What is a spreadsheet

A spreadsheet is a file that exists of cells in rows and columns and can help arrange, calculate and sort data. Data in a spreadsheet can be numeric values, as well as text, formulas, references and functions.

About spreadsheets

Spreadsheetsare created with spreadsheet software. Best known is Microsoft Excel, but you can also create spreadsheets in Google Sheets. Because Excel is such well-known software, an individual spreadsheet is often referred to as an ‘Excel file’, or ‘an Excel’. PerfectXL’s tools and applications all work exclusively with Excel, but it’s easy to convert a Google sheet to an Excel sheet.

Rows, columns and cells

The rows in a spreadsheet have numeric names (1, 2, 3 etc) and the columns have alphabetic names (a, b, c etc), thus the names of cells subsequently exist of a letter and a number that conveniently point out their position in the grid.

Selection of a row

In the image belong row 3 is selected. This can be done by clicking on the number 3 in front of the row.

Selection of a column

In the image below column B is selected. This can be done by clicking on the letter B above the column.

Selection of a cell

In the image below cell B3 is selected. This can be done by clicking on the cell.

Worksheets

A spreadsheet contains one or several worksheets (tabs). You can add new worksheets by clicking the ‘+’ on the right side of the existing tab(s).

In the picture above worksheet 3 is selected. Clicking on the plus-sign will add a new worksheet to the spreadsheet.

Renaming worksheets

When you left-click on the tab-name, which is ‘Sheet1’ by default, a pop-up with options will appear. One of the options is ‘Rename’ and it allows you to decide on a custom name for your tab.

Common use of spreadsheets

The most common reason to use spreadsheets is to store and organize data, like revenue, payroll and accounting information. Spreadsheets allow the user to make calculations with this data and to produce graphs and charts.