MSE

The background color of a cell is called a fill or shading. It can be changed in a single selected cell, or applied to a highlighted range of cells.

Using Microsoft Excel's help file or Microsoft's Online Assistance, search using any of these key phrases:

• Shading
• Cell Shading

Font, bold, underline, italics, and text size are all attributes of text formatting. The font, sometimes called the "typeface" of text is the look of the letters. This text is one font, this text is another. Changing it is simple, whether your want to change some text within a cell, several cells, or the entire worksheet.

Using Microsoft Excel's help file or Microsoft's Online Assistance, search using any of these key phrases:

• Change Font
• bold italic underlined text

Font, bold, underline, italics, and text size are all attributes of text formatting. Making text bold is a good way to set columns and/or row headings apart from the data. Like changing the font, it is very easy.

Using Microsoft Excel's help file or Microsoft's Online Assistance, search using any of these key phrases:

• Bold Text

Font, bold, underline, italics, and text size are all attributes of text formatting. Varying the size of text in a spreadsheet is also an effective way to direct attention to titles, headlines, etc.

Using Microsoft Excel's help file or Microsoft's Online Assistance, search using any of these key phrases:

• Font Size

Here are some basic formulas entered into the same worksheet. Formulas begin with an equals sign ('='), and can be as simple as an arithmetic expression (6/3 in cell C4), and can reference other cells, like in cell A4.

Here is what the final spreadsheet would look like:

Using Microsoft Excel's help file or Microsoft's Online Assistance, search using any of these key phrases:

• Common Formulas
• Create a Formula

There are key words, called functions, that can be used in formulas for more complex tasks. In the example below, notice the 'SUM' function in cell B4. It will add up the numbers in the range B1:B3 (B1+B2+B3). The function AVERAGE does the same thing, but divides the total by the number of data-filled cells in the range.

Here is what the final spreadsheet would look like:

Using Microsoft Excel's help file or Microsoft's Online Assistance, search using any of these key phrases:

• AVERAGE
• SUM

Charts are sometimes called graphs. They can be bar charts, line charts, pie charts, etc. The key to creating them is to highlight the range of cells you want to include in the chart before inserting the chart.

Using Microsoft Excel's help file or Microsoft's Online Assistance, search using any of these key phrases:

• Create a Chart
• Chart Types

Charts contain several component parts, most of which can be adjusted by double-clicking or (on a PC) right-clicking.

Using Microsoft Excel's help file or Microsoft's Online Assistance, search using any of these key phrases:

• Edit titles or data labels
• Format Chart Elements