To enter data into more than one cell at a time, you first need to know how to select a range of cells. Before you learn about range selection mechanics, however, let's quickly review how you select a single cell: You click the cell or move the cell selector to the cell using the arrow keys. When you do, Excel identifies your selection by placing a dark border around the cell. It also uses the Name box to give the selected cell's address.
The process is very similar to this when you select a group, or range, of adjacent cells. Instead of simply clicking, however, you click on one corner of a rectangle of cells and then drag the mouse to the opposite corner, as shown in the next illustration. (If you're following along in front of your computer, make sure that you can duplicate this selection using the mouse.) When you select a range of cells, the Name box doesn't identify the entire selection—only the active cell in the selection. (The chapter talks about the significance of the active cell in a minute.)
You describe a contiguous range selection by giving the cell address of the top-left corner of the range and the cell address of the bottom-right corner of the range, separating the two addresses with a colon. For example, the range of cells that includes the corner cells B3 and E8 is B3:E8. You'll need to remember this bit of information because you'll often use range addresses in Excel dialog boxes and in constructing formulas.
NOTE: You can also use the keyboard to select a range of
cells. To do this, first select one corner of the range using the arrow keys.
Then, while holding down the Shift key, use the arrow keys to
increase the size of the selection. If this doesn't make sense to you—and it is
hard to explain—just try it on your computer. You'll immediately see how it
works.
A range can also be composed of nonadjacent cells. You can also select more than one range of cells using the mouse. To do so, select the group of cells, hold down the Ctrl key, and then select the second and any subsequent groups of cells.
To select a three-dimensional range—in other words, to select the same group of cells on more than one sheet of a workbook—first group the worksheets. If all of the worksheet tabs are located next to each other, start by selecting the first worksheet tab and then holding down the Shift key as you select the last worksheet tab. If the tabs for worksheets to be grouped are not next to each other, start by selecting the first worksheet tab, then hold down the Ctrl key as you click on each additional worksheet tab. Then, select the range on the active worksheet. You might want to select a three-dimensional range to quickly format more than one sheet at a time or if you are creating a formula that references the selected range on the selected sheets.
To select a column or row with the mouse, simply click the Column heading button that displays the column's letter or the Row heading button that displays the row's number. Excel selects the entire column or row.
TIP: To select a column
or row with the keyboard, make sure the active cell is within the column or row
you wish to select, then press Ctrl-Spacebar to select the column or Shift-Spacebar
to select the row.
Once you select a range of cells, you can begin to enter data into the range. You can do this either manually or by using a command.