Datasheet

10
On the Ribbon, you find tabs, which take the place of
menus in Excel 2010. Each tab contains a collection of
buttons that you use to perform a particular action.
On each tab, buttons with related functions appear in
groups. For example, on the Home tab, you find seven
groups: Clipboard, Font, Alignment, Number, Styles,
Cells, and Editing. In the lower-left corner of some
groups, you see a Dialog Box Launcher button (
)
that you can click to see additional options that you
can set for the group. By default, the Ribbon contains
seven tabs, described in the following table.
T
o accomplish tasks in Excel, you use
commands that appear on the Ribbon. You
no longer open menus to find commands;
buttons for commands appear on the Ribbon. Do not
worry if you do not find a particular command
on the Ribbon; it is still available, and if you use it
often, you can add it to the Ribbon or the Quick
Access Toolbar, which appears by default above the
Ribbon. See Chapter 28 for more on customizing
the Ribbon and the Quick Access Toolbar.
Understanding
the Ribbon
Tabs on the Ribbon
Tab Purpose
Home This tab helps you format and edit a worksheet.
Insert This tab helps you add elements, such as tables, charts, PivotTables, hyperlinks, headers, and footers.
Page Layout This tab helps you set up a worksheet for printing by setting elements such as margins, page size and orientation,
and page breaks.
Formulas This tab helps you add formulas and functions to a worksheet.
Data This tab helps you import and query data, outline a worksheet, sort and filter information, validate and
consolidate data, and perform What-If analysis.
Review This tab helps you proof a worksheet for spelling errors and also contains other proofing tools. From this tab, you can
add comments to a worksheet, protect and share a workbook, and track changes that others make to the workbook.
View This tab helps you view your worksheet in a variety of ways. You can show or hide worksheet elements, such as
gridlines, column letters, and row numbers. You can also zoom in or out.
In addition to these seven tabs, Excel displays contextual
tabs, which are tabs that appear because you are
performing a particular task. For example, when you
select a chart in a workbook, Excel adds the Chart Tools
tab behind the View tab. The Chart Tools tab contains
three tabs of its own: Design, Layout, and
Format. As soon as you select something
other than the chart in the workbook, the
Chart Tools tab and its three subtabs
disappear.
To use the commands on the Ribbon,
you simply click a button. If you prefer to
use a keyboard, you can press the Alt key;
Excel displays keyboard characters that
you can press to select tools on the Quick Access
Toolbar and tabs on the Ribbon. If you press a key to
display a tab on the Ribbon, Excel then displays all the
keyboard characters you can press to select a particular
command on the Ribbon tab.
04_577691-ch01.indd 1004_577691-ch01.indd 10 6/3/10 10:45 AM6/3/10 10:45 AM