Microsoft has tried to make the menus uniform in all of their products so it is easier for users to locate commands. For example, most of the menu options found in Excel are the same as those in Word. Clicking on any menu item with the mouse drops down a list of available commands. Some menu items have arrows, indicating there are side menus with additional options. Other menu items such as Format Cells bring up tabbed dialog boxes, allowing greater flexibility in making multiple changes at once.

Each menu has a downward-pointing arrow at the bottom where additional options can be displayed by resting the cursor on the arrow. Excel designers decided that users would prefer a shorter menu list displaying only the most frequently or recently used commands.

If you don't care for this particular innovation, you can turn it off. Go to the Tools menu, and select Customize. A dialog box with three tabs appears; select Options. Click the check next to Always show full menus , and then press the Close button.

The Standard and Formatting toolbars are contained in the same row. Excel users can see all additional formatting or standard options by clicking once on the double-arrows on the right end of either toolbar. Excel 2003 allows users to place truncated options from both the Standard and Formatting toolbars on either toolbar. Again, if you prefer both toolbars to be displayed in full, go to the Tools menu, and select Customize. Click on the Options tab, and place a check in the box that says Show Standard and Formatting toolbars on two rows.

Located directly below the toolbars are the Name Box and the Formula Bar. The Name Box displays the name of the active cell or selected range, and can be used to name a cell range and as a shortcut to a cell or range of cells. The drop down menu next to the name box may be used to locate previously named regions. The Formula Bar is an area where you can enter text, labels, numbers, and formulas.

The Task Pane repackages a few existing features and helps make them smarter, more responsive, and less intrusive than dialog boxes. The task pane is now the primary entry point for creating new files, accessing templates, opening recently used files, searching for files, copying multiple items, inserting clip art, and more. The beauty of the task pane is its ability to cohabit with other workspace elements, unlike the dialog boxes it replaces. A dialog box is always in the way, demands your attention before you can do anything else, and hides its options and settings from you until you choose to display it. Conversely, the task pane remains available, stays out of your way, and makes its options visible at all times. The task pane can be hidden by going to the View menu and removing the check next to the task pane option.

The worksheet is the area in which you do all of your work on a spreadsheet. It is divided into a grid of columns and rows. Each worksheet has 256 columns and 65,536 rows. Each intersection of a column and row forms a cell. Information is stored in cells, and each cell is identified by its address: the column letter and row number. Examples of the cell address, or cell reference, are A4, B32, and C3.

The Name Box displays the address for the active cell, which is always surrounded by a thick, dark border. The Formula Bar (to the right of the Name Box ) is where data appears as you type. This is also where you edit numeric data, text, and formulas. As soon as you start typing, Cancel, Enter, and Insert Function (Function wizard in Excel 2000) boxes appear in the Formula Bar.

You can quickly navigate around any spreadsheet with the mouse by using the horizontal and vertical scrollbars. Clicking on the up, down, left, or right arrows on the scrollbars moves you in the selected direction one row or column at a time. To cover greater distances, use the scrollbox to drag to various locations. For example, dragging the scrollbox to the bottom of the vertical scrollbar moves you to the bottom of the current sheet; dragging it to the top will take you to the top of the sheet.

On the keyboard, you can use direction keys to move around the spreadsheet. The page up and page down keys move up or down one screen at a time. Some other keyboard shortcuts of note include:

To edit the contents of a cell, click on it, and its contents will appear in the Formula Bar. Once the cell contents appear, you can edit them in the Formula Bar using the normal Windows editing techniques. Note that individual words of the formula or label can easily be replaced or retyped in the Formula Bar. To edit a single word, double-click on it and either retype it or press the Delete key to remove it. Editing can also be done within a cell by simply double-clicking on the cell, which places the cursor within the cell.

To clear the contents of a cell, click on it, and choose the Clear... command from the Edit menu. This command brings up a dialog box asking what to remove from the selected cell: formats, contents, or everything. If you use the Delete key, Excel assumes that you want to clear contents of the cell(s), but does not clear any formatting you may have added. Do not use the spacebar to clear cells; it adds a space to the cell rather than emptying it, which may play havoc with any calculations you perform on your data.

To enter text or create non-numeric entries, or "labels," click on the cell and start typing. Examples of labels are Spring 90, M. Freedberg, and Quiz 4. If you enter more data than the cell can display, Excel will either truncate the display of the label or spill it over into the next cell. This happens because the column is not wide enough to show the contents of the cell. You can increase the column width to see the full contents of the cell.

To enter numbers in a cell, click on the cell and start typing. If Excel displays a row of number signs, #####, the column is not wide enough to show the number, and you will have to widen the column to see the full contents (see "Formatting Columns and Rows" later in this document).

One feature that makes entering data easier is AutoComplete. With this tool, all you need to do is type in the first letters or digits of an entry into a cell; Excel will automatically scan the surrounding values in that column and complete the entry for you if it finds a like value. If you want to accept AutoCompletea??s suggestion, simply press Enter, Tab, or any of the arrow keys. If the AutoComplete suggestion is not what you need, keep entering the desired text, or use the delete key to cut off the letters that it suggests. This feature is useful if you are entering data with many repeated values that are not too similar. However, it is potentially dangerous if the data you are entering contains repeated values that are very similar, such as a grade sheet. In this case, you might want to turn the feature off. You can toggle the feature on and off by choosing Options from the Tools menu and clicking on the Edit tab. Clicking in the Enable AutoComplete for Cell Values checkbox will allow you to turn AutoComplete on and off.

Pick From List does something very similar. It allows you access to a range of values that have already been entered into the worksheet. When you get ready to enter a value into a cell and want to see which values have already been entered, right-click on the cell and choose Pick From List... from the pop-up menu. This option will produce a drop-down list below the cell showing the values already entered in the column.

Like Word, Excel can automatically correct values entered into cells. If you make a common typo, just press Enter to have the corrected value appear in the cell. "Thier," for example, will automatically correct itself to "their."

In Excel, you can recover from editing mistakes without having to reenter data or patch information back in place. The Undo button on the Standard toolbar includes a drop-down list of up to the last 16 actions you performed. You can then select and simultaneously undo any number of these actions at once. You display the drop-down list by clicking the small arrow next to the Undo button. With the drop-down list visible, simply drag the mouse down the list and select the number of actions you want to undo. When you click the mouse, your worksheet reverts to the condition it was in before the selected actions.

The first math concept you need to learn before using a spreadsheet is how computers calculate numbers. In creating mathematical expressions, you must observe some simple rules to calculate correct answers. The following order is used to calculate mathematical expressions:

To enter a formula in a cell, click on the cell, type the = character, and enter the formula. If you forget to enter the initial = sign, Excel will treat the expression like a text string: it won't be calculated. Don't waste keystrokes re-entering numbers into your formulas that you've already used elsewhere on the sheet. Instead, replace the number with the cell address containing the number. That way, if the number changes, the formula remains correct. For example, =A1+B1 adds the numbers in cells A1 and B1 and puts the answer wherever you enter this formula.

Tip: Don't bother entering those cell addresses by hand. When you're ready to include a cell address as you're entering a formula, simply click on the cell (or select a range of cell) in the sheet itself. The corresponding cell address then appears in the formula. Then click back in the formula bar to resume work. The mathematical symbols or "operators" that Excel recognizes are as follows:

Functions have three parts: the first is the = sign, which tells Excel that a formula or function follows. The second is the function name, such as SUM for addition or AVERAGE for determining the average of a series of numbers. The third is the argument on which the particular function operates. The argument contains cell references to let the function know which data to calculate. The argument must also be enclosed by parentheses. Again, it is of utmost importance to remember to start all formulas and functions with the = sign. Some examples of functions are =SUM(B4,G43,T70); =COS(A2); =AVERAGE(B1:B10). You can type functions in the formula bar, directly into the cell or use the Function Wizard to help you create the desired results.

The SUM function is used more often than any other function. To make this function more accessible, Excel included on the Standard toolbar an AutoSum button, which inserts the SUM function into a cell. To use the AutoSum feature, first select the cell directly beneath or to the right of a column or row of data that you wish to total. Next, click the AutoSum button and Excel automatically inserts the entire formula for you and suggests a range of cells to sum. If the suggested range is incorrect, simply drag through the correct range, and press Enter. Note also that a menu will appear when you click the arrow next to the Autosum button. From this menu, you can enter the Average, Count, Max, or Min function almost as easily as you can enter the Sum function - all it takes is an extra click to select the function you want from the menu. Plus, the More Functions command opens the Insert Function dialog box, where you can access any Excel function.

The easiest way to locate and insert built-in functions is by clicking the Insert Function button - the fx button located in the formula bar. When you do this, the Insert Function dialog box appears. If you're not sure what function you need, enter a description of what you are trying to do into the Search box. You can also select a function category from the drop-down list to display all the applicable functions available. Function categories include Financial, Date & Time, Lookup & Reference, Text, and more. The Recommended category keeps track of any functions returned as a result of using the Search box.

When you select a function, the syntax and a brief description appear at the bottom of the dialog box. You can obtain help on a function selected in the Select A Function list by clicking the Help On This Function link at the bottom of the dialog box. When you select a function and click OK, Excel 2003 enters an equal sign to start a formula in the active cell, inserts the function name and a set of parentheses, and displays the Function Arguments dialog box. Excel will typically suggest a range of cells to perform the function on. If the suggested range is incorrect, simply drag through the correct range. Clicking OK will locate the calculation in the desired cell.

AutoCalculate lets you create a temporary subtotal or average without using the calculator, building a formula or using the Function Wizard. Simply select the range of arguments you want to add, and the value will appear in the right-hand corner of the status bar at the bottom of the program window. You can also right-click the mouse on the Sum area of the status bar and change the sum function to Average, Count, Count Numbers, Max or Min. This is a very useful way to make quick calculations that you do not necessarily want to appear on your worksheet.

Deleting cells, rows, and columns is similar to inserting. Select the column, row, or cell you wish to delete and choose Delete... from the Edit menu. If you are deleting a range of cells, you will be asked where you want to move or shift those cells.

Excel allows us to copy up to 24 separate items at once, and then paste them when and where you want - one at a time or all at once. You do this by simply displaying the Clipboard task pane. Normally when copying, you can work with only one item at a time. If you copy several items in a row, only the last item you copied is stored in the Clipboard. However, if you display the Clipboard task pane and copy or cut several items in succession, each item is stored in the task pane.

Each time you copy or cut an item, a short representation of the item appears in the Clipboard task pane. You can paste any or all of the items wherever you choose. To paste an item from the Clipboard task pane, select the location where you want the item to go, and then click the item in the task pane. To empty the Clipboard task pane for a new collection, click the Clear All button.

These are the first two fields on the Format toolbar. The Font box will provide you with a drop-down list of available fonts (based upon your current printer selection). The Size box will provide you with available character sizes, based upon your current font selection.

This set of tools will allow you to change some of the basic character formats. The B tool will bold contents of the selected cell(s), the I will italicize, and the U will underline.

The first tool in this set allows you to align data in the selected cell to the left border of the cells. The second centers data within a cell, and the third allows you to align data to the right-hand side of the cell. The last tool in this set (the lower case a with an arrow pointing left and right) will allow you to center a title or other text across a group of selected cells--not just within a single cell.

Two tools on the Formatting toolbar will help you use common number formats. Use the $ to apply currency formats, the % to apply percent styles, the comma to apply comma styles (for figures in the thousands), and the last two decimal tools to increase or decrease decimal places.

In Excel 2003, the Office Assistant is not as pushy as it was in earlier versions. Nevertheless, it's still there and occasionally appears. If you would like to hide the Office Assistant permanently, choose the Help menu and then select Show The Office Assistant. Click the Assistant and then click the Options button at the bottom of the balloon. The Office Assistant dialog box will appear. On the Options tab, clear the Use The Office Assistant check box. When you do so, the rest of the options in the dialog box become unavailable. If you change your mind later, choose Help, Show The Office Assistant. This command changes to Hide The Office Assistant when the Assistant is visible, but does not fire it permanently.

Some of us still like the presence of the Office Assistant and don't want to see it eliminated from the workspace. For this group of people, the Assistant is more than happy to live in a corner of your screen, full time, ready to answer your every need. To give it this opportunity, choose Help then Show The Office Assistant to display Clippit, the default Assistant character. Click the Assistant to display its search balloon, which provides an entry box and two buttons. The entry box works the same way the Ask A Question box works.

You can get instant information about a command, button, or just about anything else on the screen. Simply click Help, What's This? Use the question mark pointer to choose a command or click an object with which you want help. Excel 2003 then displays a pop-up Help topic that applies to the selected command or object.

To save your Excel workbook, choose Save... from the File menu or the Save tool from the toolbar. If the document is new, you will need to name it and make sure that it will be saved to the right folder on the right drive. To save the worksheet into another folder, onto a particular drive, or onto a floppy disk, first click on the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the Save in field. This displays the drives available on My Computer. Click on the name of the appropriate drive. Folders within that drive will display in the adjoining window. Double-click on the folder you want, and once it is open, click on Save. Excel can save files in a number of different formats, such as SYLK, WK1, or tab-delimited text files. To see these different options, click on the Save as Type drop-down button in the Save dialog box.

Excel can also open files in a number of different formats. Once you choose Open... from the File menu or the Open tool from the toolbar, Excel will show you a list of all the files it can open, given the different formats it understands. By default, Excel first displays all Excel files. Click on the downward pointing arrow next to the Files of type field at the bottom of the dialog box to display other categories of files. You can even transfer a Lotus, Quattro Pro, dBase file to a disk and open it directly in Excel. This is a very useful feature, especially if you are collaborating with others who might not be using Excel, or if you want to make use of public-domain data which is often stored in Lotus, dBase, or text format. Excel can open more than one file at a time, making it easy to copy information from one place to another. Use the Window menu to navigate among the open files.

If you choose New... from the File menu, you can select from a variety of Excel templates or "spreadsheet solutions," including a sample invoice, expense statement, and purchase order, all of which can be customized to your needs.

Excel allows more than one person to edit a workbook at any given time. If you anticipate more than one person will use a document at one time, you can allow for multi-user editing and see who else is currently working on a file you have open. Simply select Share Workbook... from the Tools menu, click the Editing tab, and check the box labeled Allow changes by more than one user at the same time. The window in the dialog box displays a list of who else is currently working on the file. In a shared workbook, each user can update values, add rows and columns, and sort data; however, he or she cannot change the cell formatting or create formulas in the list.

Print Preview , which is found in the File menu (and also as a tool on the standard toolbar), puts up a miniature preview screen of the worksheet. You can use the Zoom option to magnify and examine any particular part of the page. You can also print from the Print Preview by clicking on the Print option.