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December 5, 2007
5 Things You Need to Know How To Do in
Excel 2007
By Kasia Lorenc
As Bill mentioned in his post on Excel 2007 keyboard shortcuts, Microsoft Excel can be used for
a variety of tasks. I use it for nearly all of my information. My finances, to-do lists, any and all
record keeping, and anything that has to do with numbers its all neatly stored in Excel
spreadsheets, where I can do speedy calculations, easily sort and filter out the data, make quick
graphs, and so much more.
So if youre ready to start using Excel 2007 here are top 5 things you need to know how to do.
5. How to Insert and Delete Rows, Columns, Cells and
Worksheets in Excel 2007
As in most Microsoft applications, theres at least a couple of ways to do the same thing. In
Excel 2007, the top part of the screen is called the Ribbon and that is where you can perform
most, if not all tasks for Excel.
So first make sure that youre on the Home tab on the Ribbon:

Next, locate the box thats labeled Cells which is located on the right side on the Home tab:

To insert a worksheet, row, column, or cell click on the down arrow under Insertand select the
appropriate task. Yup its that easy!

The only thing you have to remember is that the column or row that youre inserting will go to
the left and above the selected cell, respectively. So for example if Im in C 3 before I click on
insert row:

My new row will be inserted above my selected cell (notice the blue row is moved down):

The same thing goes for columns, the new one will be inserted to the left of the selected cell.
When youre inserting cells, you have the option to shift cells to the right or down, or to insert an
entire row or column:

Deleting is very similar to inserting. All you have to do is click on the down arrow
under Delete and select the appropriate task:

And again, what youre deleting is what you have selected. Its this simple!
As I mentioned before, theres two ways of doing things in Excel, so heres another way you can
insert and delete. Simply right click and select either Insert or Delete:

For either one of the actions, youll be prompted with a dialogue box that will let you insert and
delete cells, rows, and columns:

To insert or delete a worksheet, right click on the worksheet tab on the bottom and select the
appropriate task:

And if youve read Bill Bullocks article last week, you already know that you can also use a
keyboard shortcut for inserting a new worksheet: ALT+SHIFT+F1
If youre interested in learning other keyboard shortcuts check out Bills article on the best Excel
2007 keyboard shortcuts.
4. How to Adjust the Width and Height of Rows and
Columns in Excel 2007
Adjusting the width and height of columns and rows is very simple. You can do it by dragging
the row or column until it reaches the desired height and width. All you have to do is left click on
the edge of the column or row (as pointed out by the red arrow in the image below) and drag the
whole column or row until the desired size is reached!

If you want to adjust more than one column or row at a time, first highlight the rows or columns
you want to adjust, then right click and select either Row Height (as seen below) or Column
Width depending on what youre doing.

A small dialogue box will pop up where you can enter the desired height/width:

3. How to Use Quick Sort in Excel 2007
The quick sort function lets you organize and arrange your data so that its easier to analyze.
The Sort function is located on your Home tab in the box labeledEditing. Clicking on the down
arrow, youre given three sort options: Sort A to Z, Sort Z to A, and Custom Sort:

The custom sort option allows you to select the column you want to sort, and then further select
how you want your data to be sorted. The Order column lets you select from four custom lists,
and you can create your own list with your own, unique information:

2. How to Use the Filter Option in Excel 2007
The Filter option is located under the same option as the Quick Sort option in the Editing box
on the Home tab of your Ribbon. Filtering allows you to select specific parts of your data to help
you with analyzing.
So start by highlighting the columns you want to filter and select filter. Youll notice that the
columns you selected will now have drop boxes in the headings:

Now, if I want to look at the sales numbers for a particular year, all I have to do is click on the
appropriate arrow box, and select the information I want to look at (and remember, you can
select more than one!):

1. How to Use Freeze Panes in Excel 2007
Freeze Panes is one of my favorite features because it allows you to select your view very easily.
For example, you want to see the top row at all times even when you scroll way down to the
bottom of your spreadsheet you can do it by freezing the top row.
Heres what you need to do. Go to your View tab and locate the Freeze Panesoption, located in
the Window box. Youll be given three freezing options:Freeze Top Row, Freeze First
Column, or Freeze the selected Panes which is based on your current selection.

Freezing the top row and the first column is effortless all you have to do is select the option,
but to freeze your own selection, you need to pay attention to which cell youve selected.
For example, if you want to freeze the top row and the first column, make sure that youre in B
2 right below the top row and next to the first column before you click on Freeze Panes. The
frozen panes will be marked with a black line:

To unfreeze panes, simply go back to the freeze panes option and select unfreeze panes:

I hope this information was helpful to all the new Excel 2007 users out there. If you have
specific Excel 2007 questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.
About the Author

Kasia Lorenc
Kasia Lorenc served as the editor-in-chief of the TrainSignal blog from 2007 - 2012. In addition to covering a
variety of topics, including IT certification, training and technology news, Kasia was also responsible for the
content strategy and website management at TrainSignal. You can connect with Kasia on
Twitter @kasialorenc.


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