Excel Basics
MS Excel is a spreadsheet program. Data is stored in a grid of rows and columns. Its files are called workbooks; each workbook holds one or more worksheets.
Structure and limits
| Item | Fact |
|---|---|
| Cell | Intersection of a row and a column. Address such as B5 (column letter first, then row number). |
| Active cell | The selected cell, shown with a thick border. |
| Rows | 1,048,576 |
| Columns | 16,384, from A to XFD |
| Cells in a sheet | 1,048,576 × 16,384 (about 17 billion) |
| Default sheets in a new workbook | 1 (Excel 2013 and later); older versions gave 3 |
| Sheet name | Up to 31 characters. Cannot contain \ / ? * [ ] : |
| Characters in a cell | Up to 32,767 |
| Zoom | 10% to 400% |
| Default column width / row height | 8.43 characters / 15 points |
File types: .xlsx (default), .xls (old), .xlsm (with macros), .xlsb (binary), .xltx (template), .csv (plain text with commas).
The window
Title bar, Quick Access Toolbar, Ribbon, Name Box (shows the active cell address, lets you jump to a cell or name), Formula Bar (shows the cell contents), Column and row headers, Sheet tabs, Status bar (shows Sum, Average and Count of the selected cells).
Ribbon tabs: File, Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review, View.
Data entry
- Text is left-aligned by default; numbers and dates are right-aligned; logical values and errors are centred.
- To store a number as text, start with an apostrophe (for example
'0191) or format the cell as Text. - Fill Handle: the small square at the corner of the selection. Drag to copy or to continue a series (Jan, Feb, Mon, Tue, 1, 2, 3). Typing 1 and 2 and dragging gives 3, 4, 5.
- Alt + Enter starts a new line inside a cell. Wrap Text shows long text on several lines.
- Merge and Center joins cells into one. Only the upper-left value is kept.
How Excel stores dates and times
A date is a serial number: 1 = 1 January 1900, 2 = 2 January 1900, and so on. A time is a fraction of a day: 0.5 = 12:00 noon. So date arithmetic is plain subtraction and a date formatted as General shows a number.
Number formats
General, Number, Currency, Accounting, Short and Long Date, Time, Percentage (multiplies by 100), Fraction, Scientific, Text. A cell showing #### means the column is too narrow (or the date or time result is negative).
Keep practising
Notes are only half the work. Test yourself with questions and discuss doubts with other aspirants.
Prepared for exam revision from standard computer textbooks, Microsoft documentation and official sources. Features differ between Excel and Word versions (2016, 2019, 2021, 365) so check which version your exam follows. Found a mistake? Tell us.