Metropolitan College of New York
mcny library

Need help with Microsoft Excel? Here are the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions.

How do I?

  1. START EXCEL
  2. ENTER THE WORKBOOK TITLE
  3. ENTER COLUMN TITLES
  4. ENTER ROW TITLES
  5. ENTER NUMERIC DATA
  6. SUM A COLUMN OF NUMBERS
  7. COPY A CELL TO ADJACENT CELLS IN A ROW
  8. DETERMINE MULTIPLE TOTALS AT THE SAME TIME
  9. DISPLAY THE FORMATTING TOOLBAR IN ITS ENTIRETY
  10. BOLD A CELL
  11. INCREASE THE FONT SIZE OF A CELL ENTRY
  12. CENTER A CELL’S CONTENTS ACROSS COLUMNS
  13. USE THE NAME BOX TO SELECT A CELL
  14. SAVE A WORKBOOK
  15. PRINT A WORKBOOK
  16. QUIT EXCEL
  1. HOW DO I START EXCEL?
    1. Click on the Start Button
    2. Select All Programs
    3. Choose Microsoft Excel
    4. Click

  2. HOW DO I ENTER THE WORKBOOK TITLE?
    1. Click cell A1
    2. Type desired text in cell A1
    3. Point to the Enter box
    4. Click the Enter box to complete the entry

  3. HOW DO I ENTER COLUMN TITLES?
    1. Click Cell B2
    2. Type desired text in B2
    3. Press the RIGHT ARROW key
    4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for the remaining column titles in row 2

  4. HOW DO I ENTER ROW TITLES?
    1. Click cell A3
    2. Type desired text and then press the DOWN ARROW key

  5. HOW DO I ENTER NUMERIC DATA?
    1. Click cell B3
    2. Type desired number and then press the RIGHT ARROW key

  6. HOW DO I SUM A COLUMN OF NUMBERS?
    1. Highlight the desired column
    2. Then point to the AutoSum button on the Standard toolbar
    3. Click the AutoSum button
    4. Click the AutoSum button a second time

  7. HOW DO I COPY A CELL TO ADJACENT CELLS IN A ROW?
    1. Point to the fill handle (active cell)
    2. Drag the fill handle to select the paste area
    3. Release the mouse button

  8. HOW DO I DETERMINE MULTIPLE TOTALS AT THE SAME TIME?
    1. Click cell
    2. With the mouse pointer in cell and in the shape of a block plus sign, drag the mouse pointer down to desired cell
    3. Click the AutoSum button on the Standard toolbar
    4. Select cell to deselect the range

  9. HOW DO I DISPLAY THE FORMATTING TOOLBAR IN ITS ENTIRETY?
    1. Double-click the move handle on the left side of the Formatting toolbar

  10. HOW DO I BOLD A CELL?
    1. Click desired cell
    2. Then point to the Bold button on the Formatting toolbar
    3. Click the Bold button

  11. HOW DO I INCREASE THE FONT SIZE OF A CELL ENTRY?
    1. With the desired cell selected
    2. Click the Font Size box arrow on the Formatting toolbar
    3. Select the Font Size
    4. Click on Font Size

  12. HOW DO I CENTER A CELL’S CONTENTS ACROSS COLUMNS?
    1. Click on the desired cell
    2. Drag the block plus sign to the rightmost cell of range to center
    3. Point to the Merge and Center button on the Formatting toolbar
    4. Click the Merge and Center button
    5. Click desired cell to deselect cell

  13. HOW DO I USE THE NAME BOX TO SELECT A CELL?
    1. Click the Name box in the formula bar
    2. Type desired cell in the Name box
    3. Press the ENTER key

  14. HOW DO I SAVE A WORKBOOK?
    1. With a floppy disk in drive A
    2. Click the Save button on the Standard toolbar
    3. Type desired name in the file name text box
    4. Click the Save In box arrow and then point to 3 ½ Floppy (A:)
    5. Click 3 ½ Floppy (A) and then point to the Save button in the Save As dialog box
    6. Click the Save button

  15. HOW DO I PRINT A WORKBOOK?
    1. Ready the printer according to the printer instructions.
    2. Point to the Print button on the Standard toolbar
    3. Click the Print button

  16. HOW DO I QUIT EXCEL?
    1. Point to the Close button on the right side of the title bar
    2. Click on Close button
    3. Click the No button

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