Part I: Getting Started with Excel
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Most of the time, you don’t have to be concerned with Excel’s serial number date system. You can
simply enter a date in a familiar date format, and Excel takes care of the details behind the scenes.
For example, if you need to enter June 1, 2001, you can simply enter the date by typing June 1,
2001 (or use any of several different date formats). Excel interprets your entry and stores the value
39234, which is the serial number for that date.Note
The date examples in this book use the U.S. English system. Depending on your Windows regional settings,
entering a date in a format (such as June 1, 2011) may be interpreted as text rather than a date. In such a
case, you need to enter the date in a format that corresponds to your regional date settings — for example,
1 June, 2011. n
Cross-Reference
For more information about working with dates, see Chapter 12. n
Entering time values ..................................................................................................
When you work with times, you simply extend Excel’s date serial number system to include deci-
mals. In other words, Excel works with times by using fractional days. For example, the date serial
number for June 1, 2011, is 40695. Noon on June 1, 2011 (halfway through the day), is repre-
sented internally as 40695.5 because the time fraction is added to the date serial number to get the
full date/time serial number.Again, you normally don’t have to be concerned with these serial numbers (or fractional serial
numbers, for times). Just enter the time into a cell in a recognized format.Cross-Reference
See Chapter 12 for more information about working with time values. n
Modifying Cell Contents .....................................................................................................
After you enter a value or text into a cell, you can modify it in several ways:l Erase the cell’s contents.l (^) Replace the cell’s contents with something else.
l Edit the cell’s contents.
Note
You can also modify a cell by changing its formatting. However, formatting a cell affects only a cell’s appear-
ance. Formatting does not affect its contents. Later sections in this chapter cover formatting. n