Datasheet
On the Home Ribbon, click the drop-down list from the Number cate-
gory, and then click More.
Right-click any cell and select Format Cells from the pop-up menu.
Figure 1-13 shows the Format Cells dialog box. So many settings are there it
can make your head spin! We discuss this dialog box and formatting more
extensively in Chapter 5.
Getting help
Excel is complex; you can’t deny that. And lucky for all of us, help is just a key
press away. Yes, literally one key press — just press the F1 key. Try it now.
This starts up the Help system. From there you can search on a keyword or
browse through the Help Table of Contents. Later on, when you are working
with Excel functions, you can get help on specific functions directly by click-
ing the Help with This Function link in the Insert Function dialog box.
Chapter 2 covers the Insert Function dialog box in detail.
Gaining the Upper Hand on Formulas
Okay, time to get to the nitty-gritty of what Excel is all about. Sure, you can
just enter data and leave it as is, and even generate some pretty charts from
it. But getting answers from your data, or creating a summary of your data, or
applying what-if tests — all of this takes formulas.
Figure 1-13:
Using the
Format Cells
dialog box
for
advanced
formatting
options.
19
Chapter 1: Tapping into Formula and Function Fundamentals
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