Spreadsheet

Notes

5
SPREADSHEET

Tables are the simplest way to store the information in an organized manner that
make the analysis of the data easier to understand and visualize.If the data is
organized as row and column, then data can be stored or retrieved by specifying
its row and coloumn number. You might have created a table when you want to
differentiate two topics or compare more than one item. Spreadsheet is nothing but
a large table in which data can be stored. It has pre-defined template made up of
rows and columns. It is used when we need to work on data calculations or data
analysis – thus it is majorly used in organizations. The spreadsheet program
operates on data entered in cells of a table. In this lesson, you will be introduced
to spreadsheet software in which you can create, edit or format a spreadsheet.

Objectives
After reading this lesson, you will be able to:
explain and use different features of Excel;
create, open and save a spreadsheet;
edit an existing spreadsheet;
format a spreadsheet;
create an online spreadsheet using Google Spreadsheet.

5.1 What is a Spreadsheet?

A spreadsheet or a workbook is a document consisting of rows and columns. It is
a collection of multiple sheets in which data is stored in a tabular manner. The data
stored in a spreadsheet is more structured than plain text. The horizontal lines are

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known as ‘rows’ and the vertical lines are known as ‘columns’. Rows are labelled
as 1, 2, 3 etc., and columns are labelled using alphabets A, B, C etc. Intersection
of a row and column is known as a ‘cell’. The cells are labelled as the combination Notes
of the row number and the column alphabet. For e.g., A1 is the cell number also
called cell address in Row 1 and Column A. Similarly B5 is the cell number in Row
5 and Column B and so on. We can also perform calculations using formulas and
functions in a spreadsheet.
For example, in an organization, each row of a spreadsheet might store information
about its employee. Each column may store a different aspect of the employee’s
information, such as the first name, last name, address, phone number, department,
salary etc. The spreadsheet program can analyze this data in different ways, for
example counting the number of people in the department, listing all the people in
the order of name, finding the maximum salary of an employee etc.

Examples of Spreadsheet Programs

There are various types of spreadsheet programs. Some of them are:
OpenOffice Calc
iWork Numbers
LibreOffice Calc
Lotus Symphony
Microsoft Excel.
Google Sheets
We will learn about MS Excel 2013 in this lesson, which is part of MS Office 2013
suite.

Features of Excel
Microsoft Excel is one of the spreadsheet programs. The main features of MS
Excel are:
Autosum: It helps to calculate the sum of the content of all the cells in a
specified range.
Autofill: It helps to quickly fill the series of numbers or values; e.g., date,
week days etc., in a range of cells.
Sorting: It helps to arrange the contents of cells in increasing or decreasing
order.
Filtering: It helps to filter out some of the data based on some selection
criteria.
Charts: It helps to present the data using graphs like Pie chart, Bar chart etc.

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Formula: It helps to insert any type of formula in the sheet to obtain the
calculated output. Few of the functions are like mathematical, trigonometrical
Notes etc.
Pivot Table: It is a tool that allows you to reorganize and summarize selected
columns and rows of data in a spreadsheet to obtain a desired report. A pivot
table does not actually change the original spreadsheet.

5.2 Working with Spreadsheets

In this section, we will learn about creating a new spreadsheet and work on it. We
will see how to edit a spreadsheet and insert new data inside an existing or a new
spreadsheet, then save and close it.

Creating a Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet or a workbook is a collection of one or more worksheets. By default,
MS Excel 2013 opens with one worksheet, but we can add more worksheets as
and when required. Data can be entered in any of the sheet. Following are the steps
to create a workbook:
Click on the ‘Start’ button at the task bar.
Select Microsoft Office Excel from the list of available programs.
Select ‘Blank Workbook’ option from the options displayed. A new blank
workbook, named as Book1, opens (refer Fig. 5.1).

Cell Address Formula Bar

Column Name
Active cell

Row Number

Sheet Selection Tab

Fig. 5.1: Elements of a Spreadsheet Window

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The main elements of MS Excel window are discussed below:

Ribbon: It contains various tabs that help perform different tasks on a Notes
worksheet. The tabs are File, Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data,
Review and View.
Columns: The vertical series of lines in a spreadsheet that are named A, B,
C, D and so on.
Rows: The horizontal lines in a spreadsheet that are numbered as 1,2,3,4, and
so on.
Cell: An intersection of row and column.
Active Cell: The cell which is currently selected by clicking mouse pointer.
Name Bar: It is the bar in which the address of the active cell is displayed.
Formula Bar: The place where we can insert any formula or functions. It also
displays the content of the active cell.
Sheet Tab: It displays all the worksheets of a workbook. The currently active
worksheet is highlighted.

Saving a Workbook
After finishing all the work, the workbook must be saved in order to retain the data.
The excel workbooks are created and saved with .xls or .xlsx extension, depending
on the MS Office version you use. When we are saving a new workbook for the
first time, it will give us an option to name the workbook by displaying the ‘Save
As’ dialog box. The steps to save a workbook are:
Click ‘File’ tab and choose ‘Save’ or ‘Save As’.
Specify or browse to the location where you want to save the file.
Enter the desired name for your file.
Click on ‘Save’ or press ‘Enter’ key.

Closing a Workbook
We can attempt to close a workbook before or after saving the work that we have
done. In case the workbook is already saved, the program will close it without any
confirmation. However, if we try to close the workbook before saving, the
program will display a pop-up giving us an option to choose whether or not we
want to save this workbook, we can choose according to our need and proceed.

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In order to close a workbook, we shall do the following:

Notes Go to ‘File’ tab and choose ‘Close’.

Write or update the name of workbook if required.
Click on ‘Save’ or press ‘Enter’.
OR
Click on close icon “X” displayed on top-right of our screen on the workbook

Opening a Workbook
If we want to modify an existing workbook, we can open it from the location where
we saved it earlier. We can do so either by browsing to that location or by starting
MS Excel and then opening the workbook. We must remember the location where
we had saved it. Following are the steps to open a workbook:
Choose ‘Start’ → ‘MS Office’ → ‘MS Excel’.
Go to ‘File’ menu and select ‘Open’ from the list of options.
Browse the location from where you want to open the workbook.
Select the workbook that you want to open and click ‘open’ or double-click
the workbook.

Shortcut Keys
Open a new spreadsheet: Ctrl + N
Save a spreadsheet: Ctrl + S
Opening a saved workbook: Ctrl +O

Editing a Spreadsheet
While editing a workbook, it might be required to add another worksheet, add a
new row or column, resize a row or column, freeze panes, add remove some
formulas, move or copy the contents, and much more. Let us see the details of some
of these options:

A. Inserting a New Sheet in a Workbook

In order to add information in the workbook, new worksheet might be required.
A new worksheet can have the same or different type of data. For instance, if we
have scores of class XI and class XII saved in two worksheets of the same
workbook, we can use them both in functions or formulas if required.

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The steps to open a new worksheet are:

Open the workbook in which you want to add a sheet.
Notes
Right click on ‘Sheet’ tab (refer Fig. 5.2).

Fig. 5.2: Insert Worksheet

Choose Insert option: An Insert dialog box will be displayed (refer Fig. 5.3).

Fig. 5.3: Insert Dialog Box

Select Worksheet option and click on ‘OK’. A new sheet with the name of
Sheet 2 will be inserted.

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Alternatively, just click on the plus icon on the right side of

Notes bottom bar where all the existing sheets are listed (refer
Fig. 5.4).

Fig. 5.4: Inserting New Sheet

B. Renaming a Worksheet
The default sheets can also be saved with a new name. The steps to rename a
worksheet are:
Open the worksheet of the workbook that you want to rename.
Right click on the sheet name i.e., sheet1/sheet2 etc., on the sheet tab - a pop-
up menu will be displayed.
Select ‘Rename’ option and type the new name of the worksheet.

To rename a worksheet, double click on the sheet name and write the new
desired name.

C. Inserting a New Row or Column

Sometimes, it might be required to add or insert some information in a new row
or a column in a worksheet. The new row or column can be added by the following
steps given below:
To add a new row or column, right click on the row or column before which
you want to add the new one.
Choose ‘Insert’ option. The Insert dialog box will be displayed (refer Fig. 5.5).
Select ‘Entire Row’ or ‘Entire Column’ option to add a new row or column
respectively (to the left of the active cell for column and above the active cell
for row).

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Notes

Fig. 5.5: Insert Dialog box

D. Add or Remove Header/Footer

The header is a section of the document that appears in the top margin, while the
footer is a section of the document that appears in the bottom margin. Headers and
footers generally contain information such as the page number, date and document
name.
Steps to add or remove Header/Footer are:
Click on ‘Insert’ tab.
Choose ‘Header and Footer’ option (refer Fig. 5.6).

Fig. 5.6: Header and Footer

On clicking the Header and Footer option, you will observe the cursor on the
top margin of the page.
Type the text for Header as desired (refer Fig. 5.7).
Click ‘Go to Footer’ option under the ‘Design’ tab for adding footer.
Type the desired text in the footer.
You will observe that this header/footer will be displayed on every page of the
sheet.

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Notes

Fig. 5.7: Inserted Header

E. Move or Copy Contents

By default, MS Excel copies or moves the entire cell, including the formulae and
their values. However, we can change this as per our need. The steps to copy/move
the contents of a cell are:
Select the cells that you want to move or copy.
Right click on the selected cells and select ‘cut’ (for moving) or ‘copy’ (for
copying) option.
Select the cell where you want to move or copy.
Choose ‘Paste’.

Shortcut Keys
CTRL + X – Cut
CTRL + C – Copy
CTRL + V – Paste.

Intext Questions 5.1

1. State True or False for the following statements:
(a) Ctrl +C is used for copying the cell contents.

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(b) Header is the text that is displayed at the bottom of every page.
(c) In spreadsheet, the columns are numbered as 1,2,3 …. Notes
(d) The extension of excel file is .xls.
2. Fill in the blanks
(a) .................... helps to quickly fill the series of numbers in a range of
cells.
(b) The name of the active cell is displayed in .................... bar.
(c) .................... is the intersection of a row and a column.
(d) Resizing a column means changing the column ....................

5.4 Formatting a Spreadsheet

In order to make a spreadsheet look organized, one can format the worksheet.
Formatting is also useful when we want to highlight data based on the preference
or color them differently for different categories. A worksheet has lots of different
formatting options as follows:
Add bold, italics, and underline to text.
Add borders to cells.
Change text and cell colors.
Change the font style and font size.
Align, Wrap and Indent text.
Change number formats.
Change date formats.
Show decimals – and define the number of digits to display after the decimal.
The most commonly used formatting commands are present in the ‘Home’ tab in
three groups namely ‘Font, Alignment and Number groups’.

5.4.1 The Font Group

The formatting options available under the font group change the appearance of
text. We can change style, color, size etc., of the selected text (refer Fig. 5.8).

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Let us understand some of the important options under this group:

Notes

Fig. 5.8: Elements of the Font Group

Bold, Italics and Underline Text

Select the cell or range of cells and click on B, I or U options as desired to
make the text bold, italics or underlined respectively.
Add Borders to the Cells
Select the cells where you want to apply the borders and click on ‘Borders’
option on the ‘Home’ tab (refer Fig. 5.9). You will observe different types of
borders. Click the desired one to apply the corresponding border style.

Fig. 5.9: Adding Borders

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Change Text and Cell Colors

In order to make the text impressive, one can change the color of the text in
Notes
a cell and also change the background color of the cell. Select the cell or cells
for which you wish to change the color of the text and click on the drop down
menu of A icon as shown in Fig. 5.10. Select the desired color from the color
box. To change the background color of cells click on the Fill color icon (paint
bucket) and apply the desired color.

Fig. 5.10: Applying Text Colours

Change Font and Font Size

Select the cell or cells in which you wish to change the font and font size.
Select font style and font size options from the ‘Home’ tab. Select the desired
font style and size from the drop down menu.

5.4.2 The Alignment Group

The commands in alignment group change the position of text within a cell or cells.
Let us now learn in detail about the options available in alignment group (refer Fig.
5.11)

Vertical
Alignment For text
visibility
Horizontal
Alignment To merge two or more
corresponding cells

Fig. 5.11: Alignment Group

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Align, Wrap and Indent Text

The text in the cell can be aligned to left, right or center. Also, if the cell size
Notes is small, the text can be wrapped so that the entire text can be displayed in the
cell. Just select the text that you want to align and click on the alignment
options or if you want the entire text to be displayed in a single cell, click
‘wrap text’ option.
Merge and Center Text
More than one cells can be combined together to look like a single cell. It is
called as merging of cells. Select the cells to be merged and click on ‘Merge
and Center’ option of Alignment group on the home tab.

5.4.3 The Number Group

The commands in the number group change the format of numbers and dates within
the cells.

A. Changing Number Formats

Numbers in Excel can be formatted to show commas,
show currency symbols, appear as percentages, and
more. For example, to change the number format for
‘E’ column then you can choose, style (refer Fig.
Fig. 5.12: Number Group
5.12). ‘Comma Style’ will display the value of the

Fig. 5.13: Changing Number Format

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cell with a thousands separator. The same E column after applying the ‘comma
style’ will display the values as 12,345.89, 34,210.98 etc. To display numbers with
a currency symbol, click on the drop down of $ symbol and select the required Notes
currency. To display numbers as percentages, select the cells for which you wish
to display numbers as percentages and click the Percent Style command.

B. Changing Date Formats

MS Excel allows you to display dates in many ways. For example, October 15,
2018 can be displayed in many ways like 10/15/2018, 10/15/18, 15-Oct, 15-Oct-
18, October-18, October 15, 2018 etc.
Select the cell or cells for which you wish to change the date format (refer
Fig. 5.14).

Fig. 5.14: Changing Date Format

Click ‘Format’ button from Cells group of buttons on the Home tab. Then
select ‘Format Cells’ option refer Fig. 5.15).

Fig. 5.15: Format Cells Option

In the ‘Format Cells’ dialog box, in the Number tab, select ‘Date’ in the
‘Category’ box.
Choose the desired date format.

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Notes

Fig. 5.16: Format Cells Dialog Box

C. Showing Decimals
Sometimes the numbers need to be displayed in decimal number format. The
option of showing decimals can be used for that. Select the cell or cells for which
you wish to change the number of decimals. You can increase or decrease precision
(refer Fig. 5.17).

Fig. 5.17: To Increase and Decrease Precision

Other than these groups, there are formatting options available to us that help in
organizing the data and making it easy to read. Undermentioned are some of these
options.

Resizing a Row or Column

While entering the information in a sheet, sometimes the size of row/column is not
enough to display all the information of the cell. Hence the row/column has to be
resized. The steps to resize the row/column are:
Select the row or column that needs to be resized.

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Right click on that row or column.

Click on Column width/Row height and enter the desired width/height value
Notes
(refer Fig. 5.18).

Fig. 5.18: Changing the Row and Column Width

Place the mouse pointer on the boundary of two column headings or two
row numbers. Click and drag to resize the row or column.

Freeze Panes
While working on large spreadsheet containing row and column headings, you will
observe that the headings will disappear on scrolling the spreadsheet. It will make
your work difficult. You will need to scroll up again and again, to see the headings.
The Freeze Pane option will enable you to freeze one or more top-most row and
left-most columns as per your requirement. The steps to freeze panes are:
Open the worksheet of the workbook.
Click on the ‘Freeze panes’ option of view menu.

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Select the required option out of (Freeze panes/Freeze Top Row/Freeze First
Column).
Notes
Freeze panes works for more than one row and one column (refer Fig. 5.19).
To use it, we will have to select the cell till which we want to freeze the view
and then click freeze panes. It will freeze all the rows and columns above and
to the left of, the selected cell.

Fig. 5.19: Freeze Panes Option

5.5 Creating Online Spreadsheet Using Google Spreadsheet

An online spreadsheet is a spreadsheet
document edited through a web-based
application that allows multiple persons
to edit and share it with the world. A web
based online spreadsheet has many of the
features same as those seen in desktop
spreadsheet applications. The steps to
create an online spreadsheet are:
First login to your Gmail account.
Click on 9 dots on the top right
corner.
Select ‘sheets’ option.
Fig. 5.20: Online Spreadsheet Creation

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Click on Blank worksheet.

Blank worksheet is created. Enter the content.
Notes
Save the worksheet with a name.
After saving the worksheet, you may share it with other people.
To do so, click ‘Share’ icon present on top right of the sheet window. Share
with others dialog box appears (refer Fig. 5.21).
Enter the names or email addresses of those with whom you want to share.

Fig. 5.21: Share Dialog Box

Click on ‘Done’ to share with other people.

Intext Questions 5.2

1. State True or False for the following statements.
(a) Chart helps us to present the data graphically.
(b) Pivot table performs data analysis.
(c) Edit box shows the result of the selected formatting.
2. Fill in the blanks
(a) To change the date format, select the ................... from the format cells
window.
(b) ................... panes unlock all rows and column to scroll through the
entire worksheet.
(c) ................... is the shortcut keys for pasting.
(d) ................... options allows to merge and center the contents of
selected cells.

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Notes What You have Learnt

A spreadsheet or a workbook is a collection of one or more worksheets.
The excel workbooks are created and saved with .xls or .xlsx extension,
depending on the MS Office version you use.
You can insert worksheets and edit the worksheets. You can also insert /
delete rows and columns.
A worksheet has lots of different formatting options like bold, italics, and
underline to text, adding borders to cells, changing text and cell colors,
changing the font style and font size etc.

Terminal Exercise
1. What is the difference between moving and copying cells?
2. How do you resize a row or a column in a spreadsheet?
3. What are the main features of MS Excel?
4. Give the names of any two open source softwares used for creating a
spreadsheet.
5. Explain the options of Font group.

Answers to Intext Questions

5.1
1. (a) True (b) False (c) False (d) True
2. (a) AutoFill (b) Name (c) Cell (d) Width

5.2
1. (a) False (b) True (c) True (d) False
2. (a) Number (b) Unfreeze
(c) CTRL +V (d) Merge and Center

Key Learning Outcome

Be able to create a well formatted spreadsheet.

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