What's a row? Where's the Formula Bar? How do you zoom in on a worksheet? If you're new
to Excel, or just need a refresher, reviewing how to navigate the environment and access
basic tools can be very helpful.
Let's start with the Ribbon, which is the collection of tools and features at the top
of the screen. The Ribbon is divided into tabs - like Page Layout, Insert, and Home
- to help you find what you're looking for quickly and easily. Also making things easier
to find is the fact that all the commands are kept together in groups. For example,
the Font group contains everything we need to work with text, including font color, size,
and more.
If you look closely at the upper left corner above the Ribbon, you'll find the Quick Access
Toolbar. This little toolbar is designed to give you access to frequently used commands
like Save and Undo no matter where you are on the Ribbon.
Now let's take a look at the workbook itself. A workbook is what we call an Excel file;
and each workbook contains one or more worksheets, also known as spreadsheets. Kind of like a
book contains many sheets of paper. New workbooks contain three sheets by default, which you
can navigate here.
Every worksheet contains cells that are divided into columns and rows. Rows run from left
to right and are identified by a number; for example, 1, 2, 3. Columns run from top to
bottom and are identified by a letter, such as A, B, C.
Just above the worksheet is a feature called the Name Box, which tells you the location
(or "name") of the cell you currently have selected. Let me show you what I mean by selecting
a random cell here. The one I've selected is right where column E and row 5 intersect,
making the location or the name of the cell E5.
To the right of the Name Box is the Formula Bar, where you can enter text, functions,
or formulas for the cell you have selected. Notice how what I type here appears in both
the Formula Bar and my selected cell, E5.
Now I'm going to switch back to the first sheet in my workbook so we can take a look
at the tools in the bottom right corner. That includes the horizontal scroll bar, which
lets you scroll your worksheet from left to right so you can see more columns. And below
that is the zoom control. Use the plus or minus signs - or just click and drag the slider
- to zoom in and out.
Finally, you have the ability to change the way you view your worksheet using the page
view buttons here. Normal is selected by default. Page Layout lets you see what your spreadsheet
is going to look like when you print it. And Page Break shows you an overview of what you're
working on, which is helpful if you're using page breaks.
All right! Now that we know where everything is, we can get into exploring the Excel environment
in detail, and customizing it to fit our needs.