Working with Ranges
Selecting Ranges
A range is a group of cells in a worksheet. To select a range, you can use any of the following methods:
- With the mouse pointer, point to the center of the cell in one corner of the range; press and hold the mouse button while dragging to the opposite corner of the range, and release the mouse button.
- Select one corner of the range; press and hold the Shift key; and click on the opposite corner of the range to select all cells in between.
- Using only the keyboard, select one corner of the range; press and hold the Shift key, and press the arrow keys to highlight the range.
- To select a group of separate (nonadjacent) ranges that you want to affect at the same time, select the first range; press and hold the Ctrl key; and select the next range.
Working with a Selected Range
You can select a range before you type data. The active cell is limited to the boundaries of the selected range. This technique can be helpful when you need to enter data into a specific range; you can move around within the range as you enter data.To change the position of the cell pointer within a selected range:
- After typing an entry, press Enter, or click on the Enter button to move the active cell down the columns in the selected range, starting with the current column and moving to the right.
- Press Tab to move the active cell across the rows in the selected range, starting with the current row and moving down.
- Press Shift+Enter to move the active cell up the columns in the selected range; press Shift+Tab to move the active cell from right to left across the rows in the selected range.
- When the cell pointer reaches the lower-right corner of the range, you can move the active cell back to the upper-left corner of the range by pressing Enter. Note: By pressing the arrow keys on the keyboard or by clicking the mouse button, you deselect the range.
Practice: Entering numbers in a selected range
- Open Third Quarter Report.
- Place the mouse pointer in the center of cell C10. The mouse pointer should be a white cross
. - Press and hold the mouse button. Drag down until the range C10:E11 is highlighted (see example below).
- Release the mouse button. The active cell is white; anything typed would appear in the active cell.
- Press Enter twice. The active cell moves within the selected range to cell D10.
- Press Enter four times to cycle through the selected range and return to cell C10.
- Verify that cell C10 is selected, type 120, and press Enter to move to the next cell in the selection, cell C11.
- Type 213 in cell C11 and press Enter to move to cell D10.
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Enter the following numbers in the remainder of the selected range:
- Click away from the selected range to deselect the range.
The AutoCalculate Feature
The AutoCalculate feature allows you to calculate an average, count the number of items in a range, count the number of numeric items in a range, find the minimum or maximum values in a range, or add a group of numbers by selecting a range of cells in the worksheet. To change the calculation done by AutoCalculate, right-click on the status bar to access a pop-up menu containing the entries Average, Count, Count Nums, Max, Min, and Sum; select the function you want to use. Then, select a range of cells and observe the status bar. The function you chose is performed on the selected range.
Practice: Experimenting with the AutoCalculate feature
- If not already selected, select the range C10:E11.
- In the status bar at the bottom of the window, observe Sum=883, the sum of the numbers you selected.
- Right-click on the status bar to display the AutoCalculate menu.
- Sum is chosen. Select the range C7:C11. Look at the AutoCalculate area in the status bar, which shows Sum=943.
- Go on to the next page on Using Functions.
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