Excel for Beginners Part 1 Getting Comfortable with Excel

Learn the workbook, worksheet, cell and ribbon basics, then create and save your first useful spreadsheet.

What you will learn

• Recognise workbooks, worksheets, rows, columns and cells
• Navigate with the mouse, Name Box and keyboard
• Create, rename and save a workbook safely

Before you begin

Open Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet application that supports standard Excel formulas. Create a practice copy so mistakes are safe to undo. Complete each action yourself rather than only reading it.

The Excel workspace

An Excel file is called a workbook. Each workbook contains one or more worksheets, shown as tabs along the bottom.

A cell is the box where a row and column meet. A1 is column A, row 1. The active cell has a visible border, and its address appears in the Name Box.

Move efficiently

Click a cell or use the arrow keys. Ctrl plus an arrow jumps to the edge of a filled range. Ctrl plus Home returns to A1.

The ribbon groups commands into tabs such as Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data and View. Use the search box when you cannot remember where a command lives.

Create your first workbook

Open a blank workbook. Rename Sheet1 to Monthly Expenses. In A1 enter Item, in B1 enter Amount, and in C1 enter Date.

Save early with a descriptive name such as Monthly Expenses 2026.xlsx. Keep the .xlsx format unless another format is specifically required.

Guided practice

1. Create a workbook named Practice Workbook.xlsx.
2. Rename the first sheet Household Costs.
3. Enter five expense names, amounts and dates.
4. Add a second sheet named Notes and save the workbook.

Knowledge check

1. What is the difference between a workbook and a worksheet?
2. What cell address identifies column C and row 7?
3. Which shortcut returns to cell A1?

Completion standard

You are ready for the next part when you can complete the guided practice without copying the instructions word for word and can answer the knowledge-check questions in your own language.