Video:Overview of the Parts of an Excel Screen

Transcript:Overview of the Parts of an Excel Screen

Hi, I'm Nick and today for About.com, I'm going to give you a quick overview of the Excel 2010 screen layout.

Excel Basics

Excel can be confusing at first sight, especially if you're a beginner, but once you get the hang of it, it'll become second nature!

Excel Toolbar

At the very top of the page is a quick access toolbar that allows for options such as creating a new file and saving an existing file at the click of button. This list can be customized to suit your own personal needs, so if you know you'll regularly need to open existing files, simply add it to the toolbar for quick access.

Excel Ribbon

Underneath the tool bar is the ribbon, which has several tabs for different situations. The File tab allows you to preview further information about your spreadsheet, as well as access functions such as saving and sending the file elsewhere. The Home ribbon is where you'll find customizable feature such as font style and size. The formulas ribbon is the home of formulas such as lookup and reference. The view ribbon allows you to switch viewing options, as well as zoom in and out. Whatever you need to do, you'll be able to access it via the ribbon.

Rows, Columns and Cells in Excel

The spreadsheet itself is comprised of rows, columns and cells. By selecting a cell, you can enter data or formulas. You can either type these directly into the cells themselves, or into the formula bar just above the spreadsheet. You can also change the title of individual cells if you need to know further information about a cell without making the spreadsheet itself too untidy.

Excel Worksheets

At the bottom left of the screen are worksheets, which you quickly switch between, or create new sheets to work on. On the bottom right of the screen are different view options, including zoom in and out and the way the spreadsheet is displayed. At the top right of there screen there are options to minimize and close the ribbon and the spreadsheet, or the entire Excel program.

Now you know the basic layout of Excel 2010. For more tips and tricks, visit Compute.About.com.