Spreadsheets
Unit 1
Cells
Moving, Copying and Deleting
cells
• As you design a worksheet you might want to
move the contents of a single cell or a group of
cells to another position on the worksheet.
• If the cells that you want to move contain
formulas, Excel will automatically adjust any
relative cell references.
• (See Relative and absolute cell references).
• Alternatively, you might want to duplicate a
block of cells or even completely remove the
contents of a block of cells.
Move cells in a worksheet
• To move cells in a
worksheet:
• 1. Select the cell or
group of cells that
are to be moved.
• 2. Move the mouse
pointer over the
border of the
selected area until
it turns to a left
pointing arrow.
• 3. Click and hold down the left mouse
button.
• 4. Drag the selected cells to the required
position. You will see an outline of the
selection moving with the mouse pointer.
• 5. Release the mouse button when the
selection is at the required position.
Copy cells in a worksheet
• 1. Select the cell or group of cells that are
to be moved.
• 2. Move the mouse pointer over the border
of the selected area until it turns to a left
pointing arrow.
• 3. Click and hold down the left mouse
button. While holding down the left mouse
button, also hold down one of the Ctrl keys
on your keyboard. The mouse pointer will
change to an arrow with a + sign next to it.
4. Drag the selected cells to the required position.
You will see an outline of the selection moving
with the mouse pointer.
5. Release the mouse button when the selection
is at the required position and a copy of the
selection will appear; the original cells will be left
in place.
Delete the contents of cells in a
worksheet
• 1. Select the cell or group of cells.
• 2. Press the Delete key on your keyboard.
Editing, replacing and deleting data
• There are always going to be occasions when
you need to alter the contents of a cell, either
because you have made a mistake entering the
data or the data needs to be changed at some
later date.
• The usual term for altering data is editing. You
can either completely replace the data in a cell
with other data or you can alter part of the
contents of a cell.
• There will always be occasions when you
perform some action on a worksheet and then
realise that it was a mistake and you want to go
back to some previous stage. The undo button
on the formatting bar allows you to restore your
worksheet to a previous state one step at a time.
Replace the contents of a cell with
new data
• 1. Select the cell by clicking it with the
mouse.
• 2. Type in the new data.
• 3. Press Enter or TAB.
Alter the contents of a cell
• 1. Select the cell by clicking it with the
mouse. The contents of the cell appear in
the Formula bar.
• 2. Position the cursor in the required place
within the data displayed in the formula
bar by clicking with the mouse or by using
the left and right arrow keys.
• 3. Type in the new characters or use
the delete keys as required to alter the data.
4. Press Enter.
Undo an action
• To restore your worksheet to a
previous state:
• Click the undo button on the
standard toolbar once for every
step that you want to undo.
OR
• Click the list of recent actions and
select the one that you want to
undo.