A
A command that recognizes a pattern in your data, and then automatically fills in values when you enter examples of the output that you want. Use it to split data from two or more cells or to combine data from two cells.
Flash Fill
A format that changes the appearance of a cell—for example, by adding cell shading or font color—based on a condition; if the condition is true, the cell is formatted based on that condition, and if the condition is false, the cell is not formatted.
Conditional Formatting
The symbols +, -, *, /, %, and ^ used to denote addition, subtraction (or negation), multiplication, division, percentage, and exponentiation in an Excel formula.
Arithmetic operators
An equation that performs mathematical calculations on values in a worksheet.
formula
The cell, surrounded by a black border, ready to receive data or be affected by the next Excel command.
Active Cell
A statistical function in Excel that counts the number of cells within a range that meet the given condition and that has two arguments—the range of cells to check and the criteria.
COUNTIF function
The cell format in which characters align at the left edge of the cell; this is the default for text entries and is an example of formatting information stored in a cell.
Excel Left Alignment
A formatting command that displays the contents of a cell on multiple lines.
Wrap Text
Two or more selected cells on a worksheet that are adjacent or nonadjacent; because the range is treated as a single unit, you can make the same changes or combination of changes to more than one cell at a time.
Range
An Excel feature that adjusts the width of a column to fit the cell content of the widest cell in the column.
Autofit
The process of shrinking the width and/or height of printed output to fit a maximum number of pages.
Scaling
A tiny chart embedded in a cell that gives a visual trend summary alongside your data; makes a pattern more obvious.
Sparklines
Another name for a cell reference.
Cell Address
A predefined formula—a formula that Excel has already built for you—that performs calculations by using specific values in a particular order.
Function
A command that joins selected cells in an Excel worksheet into one larger cell and centers the contents in the merged cell.
Merge and Center
A defined set of formatting characteristics, such as font, font size, font color, cell borders, and cell shading.
Cell style
A tool that displays in the lower right corner of a selected range, with which you can analyze your data by using Excel tools such as charts, color-coding, and formulas.
Quick Analysis tool
A predefined formula that adds all the numbers in a selected range of cells.
SUM function
A cell reference that refers to cells by their fixed position in a worksheet; an absolute cell reference remains the same when the formula is copied.
Absolute cell reference
The small square in the lower right corner of a selected cell.
Fill handle
In a formula, the address of a cell based on the relative positions of the cell that contains the formula and the cell referred to in the formula.
Relative Cell reference
A function in Excel that uses a logical test to check whether a condition is met, and then returns one value if true and another value if false.
IF Function
An Excel function that retrieves the date and time from your computer’s calendar and clock and inserts the information into the selected cell.
NOW function
The values that an Excel function uses to perform calculations or operations.
Arguments
Symbols that evaluate each value to determine if it is the same as (=), greater than (>), less than (<), or in between a range of values as specified by the criteria.
Comparison operators