A106 Step-by-step: Entering Data in a Cell

Microsoft Excel 4.0 for Macintosh

Just as you type text into a Word document, you must enter data into an Excel worksheet. This is done, as you might expect, by typing. However, there are three different types of data you can enter: numbers, labels, and formulas.

To enter data in a cell

1. Select the cell

You can either click in the cell with the mouse, or use the arrow keys.

2. Enter your data

Basically, you will just type in whatever you want here. However, you must obey two rules:

If you are typing in a number, don't put in anything but digits. For example, if you want $500 in the cell, just type 500 - don't include the dollar sign.
(Dates and times are an exception to this rule. You can go ahead and type 10/23/95 or 8:53 AM, and Excel will automatically convert this into the number representing that date or time.)
If you are typing in a formula, you must start with an equal sign.

As you are typing, what you type appears in the formula bar near the top of the screen. If you make a mistake, you can use the delete key to back up, or use the mouse to move the insertion bar. You cannot use the arrow keys - they are used to move from one cell to another, not to move around the formula bar.

3. Let Excel know you're done typing

There are a number of ways to do this, but the best is simply to click on the green checkmark in the formula bar.