Enter text, numbers, and dates

Microsoft's basic-tasks page gives three steps for entering data:

1. Click an empty cell. For example, click A1 on a new sheet.
2. Type text or a number in the cell.
3. Press Enter or Tab to move to the next cell.

That is the whole habit. Click, type, confirm. If you click away with the mouse instead of pressing a key, Excel usually keeps what you typed as well. If a cell still shows the old value, click it once and look at the formula bar. If your new text is not there, click the cell and type again, then press Enter.

Text is anything Excel should not add up: Day, Mon, Community hall setup, Milk 2 litre, Co-op. Headers belong in row 1 so every column has a name. Short labels are easier to read than long sentences. You can write a longer note in a Notes column when you need it.

If the text is wider than the column, the extra letters may spill visually into the next cell — or they may look cut off if the next cell has its own content. The full text is still in the cell. Click it and read the formula bar. In Lesson 4 you will widen a column so the sheet is easier to read. For now, do not worry if a long note looks cramped.

Use the Practice sheet for experiments so you do not overwrite the sample Hours or Household lists until a task asks you to. If you type in the wrong cell on those sample sheets, click that cell and type the sample value again from the workbook layout at the start of this course.

Numbers are values Excel can calculate later: 6, 7.5, 5.49, 80, 0. Type them without extra words in the same cell. Put the unit in the header instead. Write Hours worked in B1 and 6 in B2, not 6 hours in B2. Write Amount (CAD) in C1 and 5.49 in C2, not five dollars forty-nine and not $5.49 CAD mixed with words. You will learn number formats (including a currency look) in Lesson 4. A clean number is easier for AutoSum to add.

Use a decimal point for parts of an hour or parts of a dollar, as in 7.5 and 5.49. Do not type a space in the middle of a number. If you type 7,5 Excel may treat that as text or as a thousands style, depending on the computer's region settings. On most Canadian English computers, 7.5 is the safe way to type seven and a half.

A zero and a blank are not the same. On the Hours sheet, Thursday is 0 because that day was off — you recorded “no hours.” A blank cell means nothing has been entered yet. When you total a column later, you will want recorded days off to stay as 0 so the row is not mistaken for missing data.

If a number looks left-aligned like a word, Excel may have stored it as text (for example if you typed 6 hours). Lesson 6 will ask you to check that a total makes sense. A first defence is to keep numbers as numbers from the start.

Excel can store a date as a date, not just as decoration. When it does, you can format how the date looks without typing it again. Microsoft's number-format help says you apply a format from the Home tab: select the cell, then choose a format from the Number drop-down (the box that often starts as General). Microsoft's basic-tasks page describes the same idea: click the arrow in the General box and pick a format, or choose More Number Formats if you do not see the one you want. Date is one of the formats in that list.

How a date looks depends on the format you pick and on your computer's region settings. Microsoft notes that some date formats follow the regional date settings on the computer. That is why the same day might show as 2026-11-10 on one machine and as 10/11/2026 or 11/10/2026 on another. If the day and month look swapped, do not guess — pick a Date format you can read clearly, or type the date with a four-digit year and check it against a calendar.

A safe practice habit is to type a date with a four-digit year so the year is not ambiguous. This course uses sample dates only. Date displays can change when regional settings change; we will not quiz you on one “correct” Canadian layout.

To fix any cell — text, number, or date — click it once and type the new value, then press Enter. To change only part of a long note, click the cell, click inside the formula bar, edit the words, and press Enter. If you are not sure you improved the cell, compare it with the sample layout at the start of this course.

On the Practice sheet (or a blank workbook):

1. In row 3, type the headers Day, Hours worked, and Notes if they are not there yet.
2. Type the Tuesday sample row: Tue, 4, Office desk.
3. Type the Wednesday sample row: Wed, 7.5, Market stall.
4. In an unused cell, type the sample date 2026-11-10 and apply a Date format from Home > the General arrow.
5. Check each number cell: B should contain only numbers (4 and 7.5), not the word hours.

When you write dates on paper in this community, do you write day-month-year or year-month-day? How will you double-check that Excel did not swap the day and the month?