Microsoft Excel 2007

Moving around in Excel

When Excel starts, you are in an empty spreadsheet. At this point, you can use the following keyboard commands to move around:

• left arrow move left by one cell
• right arrow: move right by one cell
• down arrow: move down by one cell
• up arrow: move up by one cell
• ctrl + arrow keys: go to edge of data region
• f5: go to cell
• f2: edit contents of cell
• Jaws key + shift + c: show all cells that contain data in the current column
• Jaws key + shift + r: show all cells that contain data in the current row
• Jaws key + shift + f: show all visible cells that contain a formula
• ctrl + page-up or page-down: go to next or previous sheet
• end key + arrow keys: move to the end of any row or column

Selecting cells, columns and rows

• shift + left arrow: select the current cell and the cell to the left
• shift + right arrow: select the current cell and the cell to the right
• shift + down arrow: select the current cell and the cell below
• shift + up arrow: select the current cell and the cell above
• shift + space: select the whole row
• ctrl + space: select the whole column

Entering information into a cell

• Move to a cell and start typing numbers or words.
• If you make a mistake, you can use delete or backspace to fix it.
• When you have finished, press an arrow key to move away from the cell. If you press enter, you will move down to the cell below the one you were in.
• Press ctrl + semicolon to enter today’s date into a cell.
• Press ctrl + shift + semicolon to enter the current time into a cell.

Entering a formula

Move to a cell, and press =. Jaws will say “formula,” and you can start to enter a formula.
Here are some sample formulae:

• add the contents of cells A1 and B1: =A1 + B1
• multiply the contents of D1 and E1: =D1 * E1
• add the contents of cell A1 to B1 and multiply the result by C1: =(A1 + B1) * C1

Using the “sum” function

You can use the “sum” function to add a series of numbers quickly.

• Move to cell A1, and enter the number 1
• Next move to cell A2, and enter the number 2
• Now move to cell A3, and enter the number 3
• Finally, move to cell a4, and type the following: =SUM(A1:A3). Cell A4 now contains the number 6.

Note

Instead of typing the “sum” function into cell A4, you could also move to A4 and press alt + =. This is the shortcut key for the “sum” function.

Referring to More than one Cell

As you can see from the “sum” function example, you can tell a function to use a list of cells, not just one or two.

Examples

• =SUM(A1:A3) adds the contents of cells A1, A2, and A3 together, and enters the result into the current cell.
• =SUM(A1:B2) adds the contents of cells A1, A2, B1, and B2 together, and enters the result into the current cell.

The Countif Function

The “countif” function checks a cell or group of cells for the value you specify, and enters the number of results into the current cell.

Example

• Move to cell A1, and type the word “hello” (without the quotes).
• Now move to cell A2 and type “hello” again.
• Finally go to cell A3, type =COUNTIF(A1:A2,”hello”), and press enter. Cell A3 now contains the number 2, because cells A1 and A2 both contain the word “hello.”

Automatically Filling Cells with Data

You can use Excel to fill cells with data automatically. For example, it can fill cells with a range of dates, numbers or words.

Example

Let’s fill some cells with a range of dates:

• First, move to cell A1 and enter today’s date. You can do this by using the shortcut key control + semicolon.
• We want Excel to fill seven cells with dates, so press shift and right arrow to highlight the current cell and the cell to the right.
• Continue to hold down shift, and press right arrow 6 more times.

Now let’s fill the selected cells with a range of dates:

• Press alt + h to move to the Home tab on the ribbon bar.
• Now press tab until you reach the “Fill button submenu.”
• Press space, and then press down arrow until you reach the “Series” item.
• Press enter, and the “Fill” dialogue box will appear. You can ignore most of the controls in this dialogue box except for the “Step value” edit box. Use tab to move to this edit box, and type the number 7.
• Now press tab until you reach the “Ok” button, and press space to press the button and close the dialogue box.

Cells A1 to H1 now contain a series of dates: A1 contains today’s date; B1 contains the date exactly one week from now; C1 contains the date exactly two weeks from now, and so on.

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