Selecting Data in Excel

Microsoft Excel provides a powerful approach to manipulating large amounts of data.

• Excel Spreadsheets

• Selecting Cells

• A spreadsheet like the following illustrates the typical format used by Excel:
   
  
  
  Each piece of data appears in its own cell, which are labeled in columns by A, B, C, ... and in rows by 1, 2, 3, ....
  So, you reference Jimmy Java's Test 3 score by "D6".

Selecting Cells

Excel allows the selection of ranges of cells, the foundation for manipulating the data therein.

• You can select cells with a single click on them (see the above where D6 is selected).
   
• You can select entire columns or rows of cells by clicking on their label (e.g. on "D" or "6", respectively):
   
  
   
  
• You can select multiple contiguous cells, rows, or columns by click-holding and dragging across the cells, columns, or rows:
   
  
   
  You can also click on an initial cell, column, or row, hold down the Shift key, and then click on a final cell, column, or row, and everything in between will be selected.
   
  
• A selection of cells, columns, or rows may be added to (continguous or noncontiguous) by holding down the / key (on ) or Control key (on ) and clicking on the additional cells, columns, or rows:
   
  
   
  You can also remove cells, columns, or rows from a selection with the same key-click combination.