Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila School

Phase 1 Vista Verde Executive Village Cainta, Rizal

Computer I (First Trimester)

Module #9
Tips and Tricks in MS Excel 2007
(Fill Handle, Inserting Rows and Columns, Sorting, Filtering
and Adjusting Column Width / Row Height)

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to:
• understand the use of the fill handle, inserting rows / columns and
sort and filter command;
• appreciate the advantages of using the fill handle, inserting rows /
columns and sort and filter command ; and
• create a workbook and use the different tips and tricks in MS Excel
2007.

Introduction
The Fill Handle is used in copying cells and in automatically filling up
the cells with continuous data (e.g. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday up to
Sunday). In order to organize data properly, you must know how to insert
rows / columns and adjust their column width and row height. Sorting and
Filtering is the arrangement of cells from highest to lowest or vice versa (if
numbers) and from A to Z or vice versa (if texts)

In this lesson, you will be guided in answering the following:

• How to use the fill handle;
• How to sort and filter cells;
• How to insert rows / columns; and
• How to adjust column width and row height

Using the Fill Handle

The Fill handles is located at the bottom right part of the

active cell. As shown on the picture, it is used to
automatically fill up the selected cells with its
corresponding data by dragging the fill handle to the
desired output.
NOTE: The fill handle is commonly used in filling up the following data:
• Days of the Week (Monday, Tuesday and etc.)
• Months of the Year (January, February and etc.)
• Numbers

Steps in Using the Fill Handle

• It is necessary to input the first three data on different cells;
• Select the cells that you want to auto fill; and
• Drag the fill handle to the desired output of the cells

Inserting Rows and Columns

You can insert rows and columns using the following
procedures:
1. Right-click on the Column header or the Row number then
choose ‘Insert’
2. On the Ribbon – Home tab, Cells group, click on ‘Insert
command’ then choose ‘Insert Sheet Rows’ or ‘Insert
Sheet Columns’.

NOTE: You can also delete rows and columns using the same procedure, just
choose ‘Delete’ instead of ‘Insert’.

Changing Column Width and Row Height

You can adjust column width or row height
using the following procedures:
1. Right-Click on the Column header or the Row
number then choose ‘Column Width’ or ‘Row
Height’
2. On the Ribbon – Home tab, Cells group, click
on the ‘Format command’ then choose ‘Row
height’ or ‘Column Width’

Sorting and Filtering

You can sort data by text (A to Z or Z to A), numbers
(smallest to largest or largest to smallest), and dates and
times (oldest to newest and newest to oldest) in one or more
columns. You can also sort by a custom list (such as Large,
Medium, and Small) or by format, including cell color, font
color, or icon set. Most sort operations are column sorts, but you can also
sort by rows.
 Filtered data displays only the rows that meet criteria (criteria:
Conditions you specify to limit which records are included in the result set of
a query or filter.) that you specify and hides rows that you do not want
displayed. After you filter data, you can copy, find, edit, format, chart, and
print the subset of filtered data without rearranging or moving it.

You can also filter by more than one column. Filters are additive, which
means that each additional filter is based on the current filter and further
reduces the subset of data.

Using AutoFilter, you can create three types of filters: by a list values,
by a format, or by criteria. Each of these filter types is mutually exclusive for
each range of cells or column table. For example, you can filter by cell color
or by a list of numbers, but not by both; you can filter by icon or by a custom
filter, but not by both.

NOTE: For best results, do not mix storage formats, such as text and
number or number and date, in the same column because only one type of
filter command is available for each column. If there is a mix of storage
formats, the command that is displayed is the storage format that occurs the
most. For example, if the column contains three values stored as number
and four as text, the filter command that is displayed is Text Filters.

Mini Project in Microsoft Excel 2007

CREATING A CALENDAR IN MICROSOFT EXCEL
Follow the instructions below:
1. change the Paper size from “letter” to “LEGAL”
- on the Menu Bar, click File
- choose Page Setup
2. on the Margins tab change the bottom margin to 1
3. Select Column header A and S and change their Column Width to 2.5
4. Merge Cells A1 up to S3 and type CALENDAR 2010
5. Select Row number 4 and 58, change the Row Height to 8.25
6. Select Column header B to H and change their Column Width to 5
7. Select Column header I and K, change their Column Width to 2
8. Select Column header J and change Column Width to 5
9. Select Column header L to R and change their Column Width to 5
10. Select Row header 7 to 12, 16 to 21, 25 to 30, 34 to 39, 43 to 48,
and 52 to 57. Change their Row Height to 15
11. Merge cells B5 to H6 and type JANUARY (font size: 20, bold, any
font style)
12. Merge cells B14 to H15 and type FEBRUARY (font size: 20, bold,
any font style)
13. Merge cells B23 to H24 and type MARCH (font size: 20, bold, any
font style)
14. Merge cells B32 to H33 and type APRIL (font size: 20, bold, any
font style)
15. Merge cells B41 to H42 and type MAY (font size: 20, bold, any
font style)
16. Merge cells B50 to H51 and type JUNE (font size: 20, bold, any
font style)
17. Merge cells L5 to R6 and type JULY (font size: 20, bold, any font
style)
18. Merge cells L14 to R15 and type AUGUST (font size: 20, bold, any
font style)
19. Merge cells L23 to R24 and type SEPTEMBER (font size: 20, bold,
any font style)
20. Merge cells L32 to R33 and type OCTOBER (font size: 20, bold,
any font style)
21. Merge cells L41 to R42 and type NOVEMBER (font size: 20, bold,
any font style)
22. Merge cells L50 to R51 and type DECEMBER (font size: 20, bold,
any font style)
23. Select Column Header B and L, change the Font Color to RED
24. Go to B7 and type Sun
25. Go to C7 and type Mon
26. Go to D7 and type Tue
27. Go to E7 and type Wed
28. Go to F7 and type Thurs
29. Go to G7 and type Fri
30. Go to H7 and type Sat
31. Copy cells B7 to H7 and Paste to cells:
L7 to R7, B16 to H16, L16 to R16, B25 to H25,
L25 to R25, B34 to H34, L34 to R34, B43 to H43,
L43 to R43, B52 to H52, and L52 to R52
32. Select cells:
B8 to H12, L8 to R12, B17 to H21, L17 to R21,
B26 to H30, L26 to R30, B35 to H39, L35 to R39,
B44 to H48, L44 to R48, B53 to H57, and L53 to R57
And change the cells effects to SUPERSCRIPT
33. Select Row header 59 and change the Row Height to 27
34. Merge cells A59 to S59 and type “WELCOME! YEAR OF THE
SNAKE” or any quotations
35. Type the dates of the Calendar 2010, be sure to change the font
color of the HOLIDAYS with RED
36. Adjust the margins of the workbook if necessary. To view your
workbook, click on the Microsoft Office Button – and choose ‘Print’ then
‘Print Preview’. After following steps 1 up to 35, you must now see a
blueprint of a CALENDAR
37. Start designing your CALENDAR by adding more colors and
pictures. Be sure that your CALENDAR if free from errors and readable.
Note: Be creative in designing your calendar. You can highlight cells with
different colors as long as the color will not contrast the font color of the
DATES so that your CALENDAR will be readable. Add as many information
as you want but DON’T overcrowd the calendar (simplicity is BEAUTY).
You can also put background to your worksheet

Reference:
http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/district/etc/documents/excel_beg_doc.html

Things to Remember
• Microsoft Excel 2007 is a spreadsheet application
developed by Microsoft Corporation. It is often used in
processing business, financial and class record
calculations of various kinds.
• A workbook is a file created using MS Excel. It can
organize various kinds of related information in a single file because
each workbook can contain many worksheets.
• By default, each workbook includes three worksheets named as
Sheet1, Sheet2 and Sheet3.
• A cell may contain either two kinds of input – Value or Formula.
• The Name Box indicates the cell address of the current cell. You can
name cell and range of cells using the Name box.
• You can add worksheets through the following procedures:
o Click the insert worksheet button beside the sheet tabs.
o Press Shift + F11
• A worksheet or simply sheet is used to list and analyze data. It
contains columns, rows and cells.
• Each worksheet has over 15,000 columns (A up to XFD) and 1,048,576
rows.
• Each workbook can have over 3,000 sheets. The exact number is
dependent upon the amount of memory in the computer.
• Other essential buttons in MS Excel 2007 includes Merge and Center,
AutoSum, Cell Orientation and Borders Command
• Cell Formatting includes six elements namely; Number, Alignment,
Font, Border, Fill and Protection.
• Number Formatting has several types such as Number, Currency,
Accounting, Date and etc.
• You can format cells using the Format Cells Dialog Box or just change
the cell format on the Ribbon, Home Tab, Number group and Number
Format drop-down menu.
• You can adjust column width or row height using the following
procedures:
 o Right-Click on the Column header or the Row number then
choose ‘Column Width’ or ‘Row Height’
o On the Ribbon – Home tab, Cells group, click on the ‘Format
command’ then choose ‘Row height’ or ‘Column Width’
• You can sort data by text (A to Z or Z to A), numbers (smallest to
largest or largest to smallest), and dates and times (oldest to newest
and newest to oldest) in one or more columns.

Test Yourself
Direction: State which of the following statements are TRUE or
FALSE.

_____________ 1. The first cell address on worksheet is A1

_____________ 2. Data cannot be entered through Formula Bar
_____________ 3. Data is entered only into the Active Cell.
_____________ 4. The columns are labeled with numbers and the rows with
letters.
_____________ 5. You can directly navigate to a cell by typing the cell address
on the Name Box section of the Formula Bar.
_____________ 6. A valid cell address consists of a column letter and a row
number.
_____________ 7. The Quick Access Toolbar displays the status of the current
process. It also displays the different view options and the Zoom Tool.
_____________ 8. Control + End send the cursor to the bottom right of the
spreadsheet.
_____________ 9. The degrees command under the alignment sets the amount
of text rotation in the selected cell.
____________ 10. You can insert and delete columns, rows and cells under the
Ribbon, Home tab and Cells group.

Direction: Write a 10-sentence paragraph explaining the functions and the

different commands under the two new tabs in MS Excel 2007 (Formulas and
Data tab). You will be graded using the following rubric:

Rubrics in explaining Function and Data tab

 5 4 3 2 1
1. Correct explanation
on each tab.
• Identified the uses
and functions of
each tab.
2. Spelling
3. Number of sentences