like any other MS Office program, MS Excel 2003 allows you to copy cells, then paste them into the same spreadsheet or workbook or into an entirely different file. When you copy the data, you are transferring a copy to another location, not removing it from its original location. (If you want to move data from its original location and relocate it somewhere else, you must cut and paste.)

Before copying any cells, rows, or columns, you first have to select – or highlight – the cells, rows, or columns that you want to copy. Selecting data in Excel is different from selecting text in a word processing program because you must select cells.

To Select:	Action
A cell	Click on the cell.
A range of continuous, adjacent cells	Click on the first sell then drag the mouse over the cells to be copied so that they are all highlighted.
A column	Click on the column heading.
A row	Click on the row number.
Non-adjacent cells	Select the first cell or range of cells, then hold down Control while you select the other cells or range from cells. Interested in learning more? Why not take an online Excel 2003 course?
Non-adjacent rows or columns	Select the first row or column that you want to copy, then hold down the Control key while you select other rows or columns. This is also known as making multiple selections.

After you've selected the cells or range of cells that you want to copy, you can do one of two things.

1. Right click and select Copy.

2. Go to Edit>Copy.

Pasting Cells, Rows, and Columns

When you copy cells, you first paste them to the clipboard. Pasting to the clipboard is automatic whenever you select copy, or even cut. The clipboard will hold up to twenty-four different selections so that you do not have to paste right away.

If you have more than one selection on the clipboard (if you've copied more than one selection from the worksheet) a dialogue box will open to the right of your spreadsheet that shows you all the selections you have on the clipboard. See the snapshot below.

If you only want to paste your most recent selection, all you have to do is go to the place in the spreadsheet where you want to place the copied data. Select the first cell where you want the data to appear, then take one of two actions.

You can either:

1. Right click, then select Paste.

2. Go to Edit>Paste.

To Paste an Item from the Clipboard

• Select the cell where you want the item to appear.

• Click on the item from the clipboard.

Inserting and Deleting Rows and Columns

Naturally, there are going to be times when you create a worksheet and then realize that you need another row or column. Since most of the data is already entered, it's too much trouble to use copy and paste to move every column to the right or every row down. Instead, it's easier just to insert a new row or column into the worksheet.

To Insert a Column

Select the column that comes AFTER where you want the new column to appear. In the example below, we want a new column to appear before the column that is currently ‘C', so we've selected column ‘C'.

Next, you can either:

1. Right click and select Insert.

2. Go to Insert>Columns.

There will then be a new column where ‘C' is located in the above picture.

To Insert a Row

To add a new row, select the entire row by clicking on the row number. Make sure you click on the row number that appears BELOW where you want the new row to be located. The new row will appear above the selected row.

Next:

1. Right click and select Insert.

2. Go to Insert>Rows.

To Insert Cells

You can shift cells either down or to the right when you insert a new cell. Select a cell in your worksheet, right click, and select Insert. This dialogue box will appear:

Note: You can also add an entire row or column from this dialogue box.

Alternative Method: You can also go to Insert>Cells to reach the dialogue box pictured above.

Filling Cells with a Series of Data

Remember those tests in school where the teacher would make you number a piece of paper from 1 to 10? Have you ever used MS Excel to make a list and put a number in each cell by typing one number at a time, one cell at a time? What about a date?

Typing any type of series in MS Excel 2003 just takes a matter of minutes if you know what you're doing. You can easily start a series, whether it's a series of numbers, dates, or a built in series for days, weeks, months, and years.

Here's an example. In the screen shot below, we wanted to number the columns 1 through 10. We started typing, but got tired at number 5.

MS Excel gives you an AutoFill handle bar that you can use to complete this series automatically. The handle bar is located at the bottom right hand corner of a selected cell, as shown below.

To AutoFill the rest of the series, move the mouse over the handle bar. A solid black cross (+) will appear. Once that appears, you drag the handle bar over cells to add a series.

Keep in mind, if you only have one cell selected, which we do in the example above, it will AutoFill the other cells with the number 5 as well. It will NOT complete the series because a series is not established. You have to establish the series first.

To use AutoFill to complete a series:

• Start a series.

• Select the cells in the series.

• Drag the handle bar over the cells that you want to fill in with a series of data.

• The series will be filled in for you.

Things to Remember:

1. Drag to the right or down to increase or ascend a series of numbers, dates, etc.

2. Drag to the left or up for descending numbers, dates, etc.

3. Enter at least two numbers, etc in the series before using AutoFill

Once the series is filled in, you will see an AutoFill options box appear just below the handle bar. When you click on the arrow, you can choose rather to format – or not format – the data in the cells.

Note: Series of numbers or dates to not have to increase by only one. You can have a series that is comprised of even numbers, patterns, odd days of the month, etc.

Editing Cell Data

In the old days of pencil and paper or a typewriter, making changes to anything was a hassle. You had to use that messy white out fluid. Or even worse, take an eraser to it and chance leaving a smudge mark or tearing the paper. MS Excel 2003 makes creating – and editing – spreadsheets a lot easier because correcting errors is easy and mess free.

To be able to edit data in a cell, you first need to put a cell in active mode. You can do this by selecting the cell and pressing F2 or simply clicking inside the cell. You can then type at the end of the data. Use backspace to delete data. When you've finished, simply hit enter or click in another cell to save your changes.

You can also:

• Double click the cell that you want to edit.
• Use the arrow keys to navigate through the data to find an insertion point.
• Use backspace to delete data.
• Press the Enter key to accept changes.

Find and Replace, Go To Cell Data

Let's say you want to find the number of candy bars that sold in the month of March, but you didn't want to scroll through a large worksheet to find that information. MS Excel 2003 offers you the Find and Go To features to make locating the data you need easy.

Go to Edit>Find.

Type in the data that you want to find. Maybe it's the word ‘March.'

Select ‘More' to choose preferences for your search, as seen below.

You can now specify where you want to look. Then you can choose if you want to find all instances or just the next one in the worksheet.

Go To

Using the Go To feature, you can ask MS Excel 2003 to go to a certain cell. This saves time over scrolling through a worksheet.

To use Go To, go to Edit>Go To.

When you select Go To, this dialogue box will appear:

We have typed in the reference A1 in the Reference box, which means column A row 1. When we click OK, MS Excel will take us to A1 automatically. That cell will be selected.

Locking Rows and Columns By Splitting Panes

You can view two areas of a worksheet and lock rows or columns into one place by splitting panes. When you split panes, you can scroll in the two areas of the worksheet that you've locked, but the non-scrolled areas remain visible. You'll see more of what we mean in just a minute.

To lock and split panes:

To lock rows, select the row below where you want the split to appear. To lock columns, select the column to the right of where you want the split to appear. To lock both rows and columns, select the cell below and to the right of where you want the split to appear.

In this example, we're going to split a column.

Go to Window>Split.

As you can see in the picture above, the column is split. To unlock the column, go to Window>Remove Split.

Locking Rows and Columns by Freezing Panes

When you freeze panes, you select rows and columns that remain visible when you scroll in the worksheet. You freeze panes to keep row and column labels visible as you scroll through.

The screenshot below shows a worksheet before we lock and freeze panes.

Lock the row or column that you want to lock using the same steps we used when splitting panes. In this example, we're going to lock and freeze a row.

Go to Window>Freeze Panes.

To unfreeze, go to Window>Unfreeze Panes.

Spell Check

As you work on a worksheet or after you complete it, naturally you'll want to check it for typos and misspelled words. MS Excel 2003 will help you check your worksheets for typos and misspelled words using a feature called Spell Check. Now, keep in mind, Spell Check should never be used as a substitute for proofreading it yourself because there are some mistakes that it won't catch, but it is an excellent helper and shortens editing time.

To use Spell Check, go to Tools>Spelling. If any errors appear in your worksheet, you'll see this dialogue box:

As you can see in the above example, Spell Check caught a misspelled word and highlighted its first choice as a replacement. It just so happens the first suggestion is the correct on. To accept the changes, we click on Change. If we wanted the word "Label" spelled "Labdel," then we would have clicked on Ignore Once. To change all instances of the misspelling (or ignore call instances) select Ignore All or Change All.

At the bottom of the dialogue box pictured below, you'll see a button entitled Options. If you click on that, this dialogue box will open:

This window allows you to pick a dictionary language and to also add a word to the MS Excel 2003 dictionary. Using the made-up word "Labdel" as an example, let's say labdel was a product name that we were using in a worksheet. We wouldn't want MS Excel to constantly point that out as a spelling error. If that is the case, we would choose the box that says Add words to Custom.dic as shown above. That allows you to add words that you regularly use that may not be recognized by Excel.

AutoCorrect

Click on the AutoCorrect Options button (as pictured above) and you'll see a new dialogue box.

This dialogue box will allow you to program Spell Check and Excel to automatically correct some errors for you as you type.

Smart Tags

Smart tags recognize specific data, then take a certain action based on the type of data. The actions are available with a button near the cell that contains the data. You can see the button by running your mouse over the sell or activating the cell where the data appears.

To turn on smart tags:

• Go to Tools>AutoCorrect Options
• Click the Smart Tags tab

• Check the box that says "Label data with smart tags."
• In the Recognizers box, check the boxes with smart tags that you want to turn on.
• Click OK.

Any cell with a smart tag is marked with a purple indicator in the bottom right corner of the cell.

Smart tags can be embedded into your workbook so that they are saved with a file. To embed your smart tags into a workbook:

• Go to Tools>AutoCorrect Options.
• Click the Smart Tags tab.
• Check Embed Smart Tags in this Workbook.
• Click OK.

Track Changes

Have you ever edited something, then realized you liked it better the way it was? Or have you ever edited something someone else wrote and wished there were a way to communicate your thoughts without typing in their document or worksheet? If either of these situations , has ever applied to you, then learning how to use Track Changes and Comments in Excel 2003 will appeal to you.

Track Changes

Track Changes gives you the ability to edit or change data in the worksheet and make note of those changes. MS Excel 2003 will make note of the changes by highlighting the outside of the cell with a different color. We've edited the contents of the cell below using Track Changes. As you can see, it's highlighted in blue.

In the upper left hand corner of the cell, an inverted triangle will also appear. Clicking on that will tell you exactly what changes have been made so you know what you've added, what you've deleted, and what formatting changes you have made. This also helps when you have several people changing and editing a workbook.

To turn on Track Changes in MS Excel 2003, go to Tools>Track Changes>Highlight Changes. You'll see the following dialogue box:

Make sure that "Track changes while editing" box checked. Then, you can select when, who, and where at in the worksheet that you want to track changes.

The highlight changes on screen box should be checked, unless you want the changes listed on a new sheet.

Click OK.

Now, when you or anyone else makes changes or edits the workbook, these changes will be noted.

Each user who makes changes to a workbook will be assigned a color by MS Excel 2003. For example, Mary's changes may show as a cell highlighted in red, Joe's in blue, etc. These are assigned by default. You cannot assign colors to users.

When you click on the triangle in the upper left hand corner of the cell, the user's initials will appear. This is another way to let you know who made what changes.

Accept or Reject Changes

Whenever you or someone else makes a change to a worksheet using Track Changes, you can then decide whether to accept or reject the change.

To do this, go to Tools>Track Changes>Accept or Reject Changes.

This dialogue box will appear:

You can select when the changes were made that you want to accept or reject, who's changes, and where,, at in the worksheet that you want to review changes.

Click OK when you've selected which changes.

It shows who made the change, what change was made, then gives you the option to accept the change, reject it, accept all changes made in the worksheet, or reject all of them.

Comments

You can also add comments in individual cells in a worksheet to question the data or provide some other input. MS Excel 2003 will make note that a comment was inserted into the worksheet by placing a red triangle in the upper right hand corner of the cell where it was added. The comment will appear in a pop up box near that cell, as in the example below:

To add a comment, select the cell where you want to add a comment.

Go to Insert>Comment.