Preview
The Ribbon
The Ribbon made its first appearance with Office 2007. Traditional menus and toolbars were replaced with the Ribbon, which is a collection of icons at the top of the screen. Each icon performs a specific Excel function. The words above the icons are called tabs and consist of the Home, Insert, Design, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review, and View tabs. These tabs can be customized to a user’s preference, adding/deleting any tab is possible when customizing the Ribbon.
The Ribbon can be visible or hidden, which can be controlled by an icon in the upper right corner of the screen (the icon that is slightly whitened) next to the Minimize icon, called Ribbon Display Options (FIGURE 1).
The Ribbon visibility options are (FIGURE 1):
- Auto Hide Ribbon: Hides the Ribbon. If you click at the top of the screen, the Ribbon will appear.
- Show Tab: Only shows the tabs. When you select a tab, it will show the icons.
- Show Tabs and Commands: Shows the entire Ribbon, including tabs and icons.
The Ribbon Tabs (Note: Not all of a toolbar is displayed, only the parts of a toolbar used by Excel beginners)
Select the Home tab (FIGURE 2). Beginning Excel users will use the Home tab frequently. This tab contains commands for common actions such as formating numbers as Number, Currency, Percentage; copying and pasting (Copy can be also done with Ctrl-C, Paste can be done with Ctrl-V). In the “Font” section of the toolbar, Applying Bold, Italics, and Underlining (viewed on the toolbar as B I U) to data is quite common usage as well. The Home tab toolbar that appears is shown below. This toolbar is actually the default toolbar that is shown when opening an Excel Worksheet.
The Home tab Toolbar (FIGURE 2)
Select the Insert tab. This tab contains commands that enable you to insert objects such as tables, charts, pivot tables, text boxes, pictures, and shapes into your spreadsheets. It is also heavily used when creating charts from data contained in ranges, data tables, and pivot tables.
The Insert tab Toolbar (FIGURE 3)
Select the Page Layout tab. This tab holds all the commands that enable you to determine how your spreadsheet looks, both onscreen and when printed. These commands control options such as theme colors, page margins, and print area. A very important part of this toolbar is used for troubleshooting. If you realize you have missing worksheet gridlines or column and row headings, check in the “Sheet Options” section of the toolbar and ensure the “View” checkboxes are checked for “Gridlines” and “Headings”. If you want to print gridlines and column/row headings with your worksheets, you can also check the “Print” checkboxes as well.
The Page Layout tab Toolbar (FIGURE 4)
Select the Formulas tab. This tab holds all the commands that help define, control, and audit Excel formulas. The AutoSum feature is used often for automatically summing columns and rows instead of manually entering formulas.
The Formula tab Toolbar (FIGURE 5)
Select the Data tab. This tab features commands that enable you to connect to external data, as well as manage the data in your spreadsheet. Beginning Excel users often use the Sort feature in the “Sort & Filter” section of the toolbar for alphabetically or numerically sorting columns of data.
The Data tab Toolbar (FIGURE 6)
Select the Review tab. With commands such as Spell Check, Protect Sheet, Protect Workbook, and Track Changes, the theme of the Review tab is protecting data integrity in your spreadsheet. Selecting the Spelling feature in the “Proofing” section of the toolbar is used a lot for checking spelling errors.
The Review tab Toolbar (FIGURE 7)
Select the View tab. The commands on this tab are designed to help you control how you visually interact with your spreadsheet. In the “Workbook Views” section of the toolbar, you can select different views of your worksheet by selecting Normal, Page Break Preview, Page Layout, and Custom View icons. The commands on this tab are designed to help you control how you visually interact with your spreadsheet. In the “Workbook Views” section of the toolbar, you can select different views of your worksheet by selecting Normal, Page Break Preview, Page Layout, and Custom View icons. The Zoom control feature in the “Zoom” section of the toolbar is frequently used to increase or decrease the size of the Excel worksheet area view.
In addition to the Page Layout tab toolbar, this toolbar can be used for troubleshooting missing screen elements. If you view missing worksheet gridlines, column/row headings, or formula bar, check the appropriate boxes, as they are listed in the “Show” section of the toolbar.
The View tab Toolbar (FIGURE 8)
END OF LESSON
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