Excel Terms

Comma delimited file

A file type that saves the contents of the cells by placing commas between them and an end-of-the-paragraph mark at the end of each row; also referred to as a CSV (comma separated values) file.

Cycle

A continual process diagram.

Chart

A visual representation of a set of data values. Charts show trends or relationships that may not be readily apparent from numbers alone.

Chart sheet

A workbook that contains only a chart.

AutoFit

An Excel feature that adjusts the width of a column to fit the cell content of the widest cell in the column. Aurofitting eliminates empty space by matching the row height or column width to its tllest or longest cell entry.

Criteria range

An area on your worksheet where you define the criteria for the filter, and which indicates how the displayed records are filtered.

Column width

Expressed in terms of the number of characters or pixels the column can contain before being wrapped or truncated

Data

Facts about people, events, things, or ideas.

Constraints

In Solver, values that limit or restrict the outcome.

Chart elements

Objects that make up a chart.

Contextual tabs

Tabs that are added to the Ribbon automatically when a specific object, such as a picture is selected, and that contain commands relevant to the selected object.

Data (Excel)

Text or numbers in a cell.

Constant value

number, text, dates, or times of day that you type into a cell.

Active area

The area of the worksheet that contains data or has contained data - it does not include any empty cells that have not been used in the worksheet.

Cell

The intersection of a column and row on a worksheet

Column heading

The letter that displays at the top of a vertical group of cells in a worksheet; beginning with the first letter of the alphabet, a unique letter or combination of letters identifies each column.

Compound criteria

The use of two or more criteria on the same row - all conditions must be met for the records to be included in the results.

Absolute Reference

A cell address in a formula that will not change when you copy the formula to another location. Dollar signs in the cell reference indicate when it's absolute.

Absolute cell reference

A cell reference that refers to cells by their fixed positions in a worksheet; an absolute cell reference remains the same when the formula is copied.

Backstage view

A centralized space for file management tasks; for example, opening, saving, printing, publishing, or sharing a file. A navigation pane displays along the left side with tabs that group file-related tasks together.

Column chart

A chart in which the data is arranged in columns and which is useful for showing data changes over a period of time or for illustrating comparisons among items.

Data marker

A column, bar, area, dot, pie slice, or other symbol in a chart that represents a single data point; related data points from a data series.

Context Sensitive Command

A command associated with activities in which you are engaged.

Context sensitive

A command associated with activities in which you are engaged; often activated by right-clicking a screen item.

Clear Filter

A command that removes a filter.

Cut

A command that removes a selection and places it on the clipboard.

Data Bar

A conditional format that adds a horizontal bar to the background of a cell proportional in length to the cell's value.

Cell style

A defined set of formatting characteristics, such as font, font size, font color, cell borders, and cell shading.

Chart Title

A descriptive label or name for the chart

AutoFilter menu

A drop-down menu from which you can filter a column by a list of values, by a format or by criteria.

Compatibility Checker

A feature that finds any potential compatibility issues and creates a report so that you can resolve the issues.

AutoComplete (Excel)

A feature that speeds your typing and lessens the likelihood of errors; if the first few characters you type in a cell match an existing entry in the column, Excel fills in the remaining characters for you.

AutoCorrect

A feature used to automate the correction of common typing errors.

AutoComplete

A feature used to complete an entry based on previous entries made in the column containing the active cell.

Compressed file

A file that has been reduced in size and thus takes up less storage space and can be transferred to other computers quickly.

CSV (commas separated values) file

A file type in which the cells in each row are separated by commas; also referred to as a comma delimited file.

Advanced Filter

A filter that can specify three or more criteria for a particular column, apply complex criteria to two or more columns, or specify computed criteria.

Compound filter

A filter that uses more than one condition - and one that uses comparison operators.

Custom Filter

A filter with which you can apply complex criteria to a single column.

Conditional format

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.

Adjacent range

A group of cells in a single rectangular block of cells

Chart Layout gallery

A group of predesigned chart layouts that you can apply to an Excel chart.

Chart styles gallery

A group of predesigned chart styles that you can apply to an Excel chart.

Axis

A line that serves as a frame of reference for measurement and which borders the chart plot area.

Blank workbook

A new, empty workbook contains three worksheets (sheets)

Break-even

A point at which an entity covers its costs and starts to make a profit.

COUNTIF function

A statistical function 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.

Currency Format

A style that displays dollar signs ($) immediately preceding the number and includes a thousands separator (,)

Accounting Format

A style that vertically aligns with dollar signs ($), thousands separators (,), and decimal points.

Check boxes

A type of ActiveX control that the person filling in the form can select to indicate a choice.

Data point

A value that originates in a worksheet cell and that is represented in a chart by a data marker.

Column

A vertical group of cells in a workbook.

Auto Fill

An Excel feature that generates and extends values into adjacent cells based on the values of selected cells.

AVERAGE function

An Excel function that adds a group of values, and then divides the result by the number of values in the group.

Column labels area

An area in the layout section of the PivotTable Field List in which you can position fields that you want to display as columns in the PivotTable report; field names placed here become column titles and the data is grouped in column by these titles.

Cell address

Another name for cell reference.

AutoSum

Another name for the SUM function.

Cell content

Anything typed into a cell.

Constraint cells

Cells that contain values that limit or restrict the outcome.

Combination Chart

Combines two or more Excel chart types into a single graph.

Criteria (Excel)

Conditions that you specify in a logical function.

Chart sheet

Contains an Excel chart that provides visual representation of worksheet data

Chart area

Contains the chart and all of the other chart elements.

Data Definition Table

Documentation that lists the fields to be maintained for each record and a description of the information each field will include.

Data labels

Labels that display the value, percentage, and/or category of each particular data point and can contain one or more of the choices listed - Series name, Category name, Value, or Percentage.

Data series

Related data points represented by data markers; each data series has a unique color or pattern represented by a chart legend.

Clearing data

Removes the data, leaving blank cells where data had been

Comparison operator

Symbols that evaluate each value to determine if it is the same (=), greater than (>), less than (<), or in between a range of values as specified by the criteria.

Arithmetic operators

Symbols used in mathematical operations: + for addition, - for subtraction, * for multiplication, / for division, and ^ for exponentiation.

Active cell

The cell, surrounded by a black border, ready to receive data or be affected by the next Excel command.

Arrange All

The command that tiles all open program windows on the screen.

AND comparison operator

The comparison operator that requires each and every one of the comparison criteria to be true.

.xlsx file name extension

The default file format used by Excel 2010 to save an Excel workbook.

Category fields

The fields that group the values in a PivotTable. Appear as row labels, column labels, and report filters.

Chart (Excel)

The graphic representation of data in a worksheet; data presented as a chart is usually easier to understand than a table of numbers.

Category values

The groups or categories that the series values belong to.

Cell reference

The identification of a specific cell by its intersecting column letter and row number.

Category labels

The labels that display along the bottom of a chart that identifies the categories of data; Excel uses the row titles as the category names.

Arguments

The numbers, text, or cell references used by the function to return a value.

Copy

A command that duplicates a selection and places it on the clipboard.

Data bar

A cell format consisting of a shaded bar that provides a visual cue to the reader about the value of a cell relative to other cells; the length of the bar represents the value in the cell - a longer bar represents a higher value and a shorter bar represents a lower value.

Bevel

A shape effect that uses shading and shadows to make the edges of a shape appear to be curved or angled.

Accounting Number Format

The Excel number format that applies a thousand comma separator where appropriate, inserts a fixed U.S. Dollar sign aligned at the left edge of the cell, applies two decimal places, and leaves a small amount of space at the right edge of the cell to accommodate a parenthesis for negative numbers.

Chart layout

The combination of chart elements that can be displayed in a chart such as a title, legend, labels for the columns, and the table of charted cells.

Comma Style

The Excel number format that inserts thousand comma separators where appropriate and applies two decimal places; Comma Style also leaves space at the right to accommodate a parenthesis when negative numbers are present.

Associated PivotTable report

The PivotTable report in a workbook that is interactive with its PivotTable chart.

Center alignment

The alignment of text or objects that is centered horizontally between the left and right margin.

Category axis

The area along the bottom of a chart that identifies the categories of data

Chart Elements box

The box in the Chart Tools tabs from which you can select a chart element so that you can format it.

Chart style

The overall visual look of a chart in terms of its graphic effects, colors, and backgrounds; for example, you can have flat or beveled columns, colors that are solid or transparent, and backgrounds that are dark or light.

Alignment

The placement of paragraph text relative to the left and right margins.

Auditing

The process of examining a worksheet for errors in formulas.

Data source

The range that contains the data to display in the chart.

3-D

The shortened term for three-dimensional, which refers to an image that appears to have all three spatial dimensions - length, width, and depth.

Base

The starting point; used in calculating the rate of increase, which is the amount of increase divided by the base.

Additive

The term that describes the behavior of a filter when each additional filter that you apply is based on the current filter, and which further reduces the number of records displayed.

Ascending

The term that refers to the arrangement of text that is sorted alphabetically from A to Z, numbers, sorted from lowest to highest, or dates and times sorted from earliest to latest.

Arguments

The values that an Excel function uses to perform calculations or operations.

Chart types

Various chart formats used in a way that is meaningful to the reader; common examples are column charts, pie charts, and line charts.

Contiguous Range

a block of adjacent cells in a worksheet