Preview
Basic Navigation in an Excel Worksheet
Worksheet Navigation is accomplished by selecting one of a set of navigation keys on a keyboard or usage of a mouse. Desktop PCs contain a set of 4 navigation arows and many laptops do as well. The graphic above in FIGURE 1 shows 4 navigation keys. Although this photo was taken from a laptop keyboard, the same 4 navigation keys are displayed similarly on a desktop PC. Depressing one of these 4 keys will move the active cell to the next adjacent cell in the direction of the key’s arrow display. The “Enter” key, when depressed, will move the active cell down into the cell adjacent to the active. The “Tab” key, when depressed, will move the active cell to the next adjacent cell on the right.
Although these keys described above certainly work well for navigation, you may find that using the mouse to select the cell you wish to navigate to is often more convenient.
Worksheet Navigation Keys Information
| To move the active cell | Do one of the following |
| Right | Tab, right arrow, mouse, *Enter key (dependent on options choice) |
| Left | Shift+Tab, left arrow, mouse, *Enter key (dependent on options choice) |
| Down | Enter, down arrow, mouse, *Enter key (dependent on options choice) |
| Up | Up arrow, mouse, *Enter key (dependent on options choice) |
| *Must go into Excel Options Advanced section, Editing options, to change the action of the active cell after depressing the Enter key. |
Practice Exercise 1: Perform various methods of navigation through the various cells, rows, and columns of a worksheet.
STEP 1: Ensure cell A1 is the active cell (FIGURE 1). The active cell is the cell with the dark border. The active cell is used to enter data into a worksheet. Notice that A1 is in the Name Box above.
STEP 2: Make A2 the active cell by pressing the Enter key (FIGURE 2). Note that pressing the Enter key moves the active cell down to the next row. Notice that A2 is in the Name Box above.
STEP 3: Make cell A1 the active cell by pressing the Up arrow key (FIGURE 3).
The Up arrow key is the top key of a 4-key group of keys on the keyboard and is situated next to the numeric keypad.
STEP 4: Press F5 to open the Go To dialog box (FIGURE 4).
STEP 5A: In the Reference section, enter AAA156.
Press OK button.
Observe that the active cell is AAA156 (FIGURE 5).
STEP 5B: Press the CTRL + Home key to return the active cell to A1. Cell A1 is now the active cell (FIGURE 6).
STEP 6A: Locate the vertical scroll bar and arrows (FIGURE 7). Click on the downward pointing vertical scroll arrow and scroll the screen.
STEP 6B Locate the horizontal scroll bar and arrows (FIGURE 8). Click on the rightward pointing horizontal scroll arrow and scroll the screen.
END OF LESSON
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