Goodwill Community Foundation creating
opportunities for a better life
Excel 2013 is a spread
cheat program that allows you to store
organize and analyze information you can
use it to create contact lists budgets
invoices and just about anything else
you can imagine
when you open Excel there's a good
chance you'll be taken to the Start
screen first from here you can access
recent workbooks or create something new
either from scratch or from a template
in this example we'll click blank
workbook next you might want to take a
minute to explore the interface and make
sure you know your way around why don't
we begin 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 so you can easily find what you're
looking for there are also commands on
each tab that have been organized into
groups for example if you look closely
at the font group you'll find it has
everything you need to work with text
including options like bold italics font
color and size some groups even have an
arrow in the bottom right corner that
you can click to view even more commands
if you ever feel like the ribbon is
taking up too much space you can always
hide or minimize it all you have to do
is click the arrow in the upper right
corner then choose the option you want
also in the upper right corner is a
place where you can access your
Microsoft account here you can update
your photo manage your account settings
or switch to a different account
altogether you can even customize your
copy of Excel to make certain commands
more convenient take the quick access
toolbar in the upper left corner this
area gives you access to frequently used
commands like save and undo no matter
where you are in the ribbon to add more
commands just click the tiny arrow next
to the toolbar then choose the ones you
want I'm going to add new and also Quick
Print because I use both of these
commands pretty frequently now let's
take a
the workbook itself sometimes referred
to as a worksheet or a spreadsheet in
this example I've opened an order list
that I'm working on every worksheet
contains cells columns and rows for
entering data plus the formula bar for
working with your data if you need to
scroll up or down or even side to side
you can use the scroll bars here and
here in the bottom right corner you'll
find several tools that let you change
the way your worksheet is displayed
here's what they look like up close to
zoom in or out click and drag the zoom
control the number next to the slider
will tell you what the zoom percentage
is you can also switch between different
worksheet views using the three commands
here normal is selected by default this
mode is great for everyday tasks like
entering and editing data page layout
shows you what the worksheet will look
like on the printed page you can also
add headers and footers here page break
preview makes it easy to change the
location of page breaks in your workbook
this can be especially useful if you're
printing lots of data last but not least
I'd like to give you a quick tour of the
backstage view you can get there by
clicking the file tab just look forward
on the far left of the ribbon here you
can access all kinds of information
related to your current workbook and
more this includes commands like new
open save and print all you have to do
is click an item and it'll open in the
right pane this makes it easy to find
what you're looking for and review your
options all in one place
that covers the basics of Excel 2013 now
that you're comfortable with the
interface including the backstage view
the ribbon and the work area you're
ready to start your first worksheet