Chapter 2: Basic Excel Skills – Formatting, Editing & More

📗 Chapter 2: Basic Excel Skills

Now that you’ve been introduced to Microsoft Excel, it’s time to build your foundation with essential skills. In this chapter, we’ll cover how to enter data, edit cells, use AutoFill, and apply basic formatting techniques. These core features are used in almost every Excel task—whether you’re managing inventory, tracking attendance, or preparing reports.

📝 Entering and Editing Data

To enter data, simply click a cell and start typing. You can input text, numbers, dates, or formulas. Press Enter to confirm the input or Tab to move to the next cell.

• To edit a cell: Double-click it or press F2
• To delete a cell’s content: Select the cell and press Delete
• To clear formatting and content: Right-click > Clear Contents

🛠️ Basic Formatting Tools

Excel offers a wide range of formatting tools under the Home tab. These tools help improve the readability and visual appeal of your spreadsheet.

• Font & Size: Choose from system fonts and resize text
• Bold, Italic, Underline: Emphasize important data
• Font Color: Apply custom text colors
• Cell Fill Color: Highlight rows, headers, or totals
• Text Alignment: Left, center, or right-align text

[Insert Screenshot Placeholder: Formatting Toolbar]

📏 Resizing Rows and Columns

• Drag the border between column/row headers to resize manually
• Double-click the border to AutoFit the content
• Right-click > Row Height or Column Width for exact values

📥 Using AutoFill & Flash Fill

AutoFill is a quick way to copy data or continue patterns (like dates or numbers). Click the fill handle (a small square at the bottom-right of a cell) and drag it.

• Type Monday, drag down – Excel auto-fills the weekdays
• Use Flash Fill (under Data tab) to automatically complete patterns (e.g., splitting names)

📋 Cut, Copy, Paste & Paste Special

• Ctrl + C – Copy | Ctrl + X – Cut | Ctrl + V – Paste
• Right-click for Paste Special to paste values, formulas, formatting, etc.
• Ctrl + Alt + V opens Paste Special dialog box quickly

⏪ Undo & Redo

• Ctrl + Z – Undo the last action
• Ctrl + Y – Redo the undone action
• Undo history allows you to go back multiple steps

💡 Tips for Smart Formatting

• Use bold headers and light fill colors for clarity
• Keep consistent alignment (center headers, right-align numbers)
• Use Ctrl + 1 to open Format Cells dialog box
• Try using table styles for fast, clean formatting

🎯 Real-Life Use Cases

• Formatting a student attendance sheet
• Designing a personal monthly budget template
• Creating a basic sales invoice

📝 Practice Task

1. Create a sheet with 2 columns: Name and Marks
2. Enter at least 5 students’ names and their marks
3. Make the header bold and centered
4. Change row height to 25 and column width to 15
5. Use fill color for header and alternate rows

✅ Conclusion

In this chapter, you learned how to enter and format data, adjust your worksheet layout, and improve its readability using Excel’s core tools. These basics will support everything you do in Excel, whether it’s creating a project tracker or preparing data for charts.