If you take a look at all our articles related to the Excel tool, you will notice that we are explaining the parts of Excel in sections.
Microsoft Office within its programs has Excel, a very powerful, useful, versatile and functional tool, made up of spreadsheets. A spreadsheet is basically an accounting program developed for the computer.
Perhaps you have handled or visualized the Excel tool, but do you know what its elements are?
In Excel you can work graphics, program, and one of the most popular and advantageous utilities is the formula bar, since you can use equations according to your requirements.
Spreadsheets allow you to:
- Group and analyze data
- organize information
- Alphabetize a list of names
- sort records
- Calculate and analyze information using mathematical formulas, and more.
In such a way that the work is done faster, so you can optimize your productivity and deliver information with a professional and complete format.
Many of the items you see in the main Excel window are standard for most other Microsoft Software (Word, Power Point), while others are more specific.
Next, we will introduce you to a series of buttons and tools that will help you understand the parts of Excel and how they work:
What are the parts of Excel?
Work book
The workbook is a single file created by Excel, also known as a spreadsheet. Automatically opening Microsoft Excel displays a workbook. In it, you can view worksheets, grids or cells, rows, columns.
Spreadsheet
One or more worksheets make up a workbook in Excel. The spreadsheet is made up of rows and columns, and it is the main base of the parts of Excel because all the commands and functions operate in it.
- A workbook must have at least one worksheet, even if by default it contains three (03) worksheets, labeled on the bottom left as: “Sheet1, Sheet2 and Sheet3”. The purpose of the sheet tabs is to separate a “Workbook” into “Specific Worksheets”.
- The navigation buttons are used to move from one worksheet to another and allow you to display the first, previous, next and last worksheet in the Excel workbook.
Title bar
It shows the name of the file or spreadsheet and also the name of the application.
This bar shows all the menus available to use, that is, there will be all the necessary commands to work in Excel. Just clicking on any of the names will display all the options that concern each one.
Options
It spans the entire top of the screen horizontally in the spreadsheet. Here are all the additional tools such as:
- Edit text and sheet colors
- check spelling
- Matter
- Insert columns, rows and formulas.
- Copy, paste and cut information/data
- Font size
- Alignment
- Choose number formats, among others.
Quick-access tool bar
In it you can open a new document, save it, print it, see a preview, among others. In addition, some menu commands have associated icons or images that can appear on the toolbar as shortcuts.
You will also find functions such as “Undo” and “Redo”, it does not matter in the tab in which you are working, you can also modify these commands according to what you require.
Column and row headers
Each Excel spreadsheet contains:
- Total number of rows: 1,048,576 rows (Each row is referenced with a number, shaded gray, and located vertically and to the left in the spreadsheet)
- Total number of columns: 16,384 columns (The headers of each column are named with a letter from A to Z or a combination of several, shaded in gray and positioned horizontally)
Box Name
The box shows the active cell or the direction of the current selection.
Formula bar
It shows the information entered, or as the data is written in the active or current cell.
The active cell is the cell that receives the command you give it or the data you enter into it. It is important to mention that the content of a cell can also be edited in the formula bar.
It allows you to carry out mathematical operations such as:
- sums
- multiplications
- subtractions
- Powers
- Divisions, others.
cells
The Excel spreadsheet is made up of rows and columns. Each of the rectangles that make up a spreadsheet is called a cell.
That is, the intersection between a row and a column is called a “cell”, each cell has a unique address. In the spreadsheet when hovering over one, a thick green border (cell pointer) will be marked around the cell and the shaded row and column will determine the direction of the cell, for example: C4 (The letter: column, the number : the row).
Move around the worksheet
All you need to do to be able to move around the spreadsheet is to click on a cell and activate it. Now to move the cell pointer just use the “Arrow keys” on your keyboard to move the pointer up, down, left or right.
Scrollbar
Vertical: Used to move up and down the spreadsheet, it’s located along the right edge of the screen.
Horizontal: At the bottom of the screen is another scroll bar that is used to move left or right in the spreadsheet.
Search Box
In this box you can search for any command or tool you want to use.
Microsoft account
It is reflected in the upper left, where you can log in and access your profile information with a Microsoft account.
View Type
There are three (03) types of views in the Excel workbook that you can choose by simply clicking on the option.
- Normal
- Page design
- Page break preview
Zoom
You can zoom in or out on the spreadsheet you’re working on by simply clicking the Zoom control and dragging it from left to right.