Excel® 2016 All-in-One For Dummies®
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Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2015952186
ISBN 978-1-119-07715-2 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-07727-5 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-119-07722-0 (ePDF)
Excel 2016 All-in-One For Dummies brings together plain and simple information on using all aspects of the latest-and-greatest version of Microsoft Excel. It’s designed to be of help no matter how much or how little experience you have with the program. As the preeminent spreadsheet and data analysis software for all sorts of computing devices running Windows 7, 8, or 10 (desktops, laptops, tablet PCs and even smartphones), Excel 2016 offers its users seemingly unlimited capabilities too often masked in technical jargon and obscured by explanations only a software engineer could love. On top of that, many of the publications that purport to give you the lowdown on using Excel are quite clear on how to use particular features without giving you a clue as to why you would want to go to all the trouble.
The truth is that understanding how to use the abundance of features offered by Excel 2016 is only half the battle, at best. The other half of the battle is to understand how these features can benefit you in your work; in other words, “what’s in it for you.” I have endeavored to cover both the “how to” and “so what” aspects in all my discussions of Excel features, being as clear as possible and using as little tech-speak as possible.
Fortunately, Excel 2016 is well worth the effort to get to know because it’s definitely one of the best data-processing and analysis tools that has ever come along. Its Quick Analysis tool, Office Add-ins, Flash Fill, and Recommended Charts and PivotTables, along with the tried-and-true Live Preview feature and tons of ready-made galleries, make this version of the program the easiest to use ever. In short, Excel 2016 is a blast to use when you know what you’re doing, and my great hope is that this “fun” aspect of using the program comes through on every page (or, at least, every other page).
As the name states, Excel 2016 All-in-One For Dummies is a reference. (Whether you keep it on your desk or use it to prop up your desk is your business.) This means that although the chapters in each book are laid out in a logical order, each stands on its own ready for you to dig into the information at any point.
As much as possible, I have endeavored to make the topics within each book and chapter stand on their own. When there’s just no way around relying on some information that’s discussed elsewhere, I include a cross-reference that gives you the chapter and verse (actually the book and chapter) for where you can find that related information if you’re of a mind to.
Use the full Table of Contents and Index to look up the topic of the hour and find out exactly where it is in this compilation of Excel information. You’ll find that although most topics are introduced in a conversational manner, I don’t waste much time cutting to the chase by laying down the main principles at work (usually in bulleted form) followed by the hard reality of how you do the deed (as numbered steps).
I’m only going to make one foolish assumption about you, and that is that you have some need to use Microsoft Excel 2016 in your work or studies. If pushed, I further guess that you aren’t particularly interested in knowing Excel at an expert level but are terribly motivated to find out how to do the stuff you need to get done. If that’s the case, this is definitely the book for you. Fortunately, even if you happen to be one of those newcomers who’s highly motivated to become the company’s resident spreadsheet guru, you’ve still come to the right place.
As far as your hardware and software go, I’m assuming that you already have Excel 2016 (usually as part of Microsoft Office 2016) installed on your computing device, using a standard home or business installation running under either Windows 7, 8, or 10. I’m not assuming, however, that when you’re using Excel 2016 that you’re sitting in front of a large screen monitor and making cell entries and command selections with a physical keyboard or connected mouse. With the introduction of Microsoft’s Surface 3 tablet for Windows 8 and 10 and the support for a whole slew of different Windows tablets, you may well be entering data and selecting commands with your finger or stylus using the Windows Touch keyboard and Touch pointer.
To deal with the differences between using Excel 2016 on a standard desktop or laptop computer with access only to a physical keyboard and mouse and a touchscreen tablet or smartphone environment with access only to the virtual Touch keyboard, I’ve outlined the touchscreen equivalents to common commands you find throughout the text such as “click,” “double-click,” “drag,” and so forth in the section that explains selecting by touch in Book I, Chapter 1.
Keep in mind that all the figures in this book were created with Excel 2016 happily running on Windows 10 so that you will see the occasional Windows 10 dialog box and desktop in figures depicting Excel files being opened and saved.
This book is intended only for users of Microsoft Office Excel 2016! Because of the diversity of the devices that Excel 2016 runs on and the places where its files can be saved and used, if you’re using Excel 2007 or Excel 2010 for Windows, much of the file-related information in this book may only confuse and confound you. If you’re still using a version prior to Excel 2007, which introduced the Ribbon interface, this edition will be of no use to you because your version of the program works nothing like the 2016 version this book describes.
Excel 2016 All-in-One For Dummies is actually eight smaller books rolled into one. That way, you can go after the stuff in the particular book that really interests you at the time, putting all the rest of the material aside until you need to have a look at it. Each book in the volume consists of two or more chapters consisting of all the basic information you should need in dealing with that particular component or aspect of Excel.
In case you’re the least bit curious, here’s the lowdown on each of the eight books and what you can expect to find there.
This book is for those of you who’ve never had a formal introduction to the program’s basic workings. Chapter 1 covers all the orientation material including how to deal with the program’s Ribbon user interface. Of special interest may be the section selecting commands by touch if you’re using Excel 2016 on a Windows touchscreen device that isn’t equipped with either a physical keyboard or mouse.
Chapter 2 is not to be missed, even if you do not consider yourself a beginner by any stretch of the imagination. This chapter covers the many ways to customize Excel and make the program truly your own. It includes information on customizing the Quick Access toolbar as well as great information on how to use and procure add-in programs that can greatly extend Excel’s considerable features.
Book II focuses on the crucial issue of designing worksheets in Excel. Chapter 1 takes up the call on how to do basic design and covers all the many ways of doing data entry (a subject that’s been made all the more exciting with the addition of voice and handwriting input).
Chapter 2 covers how to make your spreadsheet look professional and read the way you want it through formatting. Excel offers you a wide choice of formatting techniques, from the very simple formatting as a table all the way to the now very sophisticated and super-easy conditional formatting.
Chapter 3 takes up the vital subject of how to edit an existing spreadsheet without disturbing its design or contents. Editing can be intimidating to the new spreadsheet user because most spreadsheets contain not only data entries that you don’t want to mess up but also formulas that can go haywire if you make the wrong move.
Chapter 4 looks at the topic of managing the worksheets that contain the spreadsheet applications that you build in Excel. It opens the possibility of going beyond the two-dimensional worksheet with its innumerable columns and rows by organizing data three-dimensionally through the use of multiple worksheets. (Each Excel file already contains three blank worksheets to which you can add more.) This chapter also shows you how to work with and organize multiple worksheets given the limited screen real estate afforded by your monitor and how to combine data from different files and sheets when needed.
Chapter 5 is all about printing your spreadsheets, a topic that ranks only second in importance to knowing how to get the data into a worksheet in the first place. As you expect, you find out not only how to get the raw data to spit out of your printer but also how to gussy it up and make it into a professional report of which anyone would be proud.
This book is all about calculations and building the formulas that do them. Chapter 1 covers formula basics from doing the simplest addition to building array formulas and using Excel’s built-in functions courtesy of the Function Wizard. It also covers how to use different types of cell references when making formula copies and how to link formulas that span different worksheets.
Chapter 2 takes up the subject of preventing formula errors from occurring and, barring that, how to track them down and eliminate them from the spreadsheet. This chapter also includes information on circular references in formulas and how you can sometimes use them to your advantage.
Chapters 3 through 6 concentrate on how to use different types of built-in functions. Chapter 3 covers the use of date and time functions, not only so you know what day and time it is, but actually put this knowledge to good use in formulas that calculate elapsed time. Chapter 4 takes up the financial functions in Excel and shows you how you can use them to both reveal and determine the monetary health of your business. Chapter 5 is concerned with math and statistical functions (of which there are plenty). Chapter 6 introduces you to the powerful group of lookup, information, and text functions. Here, you find out how to build formulas that automate data entry by returning values from a lookup table, get the lowdown on any cell in the worksheet, and combine your favorite pieces of text.
Book IV looks at the ways you can share your spreadsheet data with others. Chapter 1 covers the important issue of security in your spreadsheets. Here, you find out how you can protect your data so that only those to whom you give permission can open or make changes to their contents.
Chapter 2 takes up the subject of building and using hyperlinks in your Excel spreadsheets (the same kind of links that you know and love on web pages on the World Wide Web). This chapter covers how to create hyperlinks for moving from worksheet to worksheet within the same Excel file as well as for opening other documents on your hard drive, or connecting to the Internet and browsing to a favorite web page.
Chapter 3 introduces Excel’s sophisticated features for sending out spreadsheets and having a team of people review and make comments on them. It also covers techniques for reviewing and reconciling the suggested changes.
Chapter 4 is concerned with sharing spreadsheet data with other programs that you use. It looks specifically at how you can share data with other Office 2016 programs such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook. This chapter also discusses the variety of ways to share your workbooks files, all the way from inviting people to review or even edit them from your OneDrive, attaching them to e-mail and Skype instant messages, and presenting them in Skype for Business online meetings.
Book V focuses on the graphical aspects of Excel. Chapter 1 covers charting your spreadsheet data in some depth. Here, you find out not only how to create great-looking charts but also how to select the right type of chart for the data that you’re representing graphically.
Chapter 2 introduces you to all the other kinds of graphics that you can have in your spreadsheets. These include graphic objects that you draw as well as graphic images that you import, including clip art included in Microsoft Office, as well as digital pictures and images imported and created with other hardware and software connected to your computer.
Book VI is concerned with the ins and outs of using Excel to maintain large amounts of data in what are known as databases or, more commonly, data lists. Chapter 1 gives you basic information on how to set up a data list and add your data to it. This chapter also gives you information on how to reorganize the data list through sorting and how to total its numerical data with the Subtotal feature.
Chapter 2 is all about how to filter the data and extract just the information you want out of it (a process officially known as querying the data). Here, you find out how to perform all sorts of filtering operations from the simplest, which involves relying upon the AutoFilter feature, to the more complex operations that use custom filters and specialized database functions. Finally, you find out how to perform queries on external data sources such as those maintained with dedicated database management software for Windows such as Microsoft Access or dBASE as well as those that run on other operating systems such as DB2 and Oracle.
Book VII looks at the subject of data analysis with Excel; essentially how to use the program’s computational capabilities to project and predict possible future outcomes. Chapter 1 looks at the various ways to perform what-if scenarios in Excel. These include analyses with one- and two-input variable data tables, doing goal seeking, setting a series of different possible scenarios, and using the Solver add-in.
Chapter 2 is concerned with the topic of creating special data summaries called pivot tables that enable you to analyze large amounts of data in an extremely compact and modifiable format. Here, you find out how to create and manipulate pivot tables as well as build pivot charts that depict the summary information graphically. In addition, you’ll get an introduction to using the PowerPivot for Excel 2016 and Power View add-ins to perform more sophisticated types of data analysis on the Data Model that’s represented in your Excel pivot table.
Book VIII introduces the subject of customizing Excel through the use of its programming language called Visual Basic for Applications (VBA for short). Chapter 1 introduces you to the use of the macro recorder to record tasks that you routinely perform in Excel for later automated playback. When you use the macro recorder to record the sequence of routine actions (using the program’s familiar menus, toolbars, and dialog boxes), Excel automatically records the sequence in the VBA programming language.
Chapter 2 introduces you to editing VBA code in Excel’s programming editor known as the Visual Basic Editor. Here, you find out how to use the Visual Basic Editor to edit macros that you’ve recorded that need slight modifications as well as how to write new macros from scratch. You also find out how to use the Visual Basic Editor to write custom functions that perform just the calculations you need in your Excel spreadsheets.
This book follows a number of different conventions modeled primarily after those used by Microsoft in its various online articles and help materials. These conventions deal primarily with Ribbon command sequences and shortcut or hot key sequences that you encounter.
Excel 2016 is a sophisticated program that uses the Ribbon interface first introduced in Excel 2007. In Chapter 1, I explain all about this Ribbon interface and how to get comfortable with its command structure. Throughout the book, you may find Ribbon command sequences using the shorthand developed by Microsoft whereby the name on the tab on the Ribbon and the command button you select are separated by arrows, as in
Home ⇒ Copy
This is shorthand for the Ribbon command that copies whatever cells or graphics are currently selected to the Windows Clipboard. It means that you click the Home tab on the Ribbon (if it’s not already displayed) and then click the Copy button (that sports the traditional side-by-side page icon).
Some of the Ribbon command sequences involve not only selecting a command button on a tab but then also selecting an item on a drop-down menu. In this case, the drop-down menu command follows the name of the tab and command button, all separated by vertical bars, as in
Formulas ⇒ Calculation Options ⇒ Manual
This is shorthand for the Ribbon command sequence that turns on manual recalculation in Excel. It says that you click the Formulas tab (if it’s not already displayed) and then click the Calculation Options command button followed by the Manual drop-down menu option.
The book occasionally encourages you to type something specific into a specific cell in the worksheet. When I tell you to enter a specific function, the part you should type generally appears in bold type. For example, =SUM(A2:B2) means that you should type exactly what you see: an equal sign, the word SUM, a left parenthesis, the text A2:B2 (complete with a colon between the letter-number combos), and a right parenthesis. You then, of course, still have to press the Enter key or click the Enter button on the Formula bar to make the entry stick.
When Excel isn’t talking to you by popping up message boxes, it displays highly informative messages in the status bar at the bottom of the screen. This book renders messages that you see onscreen like this:
CALCULATE
This is the message that tells you that Excel is in manual recalculation mode (after using the earlier Ribbon command sequence) and that one or more of the formulas in your worksheet are not up to date and are in sore need of recalculation.
Occasionally I give you a hot key combination that you can press in order to choose a command from the keyboard rather than clicking buttons on the Ribbon with the mouse. Hot key combinations are written like this: Alt+FS or Ctrl+S. (Both of these hot key combos save workbook changes.)
With the Alt key combos, you press the Alt key until the hot key letters appear in little squares all along the Ribbon. At that point, you can release the Alt key and start typing the hot key letters. (By the way, you type all lowercase hot key letters — I only put them in caps to make them stand out in the text.)
Hot key combos that use the Ctrl key are of an older vintage, and they work a little bit differently because, on a physical keyboard, you have to hold down the Ctrl key as you type the hot key letter. (Again, type only lowercase letters unless you see the Shift key in the sequence as in Ctrl+Shift+C.)
Finally, if you’re really observant, you may notice a discrepancy between the capitalization of the names of dialog box options (such as headings, option buttons, and check boxes) as they appear in the book and how they actually appear in Excel on your computer screen. I intentionally use the convention of capitalizing the initial letters of all the main words of a dialog box option to help you differentiate the name of the option from the rest of the text describing its use.
The following icons are strategically placed in the margins throughout all eight books in this volume. Their purpose is to get your attention, and each has its own way of doing that.
This icon denotes some really cool information (in my humble opinion) that will pay off by making your work a lot more enjoyable or productive (or both).
This icon denotes a tidbit that you ought to pay extra attention to; otherwise, you may end up taking a detour that wastes valuable time.
This icon denotes a tidbit that you ought to pay extra attention to; otherwise, you’ll be sorry. I reserve this icon for those times when you can lose data and otherwise screw up your spreadsheet.
This icon denotes a tidbit only for Excel users who are running Excel 2016 on some sort of touchscreen device such as a Windows tablet.
This icon denotes a tidbit that makes free use of (oh no!) technical jargon. You may want to skip these sections (or, at least, read them when no one else is around).
The question of where to go from here couldn’t be simpler, go to Chapter 1 and find out what you’re dealing with. Which book you go to after that is a matter of personal interest and need. Just go for the gold and don’t forget to have some fun while you’re digging!
Occasionally, Wiley’s technology books are updated. If this book has technical updates, they’ll be posted at www.dummies.com/go/excel2016aioupdates.
Book I
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Contents at a Glance
Chapter 1
In This Chapter
Getting to know Excel 2016’s Start screen and program window
Selecting commands from the Ribbon
Unpinning the Ribbon
Using Excel 2016 on a touchscreen device
Getting around the worksheet and workbook
Using Excel 2016’s new Tell Me feature when you need help
Launching and quitting Excel
Excel 2016 relies primarily on the onscreen element called the Ribbon, which is the means by which you select the vast majority of Excel commands. In addition, Excel 2016 sports a single toolbar (the Quick Access toolbar), some context-sensitive buttons and command bars in the form of the Quick Analysis tool and mini-bar, along with a number of task panes (such as Clipboard, Research, Thesaurus, and Selection to name a few).
Among the features supported when selecting certain style and formatting commands is the Live Preview, which shows you how your actual worksheet data will appear in a particular font, table formatting, and so on before you actually apply it. Excel also supports an honest-to-goodness Page Layout view that displays rulers and margins along with headers and footers for every worksheet. Page Layout view has a zoom slider at the bottom of the screen that enables you to zoom in and out on the spreadsheet data instantly. The Backstage view attached to the File tab on the Excel Ribbon enables you to get at-a-glance information about your spreadsheet files as well as save, share, preview, and print them. Last but not least, Excel 2016 is full of pop-up galleries that make spreadsheet formatting and charting a real breeze, especially with the program’s Live Preview.
If you’re coming to Excel 2016 from Excel 2007 or Excel 2010, the first thing you notice about the Excel 2016 user interface is its comparatively flat (as though you’ve gone from 3-D to 2-D) and decidedly less colorful display. Gone entirely are the contoured command buttons and color-filled Ribbon and pull-down menu graphics along with any hint of the gradients and shading so prevalent in the earlier versions. The Excel 2016 screen is so stark that even its worksheet column and row borders lack any color, and the shading is reserved for only the columns and rows that are currently selected in the worksheet itself.
The look and feel for Excel 2016 (indeed, all the Office 2016 apps) is all part of the Windows 10 user experience. This latest version of the Windows operating system was developed primarily to work across a wide variety of devices from desktop and laptop to tablets and smartphones, devices with much smaller screen sizes and where touch often is the means of selecting and manipulating screen objects. With an eye toward making this touch experience as satisfying as possible on all these devices, Microsoft redesigned the interface of both its new operating system and Office 2016 application programs: It attempted to reduce the graphical complexity of many screen elements as well as make them as responsive as possible on touchscreen devices.
The result is a snappy Excel 2016, regardless of what kind of hardware you run it on. And the new, somewhat plainer and definitely flatter look, while adding to Excel 2016’s robustness on any device, takes nothing away from the program’s functionality.
The greatest thing about the look of Office 2016 is that each of its application programs features a different predominant color. Excel 2016 features a green color long associated with the program. Green appears throughout the program’s colored screen elements, including the Excel program and file icon, the status bar, the outline of the cell pointer, the shading of highlighted and selected Ribbon tabs, and menu items. This is in stark contrast to the last few versions of Excel where the screen elements were all predominately blue, the color traditionally associated with Microsoft Word.
When you first launch Excel 2016, the program opens up an Excel Start screen similar to the one shown in Figure 1-1. This screen is divided into two panes. The left pane lists recently opened workbooks and contains an Open Other Workbooks link. The right pane contains a Search for Online Templates text box with links to suggested searches (Business, Personal, Industry, and so on) followed by your user account name, e-mail, and photo, if you use one. Below you see thumbnails of various different templates that you can use in opening a new Excel workbook file.
Figure 1-1: The Excel 2016 program window as it appears immediately after launching the program.
The first template thumbnail displayed here is called Blank Workbook, and you select this thumbnail to start a new spreadsheet of your own design. The second thumbnail is called Take a Tour, and you select this thumbnail to open a workbook with five worksheets that enable you to play around with several of the nifty new features in Excel 2016.
I encourage you to take the time to open the Take a Tour template and explore its worksheets. When you click this thumbnail, Excel opens a new Welcome to Excel workbook where you can experiment with using the Flash Fill feature to fill in a series of data entries; the Quick Analysis tool to preview the formatting, charts, totals, pivot tables, and sparklines you can add to a table of data; and the Recommended Charts command to create a new chart, all with a minimum of effort. After you’re done experimenting with these features, you can close the workbook by choosing File ⇒ Close or pressing Ctrl+W and then clicking the Don’t Save button in the alert dialog box that asks you whether you want to save your changes.
Following the Blank Workbook and Take a Tour template thumbnails, you find all sorts of standard templates that you can select to use as the basis for new worksheets. These templates run the gamut from invoicing spreadsheets to a sales call log and organizer. (See Book II, Chapter 1 for more on creating new workbooks from ready-made and custom templates.)