Range

Two or more cells on a sheet. The cells in a range can be adjacent or nonadjacent.

Edit cell contents

1. Double-click the cell that contains the data you want to edit. 2. Make any changes to the cell contents. 3. To enter your changes, press ENTER. To cancel your changes, press ESC.

What does the error ##### mean?

A ##### error value occurs when the cell contains a number, date, or time that is wider than the cell or when the cell contains a date and/or time formula that produces a negative result. Increase the width of the column You can resize the column by dragging the boundary between the column headings.

What does the error #DIV/0! mean?

The #DIV/0! error value occurs when a formula divides by 0 (zero). What does the error #NAME? mean? The #NAME? error value occurs when Microsoft Excel doesn't recognize text in a formula.

What does the error #NUM! mean?

The #NUM! error value occurs when a problem occurs with a number in a formula or function.

What does the error #REF! mean?

The #REF! error value occurs when a cell reference is not valid. Possible cause Deleting cells referred to by other formulas, or pasting moved cells over cells referred to by other formulas. Running a macro that enters a function that returns #REF!

What does the error #VALUE! mean?

The #VALUE! error value occurs when the wrong type of argument or operand is used, or if the Formula AutoCorrect feature cannot correct the formula.

Possible cause Entering text when the formula requires a number or a logical value, such as TRUE or FALSE. Microsoft Excel cannot translate the text into the correct data type.

Enter numbers, text, a date, or a time

1. Click the cell where you want to enter data. 2. Type the data and press ENTER or TAB.

The difference between relative and absolute references

Relative references When you create a formula, references to cells or ranges are usually based on their position relative to the cell that contains the formula. In the following example, cell B6 contains the formula =A5; Microsoft Excel finds the value one cell above and one cell to the left of B6. This is known as a relative reference. When you copy a formula that uses relative references, Excel automatically adjusts the references in the pasted formula to refer to different cells relative to the position of the formula. In the following example, the formula in cell B6, =A5, which is one cell above and to the left of B6, has been copied to cell B7. Excel has adjusted the formula in cell B7 to =A6, which refers to the cell that is one cell above and to the left of cell B7. Absolute references If you don't want Excel to adjust references when you copy a formula to a different cell, use an absolute reference. For example, if your formula multiplies cell A5 with cell C1 (=A5*C1) and you copy the formula to another cell, Excel will adjust both references. You can create an absolute reference to cell C1 by placing a dollar sign ($) before the parts of the reference that do not change. To create an absolute reference to cell C1, for example, add dollar signs to the formula as follows: =A5*$C$1