03 Taking charge of your data

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Word Version: XP

Assumed Knowledge: None

 

 

The aim of the tutorial is to:

 

show you how to add, select, delete and format data.

 

Inserting your own data

 

Once you have opened a new book you can start typing in data and text. A black border will appear around cell A1. If you start typing the text or data will appear in this cell. Press the Enter key to confirm the entry into this cell.

 

To insert data and text in different cells:

  1. Use the mouse to click on a particular cell or use the arrow keys to move the black border do a cell to enter text into.
  2. Type in the data or text.
  3. Press the Enter key.
    The text will appear in the cell.

Activating and moving through cells

Data can be added to different cells but first the cells must be selected.

To activate or move to a particular cell using the mouse:

  1. Move the pointer to the chosen cell.
  2. Click on the mouse.
  3. A black border will appear around the active cell.

To activate or move to a particular cell using keys on the keyboard:

Movement
Keystroke
One cell up Up arrow key
One cell down Down arrow key or ENTER
One cell left Left arrow key
One cell right Right arrow key or TAB
Top of the worksheet (cell A1) CTRL + HOME
End of worksheet (last cell containing data) CTRL + END
End of row CTRL+right arrow key
End of column CTRL+down arrow key
Any cell FILE|Go To menu bar command

 

Changing data already inserted

You may want to change all or part of the data that has already been inserted in to a particular cell.

To change all the data in a cell:

  1. Use the mouse or arrow keys to place the black border around the cell.
  2. Press the delete key.
  3. Type in the new data.
  4. Press the Enter key.

To change part of the data in a cell:

  1. Use the mouse or arrow keys to place the black border around the cell.
    The data or text will appear in the function box fx immediately above the worksheet:

  2. Click on the text in the function box and the cursor will appear in the function box.
  3. Use the mouse or arrow keys to put the cursor in the right place.
  4. Delete and insert data as required.
  5. Press the Enter key.
    The text or data will be corrected in the cell accordingly.

Selecting text or data

You may want to change the look of some text or data, to move it, copy it, replace it or to delete it. You may also need to select data to perform calculations. You will first need to select the relevant text. It may be a character, an entire cell or a cluster of cells (a cluster of cells are those that form a rectangle). You can do this by using either the mouse or the keyboard.

To select a character using the mouse:

  1. Select the cell containing the character (or the first cell if the character is part of a sentence extending over more than one cell).
  2. Click on the text in the function box fx.
  3. Click and drag the pointer over the character so that it is highlighted in black.
  4. To deselect the character click on a blank cell on the worksheet.

To select a character using the keyboard:

  1. Use the arrow keys to select the cell containing the character (or the first cell if the character is part of a sentence extending over more than one cell).
  2. Use the mouse to click on the text in the function box fx.
  3. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the left of the character.
  4. Press and hold down the Shift key.
  5. Quickly press the right arrow key so that the character is highlighted in black.
  6. To deselect the character press the Enter key.

To select an entire cell using the mouse:

  1. Click on the cell containing the character (or the first cell if the character is part of a sentence extending over more than one cell).
  2. To select another cell simply click on another cell on the worksheet.

To select an entire cell using the arrows keys:

  1. Use the arrow keys to move the black border to the cell containing the character (or the first cell if the character is part of a sentence extending over more than one cell).
  2. To select another cell use the arrow keys to move the black border to another cell on the worksheet.

To select a cluster of cells using the mouse:

  1. Click on the top left cell of the cluster.
  2. Drag the pointer to the bottom right cell of the cluster.
    All the selected cells will be clustered together with a black border.
  3. The first selected cell in the cluster will be white and all the others will be shaded grey-blue.

To select a cluster of cells using the arrow keys:

  1. Use the arrow keys to move the black border to the top left cell of the cluster.
  2. Press and hold down the Shift key.
  3. Use the arrow keys to move the black border toward the bottom right cell of the cluster.
    All the selected cells will be clustered together with a black border.
  4. The first selected cell in the cluster will be white and all the others will be shaded grey-blue.

To select an entire row using the mouse:

  1. Click on the row label on the left of the worksheet.

To select consecutive rows using the mouse:

  1. Click and drag from the the first row label to the last row label.

To select separate rows using the mouse:

  1. Click on one row label on the left of the worksheet.
  2. Hold down the Control key
  3. Click on another row label.
  4. Repeat step 3 for all rows to be selected.
  5. Release the Control key.

To select an entire column using the mouse:

  1. Click on the column label at the top of the worksheet.

To select consecutive columns using the mouse:

  1. Click and drag from the the first column label to the last column label.

To select separate columns using the mouse:

  1. Click on one column label.
  2. Hold down the Control key
  3. Click on another column label.
  4. Repeat step 3 for all columns to be selected.
  5. Release the Control key.

Deleting text

To delete the entire contents of a cell:

  1. Select the cell.
  2. Press the Delete or Backspace keys.

To delete part of the contents of a cell:

  1. Highlight the contents of a cell using any of the methods described above.
  2. Press the Delete or Backspace keys.

Undoing a command

If you have performed a command but changed your mind about it you can undo the command.

To undo a command using the menu bar:

  1. On the menu bar click on Edit
  2. In the pop-down menu click on Undo.

To undo a command using the standard toolbar:

  1. Click the Undo button:

To undo a command using the keyboard:

  1. Hold down the CTRL key on the keyboard.
  2. Quickly press the Z key.
  3. Release the CTRL key.

Redoing a command

If you have undone a command but changed your mind about it you can redo the command.

To redo a command using the menu bar:

  1. On the menu bar click on Edit.
  2. In the pop-down menu click on Redo.

To redo a command using the standard toolbar:

  1. Click the Redo button:

To redo a command using the keyboard:

  1. Hold down the CTRL key on the keyboard.
  2. Quickly press the Y key.
  3. Release the CTRL key.

 

Exercises.

For exercises to practice the above click here.

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