Page 209 - Excel 2013 All-in-One For Dummies

✦ To replace a cell’s contents, position the cell pointer in the cell and just start inputting your new entry over it. (Remember you can do this by typing from the keyboard, speaking the new entry with the Dictation function of the Speech Recognition feature, or writing it by hand with the Handwriting Recognition feature.) The moment you start inputting the new entry, the first characters that are input entirely replace the existing data entry. To finish replacing the original entry, complete the new cell entry by using whatever technique you like (such as pressing an arrow key or Enter or clicking the Enter button on the Formula bar). To abort the replacement and restore the original cell entry, click the Cancel button on the Formula bar or press the Escape key on your keyboard.
✦ To delete characters in a cell entry, click the insertion point in the entry on the Formula bar, press F2, or double-click the mouse in the cell to get Excel into Edit mode (indicated by EDIT on the status bar). Then, use the Home, End, or ← and → keys to move the insertion point to a proper place in the entry and use the Backspace and Delete keys to remove unnecessary or incorrect characters. (Backspace deletes characters to the left of the insertion point, and Delete removes characters to the right of the insertion point.)
✦ To insert new characters in a cell entry, click the insertion point in the entry on the Formula bar, press F2, or double-click the mouse in the cell to get Excel into Edit mode (indicated by EDIT on the status bar). Then, use the Home, End, or ← and → keys to move the insertion point to the place in the entry where the new characters are needed and start input- ting the new characters. Excel automatically inserts the new characters at the insertion point, thus pushing existing text to the right. If Excel replaces existing characters instead, you need to press the Insert key to get out of overtype mode (in which the new characters you input eat up the existing ones on the right) before you start inputting.
When you edit the contents of a cell by inserting and/or deleting characters in it, you need to remember to click the Enter button on the Formula bar or press the Enter key to complete the editing change and switch the program from Edit back to Ready mode (indicated by the reappearance of READY on the status bar). If you’re editing a cell with a simple text or number entry, you can also do this by clicking the mouse pointer in another cell to make it current. (This doesn’t work, however, when you’re editing a formula because Excel just includes the address of the cell that you click as part of the edited formula.) Also, you can’t use any of the keystrokes that normally complete
a new cell entry except for the Tab and Shift+Tab keystrokes for moving to the next and previous columns in the worksheet. (All the rest, including the arrow keys, Home, and End, just move the insertion point within the cell entry.)
Cell Editing 101 191
Book II Chapter 3
Editing and Proofing Worksheets