EXCEL TOOLBARS & TASK PANES

Lesson 3 - Toolbars and Task Panes in Excel

TOOLBARS

The Toolbars in Excel are where all of Excel’s features can be accessed. They contain both text and icons (pictures). The main toolbar in Excel is called the Worksheet menu bar and it is normally found under the Title bar. On this toolbar you will find nearly all the options available for you to use in Excel under the headings File, Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review, View, Help. If you click on any of these options, a menu will drop down giving you a list of the many other options available to you.

Take note of the short cut keys to the right of some of the menu options! Once you have made a selection from the Worksheet Menu Bar, Excel may or may not (depending upon the option chosen) display what is known as a Dialogue box (as with the Save As option). To see what I mean by a Dialogue box, click on Edit>Go To. . . , and Excel will display the Go To dialogue box. Excel uses Dialog boxes for the majority of options, therefore there are loads of these dialog boxes contained within it. While here, take note of the question mark button on the top right hand side of the box, next to the cross (X). This is designed to give you Help. If you click on this and then select any part of any dialog box, Excel will display a description of what that part of the dialog box is designed for. (Give it a try. )This is the same for all dialogue boxes. The cross (X) will close the dialog box, as does the Cancel button and the Esc key at the top left hand side of your keyboard. Close the dialog box.

There is also another menu that makes working in Excel much easier, this is the right click menu. We will look at this when we look at Cells. Getting Quick Help on a Toolbar Option

To quickly get a brief description of any menu option, simply use she shortcut Shift+F1. Your Mouse pointer should change to a ? (question mark. Now click on any menu option and Excel will display a brief description of its function. Once you have selected the menu option your mouse pointer will return back to normal. To find the name of any menu option simply hover your mouse pointer over any icon. The Formula Bar

The Formula bar in Excel is where most users would do any editing of formulas or any entries that are within a cell. The Formula bar is the long white bar with either an = (equal sign) or the fx icon to the left. If you cannot see the Formula bar, it may be hidden, go to View>Formula Bar.

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Lesson 1 - Excel Fundamentals

Lesson 2 - Starting Excel and Excel Workbooks