Microsoft Excel XP Tutorial

Section Learning Goals In this section, you will learn: How to split the Excel window Freezing portions of the window Hiding rows and columns Changing the display size (zoom)

Splitting the Window

You can view different parts of the same worksheet at the same time by splitting the window. Splitting the window can be useful when you want to compare data in different locations, or copy date from one place to another.

You can split the window both horizontally and vertically:

1. To split the window horizontally, move the mouse over the split handle , the box at the top of the vertical scroll bar.

To split the window vertically, move the mouse over the split handle at the right of the horizontal scroll bar

1. When the mouse pointer changes to a double horizontal line with arrows, click and drag the split handle to the middle of the screen.

You can also split the window by selecting Split from the Window menu. This splits the window into four quadrants.

To adjust the size of each of the panes, click and drag the border (split handle) separating them.

To return to a single window, double-click each of the split handles, or select Remove Split from the Window menu.

Freezing Portions of the Window

When you’re comparing a lot of data, it’s often helpful to freeze one portion of the worksheet, while you scroll through another portion. You can freeze a horizontal pane, a vertical pane, or both:

1. Select the row below, or the column to the right, of the place where you want the split to appear.

1. From the Window menu, select Freeze Panes.

A thin line appears along the row or column, representing the split.

In the illustration above, the left pane is frozen. The horizontal scroll bar can be used to scroll through the right pane.

The co
ntents visible on the left stay the same, while the contents visible on the right change as you scroll.

Tip:

You can freeze both a horizontal and a vertical pane by selecting the cell below and to the right of where you want the split.

This is useful if you have both row and column labels. You can freeze the labels while you scroll through the data.

To unfreeze the pane(s), select Unfreeze Panes from the Window menu.

Hiding Rows and Columns

Instead of freezing portions of the window, you can hide rows or columns:

1. Select the row or column.

1. From the Format menu, select Row or Column, and then select Hide.

The selection disappears.

Tip:

You can also hide entire worksheets by selecting Worksheet from the Format menu instead.

To show the selection again, select Unhide from the same menu.

Changing the Display Size

To zoom into or out of areas of your worksheet, use the Zoom menu, located on the Standard toolbar.

To select a custom display size, select Zoom from the View menu and, in the Zoom dialog, enter a value into the Custom field.

Section Review In this section, you learned: How to split the Excel window Freezing portions of the window Hiding rows and columns Changing the display size (zoom)