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  • Cell Basics

Excel 2013

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Cell Basics

Cell content

Any information you enter into a spreadsheet will be stored in a cell. Each cell can contain several different kinds of content, including text, formatting, formulas, and functions.

  • Text
    Cells can contain text, such as letters, numbers, and dates.
    Screenshot of Excel 2013Cell text
  • Formatting attributes
    Cells can contain formatting attributes that change the way letters, numbers, and dates are displayed. For example, percentages can appear as 0.15 or 15%. You can even change a cell's background color.
    Screenshot of Excel 2013Cell formatting
  • Formulas and functions
    Cells can contain formulas and functions that calculate cell values. In our example, SUM(B2:B8) adds the value of each cell in cell range B2:B8 and displays the total in cell B9.
    Screenshot of Excel 2013Cell formulas

To insert content:

  1. Click a cell to select it.
    Screenshot of Excel 2013Selecting cell A1
  2. Type content into the selected cell, then press Enter on your keyboard. The content will appear in the cell and the formula bar. You can also input and edit cell content in the formula bar.
    Screenshot of Excel 2013Inserting cell content

To delete cell content:

  1. Select the cell with content you wish to delete.
    Screenshot of Excel 2013Selecting a cell
  2. Press the Delete or Backspace key on your keyboard. The cell's contents will be deleted.
    Screenshot of Excel 2013Deleting cell content

You can use the Delete key on your keyboard to delete content from multiple cells at once. The Backspace key will only delete one cell at a time.

To delete cells:

There is an important difference between deleting the content of a cell and deleting the cell itself. If you delete the entire cell, the cells below it will shift up and replace the deleted cells.

  1. Select the cell(s) you wish to delete.
    Screenshot of Excel 2013Selecting a cell to delete
  2. Select the Delete command from the Home tab on the Ribbon.
    Screenshot of Excel 2013Clicking the Delete command
  3. The cells below will shift up.
    Screenshot of Excel 2013Cells shifted to replace the deleted cell
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