Excel 2010 Bible

Chapter 10: Introducing Formulas and Functions

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FIGURE 10.2

Excel displays a drop-down list when you enter a formula.

Entering formulas manually ....................................................................................

Entering a formula manually involves, well, entering a formula manually. In a selected cell, you

simply type an equal sign (=) followed by the formula. As you type, the characters appear in the

cell and in the Formula bar. You can, of course, use all the normal editing keys when entering a

formula.

Entering formulas by pointing .................................................................................

Even though you can enter formulas by typing in the entire formula, Excel provides another

method of entering formulas that is generally easier, faster, and less error-prone. This method still

involves some manual typing, but you can simply point to the cell references instead of typing their

values manually. For example, to enter the formula =A1+A2 into cell A3, follow these steps:

1. Move the cell pointer to cell A3.


2. Type an equal sign (=) to begin the formula. Notice that Excel displays Enter in the
   status bar (bottom left of your screen).


3. Press the up arrow twice. As you press this key, Excel displays a faint moving border
   around cell A1, and the cell reference appears in cell A3 and in the Formula bar. In addi-
   tion, Excel displays Point in the status bar.


4. Type a plus sign (+). A solid-color border replaces the faint border, and Enter reappears
   in the status bar.


5. Press the up arrow again. The moving border encompasses cell A2, and adds that cell
   address to the formula.


6. Press Enter to end the formula.

Tip
You can also point to the data cells by using your mouse. n