Microsoft Works for Windows Spreadsheet Instructions

How Do I......   
(Click on the topic to jump to the explanation)
Label parts of a window? Freeze row/s or column/s Make a chart or graph?
Label the toolbar? Unfreeze row/s or column/s Edit a chart or graph?
Customize the toolbar? Split the screen - pane control? Copy & paste a chart into another document?
View more of the file at once? Move a column? Change orientation?
Change column size? Add a column? Change options?
View all data in a cell? Add a row? Enable ToolTips?
View Formulas, Gridlines, Toolbar? Delete a row or column? Start a new spreadsheet?
Sort a spreadsheet? Recover a deleted row or column? Duplicate data?

 

Spreadsheet Window 

The spreadsheet window opens inside the program window.  See views below for details.

Toolbar

Since toolbars can be customized, the buttons may vary or appear in a different order.

To reduce to 75% view -  Click on the - (minus) beside the Zoom 100%  in the bottom  left-hand corner of the window.  (+ increases size).

To change size of columns - Double-click on the column heading to resize the column to the size of its largest entry. OR to adjust manually, move the mouse cursor to the heading of the column that you want to adjust. Put the cursor on the line between that column and the column to the right of  it. The cursor will change and you will see the word "adjust". Click and hold the mouse button down and drag to the right to widen. To reduce the size of the column, drag to the left.

If there is more information in the cell than can be reasonably displayed, it is still in the cell and can be seen in the data entry bar at the top of the window

 

To freeze top and side labels (NOTE: Students do not normally need to freeze cells, but teachers may use the skill when dealing with a large spreadsheet.)

  1. Click in the cell below the row and to the right of the column you want to freeze.

  1. On the menu, click Format - Freeze Titles 
    NOTE: To unfreeze, repeat Format - Freeze Titles to uncheck Freeze Titles.

                   

  1. You will see fine lines bordering the frozen row/s and column/s.  Now when you scroll, those areas will remain stationary.

  1. To freeze only a row, in step #1 above, click in the left-most cell below the row.

  1. To freeze only a column, in step #1 above, click in the top cell to the right of the column.

Pane Control  (NOTE: As with freeze, students do not normally need to split screens, but teachers may use the skill when dealing with a large spreadsheet.)

To "split" the screen, go to the gray bar beside the Zoom Box at the bottom left-hand corner and put your mouse cursor on it. The cursor will change to the Adjust cursor and you can click and drag right until you are at the line between the first and second columns. Let go of the mouse button and you will have two windows that can be scrolled, but have the very same information. If you only scroll in the second window, you will always be able to see the first column.

Your window will look something like this.

To "split" the screen horizontally, go to the gray bar underneath the Close Box at the top right-hand corner and put your mouse cursor on it. The cursor will change to the Adjust cursor and you can click and drag down until you are at the line below the one you want to hold. Let go of the mouse button and you will have two windows that can be scrolled, but have the very same information. If you only scroll in the bottom window, you will always be able to see the top row/s.

Your window will look something like this.

To Remove the Split Screen Bar, click, hold, and drag the bar toward the outer edge of the window.

Views

Under the View menu, the selected view will have a check mark in front of it. It is a toggle, so to remove it, click again. In the window below you see formulas in the calculating cells rather than the values because Formulas is checked. You also see the toolbar and gridlines.

Another option is to use the show gridlines button.

To Move a Column

  1. Move your mouse cursor (thick cross) to the column heading of the column you want to move.

  1. Click in the heading to highlight the column and then move the cursor to the edge of the column until you see the word DRAG below the pointer. Click and hold and the "drag" cursor will change to the "move" cursor.

  1. While still holding down the mouse move the column to its new location. You will see a darker dividing line before the column where this moved column will be inserted.

Adding a Column

  1. Place the cursor in the column to the right of  where you want to add the new column .
  2. Go to Insert in the Menu Bar and select Insert Column or use the Button on the Tool Bar.

          

OR

  1. The new column will appear to the left of the active cell.

To Add a Row

  1. Place the cursor in a cell below where you want to add the new row .
  2. Go to Insert in the Menu Bar and select Insert Row or use the Button on the Tool Bar.

OR

  1. The new row will appear above the active cell.

To Delete a Row or Column

  1. Place your cursor in the column or row you want to delete. Go to the Record Menu and choose "Delete Row" or "Delete Column" or click the button on the tool bar.

OR

  1. It will delete without any warning. To retrieve the deleted record, immediately go to the Edit Menu and choose Undo Delete Row or Column (Ctrl Z) OR click the Undo Button on the toolbar.

To Sort a Spreadsheet
                 CAUTION!!!  [Can separate data from labels if done incorrectly.]
This is NOT an essential skill for students. Only teach it when you have a special purpose because it can cause confusion for those who do not understand it well. 

  1. Highlight the data to be sorted.  
  2. On the Tools Menu, click Sort.
  3. When the window below appears, select "Sort all the information" to keep the rows together.
  4. If you want to sort columns individually, select "Sort only the highlighted information."

  1. After making your choice, click OK, and then the next window appears.



  2. Choose the column to sort by, choose ascending or descending order, and indicate whether or not you highlighted the header row.  If you choose Header row, the first row will be left out of the sort.  
  3. If you choose Advanced, you will be given the option to sort by multiple columns.  The first choice is always the primary sort, but if there are duplicates in that column, it will sort by the second listed column, etc.

To Customize the Toolbar - CAUTION!!!   
[In labs, it is good to keep the toolbars uniform so this skill is NOT normally taught to students.]  There may be times when the teacher may need to add a button for a particular lesson.

  1. On the menu, click Tools and select Customize Toolbar. The window below will appear.
  2. Then to Add a Button, click on the correct category and then click and drag the button from the window to the toolbar.
  3. To Delete a Button, drag the button from the toolbar to anywhere in the open Customize Works Toolbar window.  It will automatically go into the correct category.
  4. To Enable ToolTips, check the box in the Customize Toolbar window.

To Change Options - CAUTION!!!   
[In labs, it is good to keep options uniform so this skill is NOT normally taught to students.]  
There may be times when the teacher may need to change options for a particular lesson.

On the menu, click Tools and select Options. Then click the Data Entry Tab where most of the spreadsheet options are found.

How to Make a Chart or Graph

  1. In the spreadsheet, highlight all cells you wish to graph (this includes labels and values).

  1. On the menu click Tools and select Create New Chart.

  1. Choose the Chart type that you wish to make.



  2. Click under the word Title and type a title for your chart.

     
  3. Click Ok.
  4. Look to make sure that the graph represents the data well

To choose another chart type, on the menu, click Format and select Chart Type. If you choose a type that does not show a preview, that type is not available for the selected data and settings. To select the new type, click OK.  To go back, use Edit - Undo or just re-choose the original chart type.

Below is a portion of the graph from the data in step 1 above.  Notice the blank column to the left of Hamburger and notice that the quantity (red) is too small to show.

  1. To eliminate the first blank column, on the menu go to Edit - Series . Since the data in the spreadsheet begins in row 5, change the beginning of the range to C5, D5 and A5 as noted below.  To eliminate the Quantity Label, delete the range in the 1st series.
  1. To edit the chart title or bars, double click on one of the bars or on the title.
  2. To edit the label font, double click on the labels.  The actual words must be changed within the spreadsheet.
  3. To go from the chart to the spreadsheet and back, on the menu, go to View - Chart or Spreadsheet 
  4. To view in grayscale, on the menu, go to View - Display As Printed.  This is useful if you will be printing on a non-color printer and need to preview it.

Below is an edited version of the chart above.

How to Start a New Spreadsheet

  1. Open Microsoft Works and choose Spreadsheet from the Works Tools.

  1. Before entering information, plan where you want labels, headings, values, and formulas. Things can be moved, but it is easier to set it up correctly from the beginning.

  2. Click in a cell and type. Press enter to put the information in the cell.

  3. To enter a formula in a cell, type = first and then type the formula.

To Duplicate Data - To duplicate information in a cell, you can copy and paste, fill down, or fill right.

To Copy and Paste

  1. Click in the cell you want to copy.
  2. On the menu, click  Edit - Copy OR click the Copy Button OR Ctrl-C on the keyboard. 
  3. Click in the cell where you want to paste.
  4. On the menu, click Edit - Paste  OR use Paste Button OR Ctrl-V on the keyboard.

To Fill Down

  1. Click in the cell you want to copy.
  2. Click, hold, and drag down through the cells in which you want to paste.
  3. On the menu, click Edit - Fill Down OR 
    Ctrl-D on the keyboard.
  4. In this example, 1 would appear in the 4 dark cells.

To Fill Right

    1. Click in the cell you want to copy.
    2. Click, hold, and drag right through the cells in which you want to paste.
    3. On the menu, click Edit - Fill Right  OR Ctrl-R on the keyboard.

To Copy and Paste a Chart into a Word Processing Document

  1. Have the chart on the screen and open a word processing document.
  2. On the menu go to Window - Tile so that you can see both windows at once.
  3. Click in the Chart Window and on the menu go to Edit - Copy .
  4. Click in the Word Processing Window and on the menu go to Edit - Paste.
  5. Once the chart is pasted, leave the word processing window open and close all of the others.
  6. Maximize the word processing window by clicking the maximize button in the top right corner of the window.  
  7. The chart size can be adjusted by dragging the handles that appear when you click on the chart.

     

  1. Often the chart will fit best in landscape orientation.  On the menu, go to File - Page Setup. Choose Source, Size, and Orientation. Click Landscape.  You can also click the margins tab to change margins here if needed.

Table of Contents 

Last edited 6/4/01