Excel 2007 For Dummies
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When entering vast quantities of data in Microsoft Office Excel 2007, it’s easy for typos to creep into your work. How you correct mistakes in Excel 2007 depends upon whether you notice the error before or after you complete the cell entry. You can edit mistakes as they happen, or after you’ve entered data in cells:

  • If you catch the mistake before you complete a cell entry, you can delete characters by pressing Backspace as necessary. Then you can retype the rest of the entry before you complete the entry in the cell.

  • If you discover the mistake after you’ve completed the cell entry, you can either retype the entire entry or edit just the mistakes.

    • When dealing with short entries, you’ll probably want to retype the entry by selecting the cell, typing the replacement entry, and then pressing Enter.

    • When the error in an entry is relatively easy to fix and the entry is on the long side, you’ll probably want to edit the cell entry rather than replace it. To edit the entry in the cell, simply double-click the cell or select the cell and then press F2.

When you edit an existing cell entry, the mode indicator in the status bar changes to Edit. While in this mode, you can use the mouse or the arrow keys to position the insertion point at the place in the cell entry that needs fixing.

In Excel 2007, you can edit a cell’s contents in the cell or on the Formula bar. Editing right in the cell is just fine, but when you’re dealing with really long entries, you may prefer to do your editing on the Formula bar. This is because Excel 2007 automatically adds up and down scroll arrow buttons to the end of the Formula bar when a cell entry is too long to be completely displayed on a single row. To edit the contents in the Formula bar rather than in the cell itself, click the I-beam mouse pointer at the place that requires modification to set the cursor.

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About the book author:

Greg Harvey has authored tons of computer books, the most recent being Excel Workbook For Dummies and Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 For Dummies, and the most popular being Excel 2003 For Dummies and Excel 2003 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies. He started out training business users on how to use IBM personal computers and their attendant computer software in the rough and tumble days of DOS, WordStar, and Lotus 1-2-3 in the mid-80s of the last century. After working for a number of independent training firms, Greg went on to teach semester-long courses in spreadsheet and database management software at Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
His love of teaching has translated into an equal love of writing. For Dummies books are, of course, his all-time favorites to write because they enable him to write to his favorite audience: the beginner. They also enable him to use humor (a key element to success in the training room) and, most delightful of all, to express an opinion or two about the subject matter at hand.
Greg received his doctorate degree in Humanities in Philosophy and Religion with a concentration in Asian Studies and Comparative Religion last May. Everyone is glad that Greg was finally able to get out of school before he retired.

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