You perform the work you do in Excel in a workbook. You can have as many workbooks open
as you need, and each one appears in its own window. By default, Excel workbooks use an
.xlsx file extension.
Each workbook contains one or more worksheets, and each worksheet consists of individual
cells. Each cell can contain a number, a formula, or text. A worksheet also has an invisible
drawing layer, which holds charts, images, and diagrams. Objects on the drawing layer sit
over the top of the cells, but they are not in the cells like a number or formula. Each work-
sheet in a workbook is accessible by clicking the tab at the bottom of the workbook window. In addition, a workbook can store chart sheets: a chart sheet displays a single chart
and is accessible by clicking a tab.
Newcomers to Excel are often intimidated by all of the different elements that appear
within Excel’s window. After you become familiar with the various parts, it all starts to
make sense and you’ll feel right at home.
The below figure shows you the more important bits and pieces of Excel. As you look at the figure,refer to Table below for a brief explanation of the items shown.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Collapse the Ribbon button | Click this button to hide the Ribbon temporarily. Double-click any Ribbon tab to make the Ribbon remain visible. Ctrl+F1 is the shortcut key that does the same task. |
| Column letters | Letters range from A to XFD—one for each of the 16,384 columns in the worksheet. You can click a column heading to select an entire column or click between the columns to change the column width. |
| File button | Click this button to open Backstage view, which contains many options for working with your document (including printing) and setting Excel options. |
| Formula bar | When you enter information or formulas into a cell, it appears in this bar. |
| Horizontal scrollbar | Use this tool to scroll the sheet horizontally. |
| Macro recorder indicator | Click to start recording a Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro. The icon changes while your actions are being recorded. Click again to stop recording. |
| Name box | This box displays the active cell address or the name of the selected cell, range, or object. |
| New Sheet button | Add a new worksheet by clicking the New Sheet button (which is displayed after the last sheet tab). |
| Page View buttons | Click these buttons to change the way the worksheet is displayed. |
| Quick Access toolbar | This customizable toolbar holds commonly used commands. The Quick Access toolbar is always visible, regardless of which tab is selected. |
| Ribbon | This is the main location for Excel commands. Clicking an item in the tab list changes the Ribbon that is displayed. |
| Ribbon Display Options | A drop-down control that offers three options related to displaying the Ribbon. |
| Row numbers | Numbers range from 1 to 1,048,576—one for each row in the worksheet. You can click a row number to select an entire row or click between the row numbers to change the row height. |
| Search | The Search control is a magnifying glass with the caption “Tell me what you want to do.” Use this control to identify commands or have Excel issue a command automatically. |
| Selected cell indicator | This dark outline indicates the currently selected cell or range of cells. (There are 17,179,869,184 cells on each worksheet.) |
| Sheet tabs | Each of these notebook-like tabs represents a different sheet in the work- book. A workbook can have any number of sheets, and each sheet has its name displayed in a sheet tab. |
| Sheet tab scroll buttons | Use these buttons to scroll the sheet tabs to display tabs that aren’t vis- ible. You can also right-click to get a list of sheets. |
| Status bar | This bar displays various messages as well as the status of the Num Lock, Caps Lock, and Scroll Lock keys on your keyboard. It also shows summary information about the range of cells selected. Right-click the status bar to change the information displayed. |
| Tab list | Use these commands to display a different Ribbon, similar to a menu. |
| Title bar | This displays the name of the program and the name of the current work- book. It also holds the Quick Access toolbar (on the left) and some control buttons that you can use to modify the window (on the right). |
| Vertical scrollbar | Use this to scroll the sheet vertically |
| Window controls | These are three controls for minimizing the current window, maximizing or restoring the current window, and closing the current window, which are common to virtually all Windows applications. |
| Zoom control | Use this to zoom your worksheet in and out. |