3 Editing Cell Contents

In-Cell Editing

1. Double-click the cell you wish to edit. The insertion point appears within the cell.
2. Make corrections. You may use the mouse pointer or the arrows, HOME, and END keys to position the insertion point where you want. You may also use the BACKSPACE and DELETE keys to erase unwanted characters.
3. Type new characters if necessary.
4. Press ENTER to accept the edit, or press ESC to cancel it.

Formula Bar Editing

1. Click in the cell you wish to edit.
2. Press the F2 key to change to Edit mode.
3. Make corrections. You may use the mouse pointer or the arrows, HOME, and END keys to position the insertion point where you want. You may also use the BACKSPACE and DELETE keys to erase unwanted characters.
4. Type new characters if necessary.
5. Press ENTER to accept the edit, or press ESC to cancel it.

Copying and Pasting Cell Contents

1. Select the cell or the range that contains the data you want to copy.

2. Click the Copy button on the Standard Toolbar (pictured left). An outline of the selected cells, called a marquee (looks like scrolling lines around the selected range of cells), shows the boundary of the selected cells.

3. Click the first cell where you want to paste the data.

4. Click the Paste button on the Standard Toolbar (pictured left). The marquee will disappear. The data is still in the Clipboard and available for further pasting. You may press ESC to remove the marquee.

Moving Cell Contents

1. Highlight the cell or the range that contains the data you want to move.
2. Move your mouse cursor to one of the thick black outside lines surrounding your selection. Your cursor will change from a white plus sign to a black arrow.
3. Click and hold your mouse button down and drag the selected range of data to where to want to relocate it.
4. Release the mouse button.

Note: Excel has moved the entire contents of the cell as well as any formatting that was applied to the cell or range of cells.

Deleting the Contents of a Cell or a Range

1. Click the cell or select the range you want to clear.
2. Click the right mouse button anywhere in the boundary of the highlighted range and click Clear Contents in the pop-up shortcut menu that appears.

Copying a Formula to Other Cells Using AutoFill

The AutoFill function will allow you to quickly and easily continue a formula down and across a range of cells relative in a worksheet. This function can save a lot of time where you would have to manually input the formula otherwise.

1. Click the cell where the formula you want to copy from is located.
2. Move the mouse pointer over the small black box, called the Fill Handle (see Figure 1, below), located in the lower right corner of the active cell. The mouse pointer will turn into a black plus sign shape when you are properly over the handle.
3. Click and hold the mouse button down while you drag the Fill Handle to highlight the range you want to copy the formula to.
4. Release the mouse button. The formula is copied into the cells in the selected range.

FIGURE 1. Fill Handle

Inserting a Column or a Row

Did you forget a column or row of information while inputting your data? Well, no problem. With Excel you can insert a row or column anywhere you need it without affecting your data.To insert a column:

1. Click anywhere in a column to the right of the location of the new column you want to insert.
2. Click Insert on the Menu Bar, and then click Columns. A blank column will be inserted to the left of the selected cell or column.

Note: You can insert multiple columns using the same steps above, by highlighting a range of cells in adjoining columns.

To insert a row:

1. Click anywhere in the row below the location of the row you want to insert.
2. Click Insert on the Menu Bar, then click Rows. A blank row will be inserted above the selected cell or row.

Note: You can insert multiple rows using the same steps above, by highlighting a multiple cells in adjoining rows

Deleting a Column or a Row

To delete a column, right-click the Column Indicator button (e.g., A, B, C, etc.) of the column(s) you want to delete, then click Delete on the pop-up shortcut menu that appears.

To delete a row, right-click the Row Indicator button (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.) of the row(s) you want to delete, then click Delete on the pop-up shortcut menu that appears.

Guide created by California State University, Northridge

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