Excel 2016 Introduction

Lesson – Working with Ranges

Excel 2016

U SING R ANGES  D ISCUSSION

Many Excel commands can be applied to one or more cells at a time. The command then affects all the selected cells. A group of selected cells is called a Range . A range may contain one or more rectangular blocks of cells that can be adjoining (contiguous), non-contiguous, or overlapping.

Ranges are identified by the addresses of the cells in the upper left and lower right corners of the selected block of cells, separated by a colon. For example, the range A4:C10 has cell A4 in the upper left corner and cell C10 in the lower right corner. To identify ranges consisting of multiple blocks of cells, you must separate the range addresses of each block with a comma. For example, A4:A10,C4:C10 refers to the range A4:A10 as well as the range C4:C10 .

A selected single-block range has a heavy black border around it, and all the cells within the range, except for the Active Cell , are shaded. A multiple-block range does not display a heavy black border but all the cells, except for the Active Cell , are shaded. If you type an entry while a range is selected, the text or numbers are entered into the Active Cell within the range.

In general, you select a range before selecting the command you wish to apply to the range. Some Excel commands open dialog boxes that prompt you to select a range. If you have already selected a range before selecting the command, it will be automatically identified by Excel and entered in the appropriate field in the dialog box. If you have not pre-selected a range, you can specify the desired range in the dialog box.

NOTE A range remains selected until another cell or range is selected.

S ELECTING R ANGES WITH THE M OUSE  D ISCUSSION You can use the mouse to select a range by dragging across the range of cells you wish to select. If the range extends beyond the currently visible cells, the worksheet display will scroll automatically as the mouse pointer reaches the edge of the currently displayed cells. If you move the mouse pointer away from the edge, the scrolling stops.

There are two scrolling speeds available while selecting ranges. If you drag the mouse pointer just to the edge of the currently displayed cells, Excel scrolls relatively slowly. If you drag the

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