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Chapter 4

Modifying the Spreadsheet

In This Chapter
Finding and opening a workbook for editing
Selecting the cell ranges that require editing
Finding data entry errors with Text to Speech
Inserting and deleting cell ranges
Moving and copying cell ranges
Using comments in the spreadsheet
Finding and replacing cell entries and spell-checking the spreadsheet
Editing worksheets as a group

ome of the spreadsheets you work with require constant updating, whereas others
Sneed only the occasional revision. Whichever is the case, being able to revise an exist-
ing spreadsheet without disturbing either its underlying structure or its current contents is
essential. The exercises in this chapter give you a chance to practice all aspects of basic
editing, including locating the workbook file to open, finding the area in the worksheet that
needs editing, and making all the necessary editing changes.

Finding and Opening the Workbook for Editing

You can’t edit a spreadsheet if its workbook is not open in Excel, and you can’t open its work-
book in Excel if you don’t know where it’s saved on your computer. The secret to locating the
workbook files that need editing (aside from sticking to a clear and consistent system for
naming your files and deciding where to save them) is to make them eminently searchable.
And the key to making your workbook files super-searchable is to add summary information
that you can then use in doing a file search to each and every new workbook you save.

Adding summary information to a workbook

The Properties dialog box (File➪Properties) contains all sorts of vital statistics about the
workbook, such as its size, location, the name of its creator, as well as the date it was origi-
nally created, last modified, and last opened (accessed). In addition to this information that’s
automatically kept on the file (as listed on the General and Statistics tabs), you can add your
own information to its Summary tab. You can then use any and all of the statistics, both