These materials introduce basic Excel skills such as entering various types of data, working with common formulas and functions, and creating a simple chart. We'll also cover formatting a worksheet and creating a data table.
Learning Objectives
- Enter various types of data into a worksheet
- Work with formulas and functions
- Create and modify a pie chart
- Copy and paste data from another Excel workbook
- Format cells and ranges
- Create named ranges and use them in formulas
- Customize printouts
Prerequisite Skills
- Use a mouse
- Open and close windows
- Open and save files
- Switch between applications
For a more in-depth look at the content of Excel: The Basics, view the title contents below.
Expand Course Available
View course in ExpandImportant note for participants not affiliated with IU
- This course contains training material only.
- Participants who are not affiliated with Indiana University will need your own access to installed and licensed software, according to the training topic. This will allow you to follow along and participate in the hands-on exercises.
- If you do not have access to the needed software, you can still enroll in the online course and read the course content.
More information about this course
This online course is free to everyone and available for enrollment through IU Expand.
This course consists of a series of short lessons, examples, demonstrations, practice quizzes, and hands-on exercises.
To complete the course content, you will need:
- a web browser and internet access to use the course material on IU Expand.
- a copy of the software relevant to the training installed on your computer.
Title Contents
Expand the accordion folds to see a detailed description of the content.
Explore the contents of Excel: The Basics:
Explore the Excel interface.
Learn how to identify text and numeric data.
Learn about using formulas in Excel, including syntax, operators, entering formulas, and copying and pasting formulas.
Explore various ways to enter functions, including the Insert Function command on Windows, the Formula Builder on MacOS, and the AutoSum function.
See how to enter and edit data, change column widths, and add comments to cells.
Learn how to enter and AutoFill a formula and explore absolute cell references and named ranges.
See the full content for Working with Absolute Cell References and Named Ranges.
Learn about charting in Excel and create a pie chart.
Learn how to use the Accessibility Checker on Windows and MacOS, add alternative text to a chart, and update a chart.
See the full content for Checking the Workbook for Accessibility Issues.
Explore how to create a new workbook from the beginning.
See how to insert and delete columns.
Copy and paste data between Excel files.
See the full content for Copying and Pasting Data from Another File.
Explore the benefits of using an Excel table.
Work with table features such as the total row, fill options, and filters.
Work with the Accessibility Checker.
See the full content for Challenge Exercise 1: Checking for Accessibility Issues.
Explore various ways to format an Excel worksheet, including colors, fonts, sorting, and data types.
See how to check spelling, utilize the Page Setup dialog box, and preview the printed document.
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