Microsoft Excel: A Comprehensive Guide to Features and Functionality

Posted on Sep 4, 2024 in Computers

Excel Features and Functionality

AutoSum: Automatically calculates formulas, a powerful feature of electronic spreadsheets.
Conditional Formatting: Changes the formatting (font color, border, shading) of cells based on their values. You can select one or more cells and create conditions for when and how they are formatted. These conditions can be based on the selected cell’s contents or the contents of another cell.
Formatting Options: Control the following formats:
- Number format
- Font, font style, and font color (but not font size)
- Fill color and fill pattern
- Border color and border style (but not border thickness)
Hidden Rows and Columns: Data in hidden rows or columns is available for calculations, even though it is not visible. You can hide or unhide rows and columns using the Home tab → Cells group → Format option.
Freeze Panes: Freeze panes allow you to keep certain rows or columns visible while scrolling through the rest of the worksheet. This is useful for keeping headings or important data in view. To freeze panes, go to the View tab → Window group → Freeze Panes option. The panes are formed where your cursor is placed.

Page Breaks: To print a worksheet with the exact number of pages, adjust the page breaks in the worksheet before printing. This is useful when printing large sheets. Use Page Break Preview to see how other changes (e.g., changing row height/column width) affect the automatic page breaks. You can access Page Break Preview in the View tab → Workbook Views group → Page Break Preview.
Inserting Page Breaks: To insert a vertical page break, select the row below where you want to insert the page break. To insert a horizontal page break, select the column to the right of where you want to insert the page break. You can also insert page breaks using the Page Layout tab → Page Setup group → Breaks ↓ → Insert Page Break option.
Moving and Removing Page Breaks: You can move a page break by dragging it to the desired location. To remove page breaks, use the Remove Page Break option under Breaks ↓. After finishing work with page breaks, switch back to Normal view using the View tab → Workbook Views group → Normal option.
Organizing Pages: Use the Page Layout view to organize pages. This view allows you to adjust margins, orientation, page headers and footers, hide or display grid lines, size of the page, define the print area, and specify the background. You can access Page Layout view in the View tab → Workbook Views group → Page Layout option.

Normal View: The default view of a spreadsheet. It displays a collection of cells arranged in the work area.
Page Layout View: Select Page Layout view to quickly fine-tune a worksheet that contains many charts or huge amounts of data and achieve professional-looking results.
Page Break Preview: Similar to Page Layout view, but you can set the area to be set as a page after inserting a page break.
Custom Views: To view selected areas of a document, use the Custom View option. For example, to highlight certain rows and columns, you can add them to the Custom View.
Full Screen: Makes the workbook cover the entire screen. All tabs are hidden from view. To get back the tabs, click on File > Restore.

Multiple Workbook Windows: You can open and arrange multiple workbook windows. Click the New Window button in the View tab → Window group. You can arrange these windows in various ways (tiled, cascade, horizontal, vertical). To include only windows displaying views of the current workbook, select the Windows of active workbook checkbox.

Define Name: In the Formulas tab → Defines Names group → Define Name, you can name a range. This opens the New Name dialog box.
Assigning Names: Assign names to cells in a worksheet to quickly locate specific cells by entering the names. This is useful when working with large spreadsheets.

Creating Charts: You can create, modify, and format charts based on the data in your spreadsheet. Go to the Insert tab → Charts group → chart type. After inserting a chart, you can use the Design (chart type, chart options), Layout (give the titles), and Format tabs (set borders, colors, and size) to customize it.
Chart Types: Choosing the best chart type and format helps you display data visually in the most meaningful way. Some common chart types include:
- Line charts: Show the relationship of changes in data over a period of time.
- Pie charts: Contain just one chart data series and show the relationship of the parts to the whole.
- Area charts: Show the relative importance of values over time.
- XY (Scatter) charts: Useful for showing a correlation among data points that may not be easy to see from the data alone.

Filtering: Filter is a feature used for extracting particular data using some conditions. Go to the Data tab → Sort & Filter group → Filter option. Select data with a header, specify the filter by selecting the available values in the list, and sort the filtered data by selecting Sort Smallest to Largest or Sort Largest to Smallest option → Number Filters.
Sorting: To sort data, go to the Data tab → Sort & Filter group → Sort option. Select the column you want to sort by and choose ascending or descending order.

Linking Cells: Spreadsheets allow you to link cells from various worksheets and spreadsheets to summarize data from several sources. You can create formulas that span different sources and make calculations using a combination of local and linked information.
Benefits of Data Linking:
- Link data from other spreadsheets and keep the information up to date without editing multiple locations every time the data changes.
- Display data from multiple departments for an overview of details without sharing information between sources.
Sharing Workbooks: Spreadsheet software allows you to share the workbook and place it in a network location where several users can access it simultaneously. Go to the Review tab → Changes group → Share workbook → Allow changes by more than one user at the same time. This also allows workbook merging.

Excel can be integrated with the internet to access and analyze data from various online sources. This allows you to perform tasks such as:

Importing Data from Websites: Import data from websites directly into your spreadsheet.
Web Queries: Use web queries to retrieve data from websites based on specific criteria.
Online Collaboration: Collaborate on spreadsheets with others in real-time using cloud-based services.