Excel Worksheet Basics

Cells: The Basic Unit of Excel

Each Excel worksheet contains thousands of small squares. These are referred to as cells. Each cell is a specific location that can contain information, such as text or numbers. All of the white squares in the worksheet example below are cells. Two of the cells in the diagram have been colored — one green, the other blue. You can click into a cell with your mouse or you can use the scroll bars on the keyboard to move to a particular cell.

When you click on a cell with the mouse, a dark border will appear around it to indicate that it is selected. In Excel, the selected cell is referred to as the "active cell".

Exercise: Switch to Excel and click on various cells. Notice that each time you click on the cell, the cell is highlighted with a dark border.

Columns

Each worksheet is organized by columns. At the top of each column is a title cell that is labeled with letters of the alphabet. You can select an entire column by clicking on its title cell. In the diagram below, column B has been selected.

Exercise: Switch to Excel and select Column A. Then click on any cell in the worksheet to turn the selection off.

Rows

Each worksheet is also organized by rows. On the left hand side of each row is a title cell that is labeled with numbers. You can select an entire row by clicking on its title cell. In the diagram below, row 2 has been selected.

Exercise: Switch to Excel and select Row 2. Then click on any cell in the worksheet to turn the selection off.

Identifying Cells

Cells are identifed by the letter of the column they belong to and the row number they belong to. The cell that is highlighted by a solid black boundary is in column A and row 1. It is identified as cell A1. Notice that A1 appears in the Formula Bar directly above the cell. The named location of the cell is referred to as its "ADDRESS".

As you select different cells in the worksheet, the cell address in the Formula Bar will change. The cell that is selected in the diagram below is cell B3. It is in column B and row 3. So B3 is now showing in the Formula Bar.

Exercise: Find and click on cell C4. Check to see that C4 is showing in the address box in the formula bar.

You can select a group of cells. To do this, simply hold the left mouse button down and pull the mouse across the cells you want to select. A group of cells that has been selected like this is called a "BLOCK" of cells. The name of the top left cell of the entire block will then appear in the Formula Bar. In the case of the block of cells shown in the next diagram, the cell address is B2.

Exercise: Switch to Excel. Practice selecting blocks of cells. To turn the block selection off, simply click on any single cell in the worksheet.

Some Additional Definitions

An Excel spreadsheet can also be used and referred to as a simple database. A database is a collection of information related to a particular subject. An example of a printed database is an address book, which collects information related to a particular person.

In the example below, the Excel spreadsheet is being used as an electronic address database:

When a spreadsheet is used as a database, an alternate set of terms is used:

Rows: Each row is called a "record" and contains the information for a single entry. As an example, if the database contained address information, each row would contain a single individual's information.

Column: Each column is called a "field" and contains a specific type of information for each record or row. When a spreadsheet is used as a database the first row of the worksheet is used to name each field. In the example above, the names of the fields are: Last Name, First Name, Home Phone, Work Phone and Email Address. The first row is referred as the "Header Row". It does not contain information. It contains the name of each column or field.

When a spreadsheet is used as a database, the entire collection of information on a single worksheet page is referred to as a "table".

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