Computer Tutorials for Beginners

Using AND and OR in Excel IF Statements  - (You can skip this part, if you found the IF Statements in the previous tutorial a touch too tricky! Just move on to Conditional Formatting via the link at the bottom of the page.) The Excel AND Function The Excel function AND takes a least two values and tells you whether or not they are true. As a simple example, take a sequence like this: You can use AND to see if this sequence is all "Won". Enter the following formula in cell E1: =AND(B1="Won", C1="Won", D1="Won") When you press the enter key on your keyboard, cell E1 will have a value of False. It's False because the AND function is checking each cell for a value of "Won". If just one of these values is not "Won" then the whole AND function returns false. If you change the value in cell C1 to Won and press the enter key, cell E1 will have a value of True. With the AND function, each test for true or false ...

The Excel IF Function  - The IF function can be quite useful in a spreadsheet. It is used when you want to test for more than one value. For example, has a bill been paid or not? If it has, you can deduct the amount from the money you have left to spend; if it hasn't, keep it on your debt list. Later, you'll see how to use the IF Function to grade student exam scores. If the student has above 80, award an A grade; if the student has below 30, award a fail grade. First, here's what an IF Function looks like: IF( logical_test ,   value_if_true ,   value_if_false ,) The thing to note here is the three items between the round brackets of the word IF. These are the arguments that the IF function needs. Here's what they mean: logical_test The first argument is what you want to test for. Is the number in the cell greater than 80, for example? value_if_true This is what you want to do if the answer to the first argument is YES. (Award an A grade, for example) valu...

Excel Time Functions  - There are a number of ways to enter the current time in an Excel spreadsheet. Try this: Click inside a blank cell on your spreadsheet Click into the Formula Bar at the top Type the following inbuilt function: = Now( ) Hit the enter key, and you'll get the current date and time. If you only want the time, you can format the cell to get rid of the date part: Click on the cell that contains your Now() function From the Excel menu bar, click on   Home Locate the   Number   panel, and you may see Time already set (it might say   Custom   in newer versions of Excel): Click the down arrow to see menu options From the menu, click on   Time Click on   More   to see more Time options Excel doesn't update the Time function every second, so it's not like a normal clock. But you can update the Now function to get the correct time. (Well, it's correct if your system clock is correct!) The easiest way t...

Predicting future values with Excel Charts  - Excel can help you make predictions about future values, or help you spot a linear trend. What we'll do in this section is set up something called a Trendline. We'll use an X, Y Scatter chart for this. We'll take a look at future income predictions based on what was earned in previous years. If you're a bit confused, don't worry: it will all become clear as we go along. Type the following headings into cells A1 to C1: Year   Years since 2006   Income Format the cells, if you prefer. Your spreadsheet will then look like this: Enter the years 2006 to 2019 into cells A2 to A15: As an X axis for our chart, we can have the years since 2006. These values will be used in a later formula. In Cells B2 to B15 enter the values 0 to 13: We now need some income values for the years 2006 to 2013. This is income that has actually been earned, rather than income that might be earned in the future. We'll then ...

Format Pie Chart Segments in Excel  - From the   previous lesson , your Pie Chart segements look like this: You can change the colour of each slice of your pie chart, and even move a slice. Let's change the colours first. Change the Colour of a Pie Chart Segement Left click on the pie chart itself to select it: It is selected when you can see those round handles. Now left click on one of the segments to select just that individual slice. It's a little bit tricky, but if you do it right your pie chart should look like this: In the image above, only the 10.99 segment is selected. You should see round circles surrounding just that segment. Now right click your segment and, from the menu that appears, select   Format Data Point : You should see the following dialogue box appears in Excel 2007: You'll see a panel appear on the right of your screen in Excel 2013 and 2016. Click the paint bucket icon at the top, then click to expand the Fill opt...