Excel 2013 Bible
John Walkenbach
Excel 2013 Bible
Published by
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
10475 Crosspoint Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46256
www.wiley.com
Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN 978-1-118-49036-5 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-49030-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-49170-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-49172-0 (ebk)
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (877) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012956404
Trademarks: Wiley and the Wiley logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Microsoft and Excel are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com . For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com .
Credits
Sr. Acquisitions Editor
Katie Mohr
Project Editor
Elizabeth Kuball
Technical Editor
Niek Otten
Copy Editor
Elizabeth Kuball
Editorial Manager
Jodi Jensen
Editorial Director
Mary Corder
Vice President and Executive Group Publisher
Richard Swadley
Vice President and Publisher
Andy Cummings
Project Coordinator
Sheree Montgomery
Graphics and Production Specialists
Jennifer Creasey
Jennifer Mayberry
Quality Control Technicians
Jessica Kramer
Lauren Mandelbaum
Proofreading and Indexing
BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services
Vertical Websites Project Manager
and Producer
Rich Graves
About the Author
John Walkenbach is a bestselling Excel author who has published more than 50 spreadsheet books. He lives amid the saguaros, javelinas, rattlesnakes, bobcats, and gila monsters in Southern Arizona but the critters are mostly scared away by his clawhammer banjo playing. For more information, Google him.
Acknowledgments
Thanks again to everyone who bought the previous editions of this book. Your suggestions have helped make this edition the best one yet.
And a special thanks to two behind-the-scenes folks who helped considerably: Elizabeth Kuball (who made it more readable) and Niek Otten (who made it more accurate).
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing Excel 2013 Bible. If you're just starting with Excel, you'll be glad to know that Excel 2013 is the easiest version ever.
My goal in writing this book is to share with you some of what I know about Excel and, in the process, make you more efficient on the job. The book contains everything that you need to know to learn the basics of Excel and then move on to more advanced topics at your own pace. You'll find many useful examples and lots of tips and tricks that I've accumulated over the years.
Is This Book for You?
The Bible series from John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is designed for beginning, intermediate, and advanced users. This book covers all the essential components of Excel and provides clear and practical examples that you can adapt to your own needs.
In this book, I've tried to maintain a good balance between the basics that every Excel user needs to know and the more complex topics that will appeal to power users. I've used Excel for more than 20 years, and I realize that almost everyone still has something to learn (including myself). My goal is to make that learning an enjoyable process.
Software Versions
This book was written for Excel 2013 for Windows. Much of the information also applies to Excel 2007 and Excel 2010, but if you're using an older version of Excel, I suggest that you put down this book immediately and find a book that's appropriate for your version of Excel. The user interface changes introduced in Excel 2007 are so extensive that this book will be very confusing if you use an earlier version.
Also, please note that this book is not applicable to Excel for Mac.
Office 2013 is available in several versions, including a web version, and a version for tablets and phones. This book covers only the standard desktop version of Excel 2013.
Conventions Used in This Book
Take a minute to scan this section to learn some of the typographical and organizational conventions that this book uses.
Excel commands
Excel 2013 (like the two previous versions) features a menu-less user interface. In place of a menu system, Excel uses a context-sensitive Ribbon system. The words along the top (such as File, Insert, Page Layout, and so on) are known as tabs. Click a tab, and the Ribbon displays the commands for the selected tab. Each command has a name, which is (usually) displayed next to or below the icon. The commands are arranged in groups, and the group name appears at the bottom of the Ribbon.