Please download IntroExcel-Part1-SampleWorkbook.xlsx to follow along with workshop activities.

Throughout this workshop Click refers to a Left Click with your mouse

Organize Spreadsheets

When working in Excel workbooks, we often need to organize our sheet to make the data readable and visually appealing.

We will discuss how to resize columns and rows; rename a column header; freeze panes; and insert, delete, and rename sheets.

Resize columns and rows

If you encounter columns or rows that are too big or too small, you can always resize them.

Let’s navigate to Sheet1.

Autofit

• Click Column A to highlight it
• Navigate to the Home tab and the Cells section
• Click Format
• Click Autofit Column Width
  • You can also type in a width or height value using Row Height or Column Width options

Drag to resize

• Hover your cursor between Column B and Column C
  • You should see a cursor that is a vertical line with two arrows
• Click and drag the column boundary to the width you want
  • You can also drag to resize row height

Rename a column header

When working with data, we can rename column headers so they are more descriptive.

Let’s say we want to rename Column B to Employees.

• Click Cell B1
• Type the word Employees

Freeze panes

Right now, our sheet only includes 10 rows, but if you have a spreadsheet with hundreds of rows or columns it can be difficult to keep your column headings visible.

What we can do is freeze panes to keep part of the sheet visible when we scroll.

Freeze the top rows

• Navigate to the View tab
• Click the Freeze Panes icon
• Click Freeze Top Row

Now our top row is frozen when we scroll vertically.

Freeze a column and row at the same time

• Click Cell C2
• Navigate to the View tab
• Click the Freeze Panes icon
• Click Freeze Panes

Now our top row and Columns A and B are frozen when we scroll vertically or horizontally.

Unfreeze panes

• Click the Freeze Panes icon
• Click Unfreeze Panes

Insert, delete, and rename sheets

Depending on your data, you may have/need multiple sheets in your workbook.

Insert a sheet

• Click the plus (+) button at the bottom of the workbook

Delete a sheet

• Right click the sheet name
• Click Delete
  • Caution! This will delete ALL data included in that sheet

Rename a sheet

Right now, our first sheet is named Sheet1. Let’s rename it to something more descriptive.

• Click Sheet1
• Right click Sheet1
• Click Rename
• Type Employee Sales
  • Click somewhere in your workbook to save this rename

More Help

To learn more about organizing spreadsheets, visit Microsoft’s Enter and Format Data website.