Top Ten Beginner Basics

If these ten items are all you master in Excel 2019, you’ll still be way ahead of the competition. When all is said and done, this top ten list lays out all the fundamental skills required to use Excel 2019 successfully.

10. To start Excel 2019 from the Windows Start screen, simply click the Start menu and then click Excel 2019 under the Most Used section of the Windows menu or click its tile if you pinned Excel 2019 to the Start menu. If Excel 2019 isn’t yet one of your Most Used apps and isn’t pinned to the Start menu, type exc in the Search the Web and Windows text box to the immediate right of the Start button and then click Excel 2019 on its pop-up menu.
9. To launch Excel 2019 automatically when you open an Excel workbook that needs editing, simply locate the folder containing the Excel workbook you want to edit in Windows Explorer and double-click its file icon.
8. To locate a part of the worksheet that is not currently displayed in the Excel Worksheet area, click the scroll bars at the right and bottom of the Workbook window to bring new parts of the worksheet into view.
7. To start a new workbook containing a blank worksheet using the Excel default template, simply press Ctrl+N. To open a new workbook based on another template, select File ⇒   New or press Alt+FN and then select the template to use on the New screen in the Backstage view, where you can select a template or download one from Office.com. To add a new worksheet to a workbook (should you need more than one), click the New Sheet button (with a plus sign in a circle) to the immediate right of the last tab at the bottom of the Worksheet area.
6. To activate an open workbook and display it onscreen (in front of any others you have open), click the Ribbon’s View tab and then click the window to activate the Switch Windows button’s drop-down menu (or press Alt+WW followed by the window’s number). To locate a particular worksheet in the active workbook, click that worksheet’s sheet tab at the bottom of the workbook document window. To display more sheet tabs, click the Sheet Tab scroll buttons on the left side of the bottom of the Workbook window.
5. To enter stuff in a worksheet, select the cell where the information should appear; then begin typing. When you finish, click the Enter button on the Formula bar (the one with the check mark) or press Tab, Enter, or one of the arrow keys.
4. To edit the stuff you entered into a cell already, double-click the cell or position the cell pointer in the cell and press F2. Excel then positions the insertion point at the end of the cell entry and goes into Edit mode (see Chapter 2 for details). When you finish correcting the entry, click the Enter button on the Formula bar or press the Tab or Enter key.
3. To choose one of the many Excel commands on the Ribbon, click the Ribbon tab, locate the group containing the command button, and then click the button. (Or press the Alt key to display the hot keys on the Ribbon and then type the letter of the tab you want to select followed by the letter[s] of the command button to use.) To choose a command in the Backstage view, select File and then click its menu option or press Alt+F followed by the option’s hot key letter. To choose a command on the Quick Access toolbar, click its command button.
2. To save a copy of your workbook on disk the first time around, click the Save button on the Quick Access toolbar or press Ctrl+S. Next, designate the place to save the new workbook file on the Save As screen of the Backstage view. If the drive and folder in which you want to save the file is not displayed on this screen, click the Browse button to open the Save As dialog box and select the drive and folder there. After designating the place where the file is to be saved, replace the temporary Book1.xlsx filename in the File Name text box with your own filename (up to 255 characters long, including spaces) and then click the Save button. To save a workbook so that older versions of Excel can open it, click the Excel 97-2003 Workbook option in the Save as Type drop-down menu before you click the Save button.
1. To exit Excel when you’re done working with the program, right-click the Excel icon on the Windows taskbar and then click Close Window or Close All Window on the pop-up menu. If you have only one workbook file open in Excel, you can also click the Excel window’s Close button (the one with the x in the upper-right corner of the Excel program window) to close both the file and Excel (or press Alt+F4 or Alt+FX). If the open workbook contains unsaved changes, Excel 2019 asks whether you want to save the workbook before closing Excel and returning to Windows.