Open a workbook and move around the grid

Before you type anything, you need a workbook — the Excel file that will hold your sheets. Microsoft's basic-tasks page gives a short path for a new file:

1. Click File, and then click New.
2. Under New, click Blank workbook.

A new window opens with an empty grid. The sheet is usually named Sheet1. Cell A1 is selected. That empty grid is a good place to practise moving around before you open the sample file that already has data in it.

If Excel is not yet open, start it from the Start menu (Windows) or the Applications folder or Dock (Mac), then use File > New > Blank workbook. On some computers a start screen already shows Blank workbook as a large tile. Clicking that tile does the same job as the File path above. Screens look a little different in Excel for the web and on a Mac, but you are still looking for New and Blank workbook.

If you work on a library or council computer, you may need to sign in or choose a Microsoft 365 account first. Ask the person who looks after that computer if a sign-in screen appears and you are not sure which account to use. Do not save practice files with someone else's personal information on a shared machine.

You can have more than one workbook open at a time. Each workbook is its own file. Later, when you save, you will choose a folder and a file name so you can find the file again. Saving is Lesson 10. For this lesson it is enough to create the blank file and practise moving around. If the computer asks you to save when you close, you can save a practice copy with a clear name such as excel-moving-practice or close without saving if you only clicked around.

Once the blank workbook is open, pause and look at the frame around the grid. Across the top of the grid are column letters: A, B, C. Down the left side are row numbers: 1, 2, 3. Cell A1 sits at the top-left corner. Microsoft's basic-tasks page reminds you that cells are named by that location: A1 is column A, row 1.

The active cell is the one with the thicker border. That is where the next thing you type will go. In the top-left area, a small box called the name box usually shows the active cell's address (A1 when you start). To the right of the name box is the formula bar, a longer strip that shows what is in the active cell. When the cell is empty, the formula bar is empty too.

The ribbon is the band of buttons across the top of the window. In this course you will use the Home tab often (for borders, fill colour, AutoSum, and number formats), and later the Formulas, Insert, Data, and File tabs. You do not need to learn every button. When a lesson needs a button, it will name the tab and the group.

Along the bottom are sheet tabs. A new workbook usually starts with one tab called Sheet1. Your practice file has three named tabs: Hours, Household, and Practice. Clicking a tab switches sheets. The workbook is still the same file; you are only looking at a different page inside it.

If the window feels crowded, you can scroll with the bars on the right and bottom, or with a mouse wheel or trackpad. Scrolling does not change the active cell. It only changes what you can see. If you click a cell after scrolling, that new cell becomes active. Watch the name box to confirm where you are.

Microsoft's basic-tasks page says that after you type in a cell you press Enter or Tab to move to the next cell. Those two keys do not move the same way:

• Enter (Return on a Mac) usually moves the selection down, to the cell below.
• Tab moves the selection to the right, to the next column.

You can also click any cell with the mouse or trackpad, or press the arrow keys to move one cell at a time up, down, left, or right. For a small list, arrows and clicks are often the calmest way to move. For typing down a column of hours, Enter is handy because it drops you into the next day's row. For typing across a header row (Day, Hours worked, Notes), Tab is handy because it moves you along the row.

Try this on a blank sheet without worrying about content: click A1, press Tab (you should land on B1), press Tab again (C1), then press Enter (often C2), then use the left arrow to walk back. Watch the thick border and the name box each time. If you get lost, click A1 or type A1 in the name box and press Enter to jump back to the corner.

To open a file you already have, such as the practice workbook, use File > Open and browse to the file. (Microsoft's save page later uses File for Save and Save As; Open lives on the same File tab.) If you cannot find the practice file, you can still do this lesson in a blank workbook and type a few labels of your own.

1. Create a blank workbook using File > New > Blank workbook.
2. Click A1. Type Practice. Press Tab. You should be in B1.
3. Type Move. Press Enter. Notice which cell becomes active.
4. Use the arrow keys to return to A1. Check the name box.
5. Open the practice workbook if you have it. Click the Household tab, then click cell C2 (the milk amount, 5.49). Confirm the name box shows C2.

On a shared library computer, what would help someone find File, New, and Blank workbook the first time — a printed screenshot, a peer sitting beside them, or both?