Microsoft Excel 
ITTraining@sgul.ac.uk Page 1 St. George’s Information Services 
 
UNDERSTANDING WORKBOOKS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In Microsoft Excel the data you enter, whether it 
consists of numbers, text, or formulas, is stored 
in a file known as a workbook. Workbooks are 
just like huge electronic books with pages (or 
sheets) that have been ruled into columns and 
rows. Before using Excel it is helpful to know what 
the various parts and elements that make up a 
workbook are. 
 
A worksheet (or page) in a workbook contains 16,384 columns that are labelled using letters of 
the alphabet. The first column in a worksheet is labelled column A, while the last is labelled XFD 
 
A worksheet (or page) in a workbook contains 1,048,576 rows that are labelled using numbers 
from 1 to 1,048,576 
 
Where a column and row intersect we get what is known as a cell. You enter your data into 
these cells. Each cell in a worksheet can hold up to 32,767 characters – although it would be 
unrealistic to ever push it this far. Cells are referred to by their column and row labels. For 
example, in the screen above the cell we are pointing to is C11 – this reference is known as the 
cell address and is most important as it is frequently used in commands and formulas  
 
When you start typing something, you want it to appear somewhere in the worksheet. As a 
consequence when the Status Bar shows Ready mode, at least one cell in the worksheet will be 
highlighted – this is known as the active cell. In the screen above, the active cell is cell A1 – 
notice that the column label and the row label also appears coloured to indicate the active cell. 
You can have more than one active cell – when this occurs you have what is known as a range 
 
A workbook (as you would expect) is made up of pages known as worksheets. You can have as 
many sheets in a workbook as your computer resources can accommodate. As a default, a new 
blank workbook normally has 3 worksheets labelled Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3. Of course 
these labels are pretty boring and meaningless and can be changed to something more relevant  
 
The Insert Worksheet button here will insert another worksheet into the current workbook 
should you need it 
 
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