Introduction to Excel 2007

Overview

Welcome to Introduction to Excel 2007. This tutorial is designed for new users as well as those who just want to learn more about the functionality of Excel. Given that the appearance of the program has changed dramatically in the 2007 version as compared to Excel 2003 and earlier, this tutorial is also meant to be a resource for those adjusting to the new look and feel of the spreadsheet application. Also, at the time this tutorial was published, Excel 2007 was not available for Macs, so this content is mostly pertinent only to PCs. Please consult the Excel 2003 tutorial for a guide to older versions of Excel.

After completing this tutorial you will be able to:

• Understand the new design of Microsoft Excel 2007
• Navigate within a spreadsheet
• Enter, format and sort data within cells
• Import data into Excel
• Print worksheets

The Ribbon

First let's take a look at the new look of Microsoft Office 2007. Notice at the top of the screen a series of tabs labeled Home, Insert, Page Layout, and so on. This is what is called the Ribbon. Each tab of the Ribbon can be selected and a new selection of tools will appear below. These tools are split into groups. In the example below, the Insert tab has been selected and now you can see the Tables, Illustrations, Charts, Links, and Text groups.

The other important change to note is that instead of a File tab that is used in Microsoft Office 2003 and earlier, the 2007 version uses the Microsoft Office Button to organize commands such as New, Open, Save, Close, and Print.

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