Category: Calc

Use the logical function if (yielding one of two specific values) with comparison operator: =, >, <.

To use the logical function ‘IF’, we need to follow the same steps as before to reach the ‘Function Wizard’. In the ‘Function Wizard’, select ‘Logical’ in the ‘Category’ and from ‘Function’, select ‘IF’. Click on ‘Next’ and the following dialog is displayed.
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The ‘IF’ function takes three arguments, these are ‘Test’, ‘Then_value’ and ‘Otherwise_value’. ‘Test’ is the condition which needs to be tested for being either true or false. A condition could be anything and can be defined with the help of comparison operators. Here we’ll put a simple condition ‘K8>1000’, this will check whether the number present in the cell K8 is greater than 1000 or not. ‘Then_value’ defines the value which will get printed in the target cell if the condition is satisfied and ‘Otherwise_value’ defines the value which will get displayed if the condition is not satisfied. Here we’ll put the ‘Then_value’ as “Is greater than 100” and ‘Otherwise_value’ as “Is less than 1000”. Anything which is put inside “” in Calc is considered to be text by the tool, this should be kept in mind while making inputs to the tool. After making all the inputs, click on ‘OK’.

Since the value in cell K8 here is 1032, which is greater than 1000, so “Is greater than 1000” gets displayed in the selected cell. This is how ‘IF’ function works.

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Use sum, average, minimum, maximum, count, counta, round functions.

Functions help us in analyzing and referencing data. To use functions in a worksheet, first of all we need some data on which the functions are to be applied. Any function needs some arguments to be passed to it as parameters, upon which the calculations or other operations are performed.
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Say we need to add the numbers present in some cells. We can use the ‘SUM’ function to perform this task. To use the ‘SUM’ function, first select the cell where you want to put the result of the addition operation. Then click on ‘Insert’ from the main menu bar, from the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Function’. This opens the ‘Function Wizard’. All this has been shown below.

The selected cell is the one where the sum of the cell values which have been highlighted needs to be put in. Then in the ‘Function Wizard’, under ‘Category’, select ‘Mathematical’, and then under ‘Function’, select ‘SUM’. Then click on ‘Next’. The below shown dialog will get displayed.

 

Here, as shown, ‘=SUM ( )’ gets displayed in the ‘Formula’ section. Now we’ll pass arguments to this function. For that we’ll use the ‘Select’ icons, which have been highlighted above. For selecting the first number, click on the ‘Select’ icon in front of ‘number 1’. This will minimize the ‘Function Wizard’ and then the required cell(s) can be selected from the sheet.

As has been shown above, the data range from A2 to A14 has been selected here. After making the selection, again click on the ‘Select’ icon from the minimized ‘Function Wizard’. This will again maximize the wizard and the argument will be shown in the formula.

We can pass thirty arguments to the ‘SUM’ function, and each of these arguments can contain any data range. So this shows that we can add almost any amount of data using this function. After selecting the arguments, simply click on ‘OK’, and the result will be shown in the selected cell.

All kinds of different functions can be used in a similar manner in Calc. The steps will all remain the same. Just the arguments and the functionality of the functions vary.

The ‘AVERAGE’ function returns the mathematical average of the numbers present in the cells which are selected. Exactly same steps need to be followed for the ‘AVERAGE’ function as were followed for the ‘SUM’ function. The only variation is that the ‘Category’ for the ‘AVERAGE’ function would be ‘Statistical’.

To get the minimum and maximum values from any list of arguments, we can use the ‘MIN’ and ‘MAX’ functions from the ‘Statistical’ category respectively.

The ‘COUNT’ function form the ‘Statistical’ category counts how many numbers are present in the argument list. This function only counts how many numbers are present in the argument list, and ignores other types of values like text.

The ‘COUNTA’ function from the ‘Statistical’ category counts how many values are present in the argument list. This function counts the number of all kinds of values present in the argument list, be it numbers or text or any other.

The ‘ROUND’ function from the ‘Mathematical’ category rounds a number to a predefined accuracy. The ‘ROUND’ function takes two arguments, ‘number’ and ‘count’. Here ‘number’ is the number which needs to be rounded and ‘count’ is the number of places to which the number needs to be rounded. Say, if the ‘number’ selected from a cell is 1006.5555 and the ‘count’ given is 2, then the result will be 1006.56. This is how the ‘ROUND’ function works.

Use the logical function if (yielding one of two specific values) with comparison operator: =, >, <.

To use the logical function ‘IF’, we need to follow the same steps as above to reach the ‘Function Wizard’. In the ‘Function Wizard’, select ‘Logical’ in the ‘Category’ and from ‘Function’, select ‘IF’. Click on ‘Next’ and the following dialog is displayed.

The ‘IF’ function takes three arguments, these are ‘Test’, ‘Then_value’ and ‘Otherwise_value’. ‘Test’ is the condition which needs to be tested for being either true or false. A condition could be anything and can be defined with the help of comparison operators. Here we’ll put a simple condition ‘K8>1000’, this will check whether the number present in the cell K8 is greater than 1000 or not. ‘Then_value’ defines the value which will get printed in the target cell if the condition is satisfied and ‘Otherwise_value’ defines the value which will get displayed if the condition is not satisfied. Here we’ll put the ‘Then_value’ as “Is greater than 100” and ‘Otherwise_value’ as “Is less than 1000”. Anything which is put inside “” in Calc is considered to be text by the tool, this should be kept in mind while making inputs to the tool. After making all the inputs, click on ‘OK’.

Since the value in cell K8 here is 1032, which is greater than 1000, so “Is greater than 1000” gets displayed in the selected cell. This is how ‘IF’ function works.

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Related Lesson

This lesson will teach us about the various database functions available. Specifically, the DSUM function, which adds all of the cells in a data range that matches the search criteria.
Advanced Spreadsheets – Database Functions

Arithmetic Formulas

Recognize good practice in formula creation: refer to cell references rather than type numbers into formulas.

We have been entering either text or numbers into the cells till now, but in case the data in a cell is dependent on the value of data of other cells, we use formulas. Formulas use numbers and variables to get the required values. These variables are the cell references of the cells from where we need to get the data to be used in the formulas.
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Whenever a formula is created in Calc, one thing should always be taken into consideration. We should always try and use cell references in the formulas instead of directly using numbers. This helps in decreasing the efforts in changing the formulas every time a value needs to be changed. If we keep such values directly in a formula, we’ll have to change the formula each time the value is changed. But if we keep such values in a separate cell and use the cell reference in the formula, then we’ll have to simply change the value in one cell and all the formulas will be updated. This saves time and effort.

Create formulas using cell references and arithmetic operators (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division).

There are four types of arithmetic operators; addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. These return numerical results.

Any formula must always begin with an ‘=’ symbol. The formulas can be entered by either using the function wizard or by typing directly into the cell or the input line.

‘=b4+b6’ gives the sum of the values stored in the cells ‘B4’ and ‘B6’. ‘B4’ and ‘B6’ are the cell references here and ‘+’ is the arithmetic operator.

To create this formula, double click on the cell where this formula needs to be entered. Then type in the formula in the cell and press ‘Enter’ from the keyboard.

This will showcase the result of the formula in that cell.

The subtraction, multiplication and division operators can be used in the same way.

Identify and understand standard error values associated with using formulas: #NAME?, #DIV/0!, #REF!.

While using formulas, it is very common to get errors. These can occur due to a variety of reasons, but the important part is to identify these, so that we can correct them. Error messages or values are the simplest tools which help us in identifying these errors. Some of the most common error-values associated with using formulas are given below,

#Name? : This error value is displayed in place of the error code Err:525. This code signifies that no valid reference exists for the argument. This means that if we provide some argument to the function incorrectly, say ‘b’ in place of ‘b6’ or any such mistake, then this error value will get displayed.

#DIV/0! : This error value is displayed in place of the error code Err:532. This signifies division by zero. This means that if we write a formula of the type, ‘=b4/b6’ and b6 here contains 0, then this error value will get displayed as division by zero is not a proper mathematical operation.

#REF! : This error value is displayed in place of the error code Err:524. This signifies that the column, row, or sheet for the referenced cell is missing. This means that if we are referring a sheet in a formula or a function, which has been deleted, then this error value will get displayed.

Understand and use relative, absolute cell referencing in formulas.

Referencing is the way by which we refer to the location of any cell in Calc. There are two types of references, absolute and relative.

In relative referencing, when we use a formula to refer to two or more cells, and then when we copy this formula to a new location, then the new formula does not refer to the same cells. It refers to new cells which have the same relative position to the formula as was the case with the original referencing.

To understand in a better way, let us take an example. As shown below, we have put the formula ‘=b4+b6’ in the cell ‘b9’. Thus the answer of this calculation, 11, is being displayed in this cell. When we copy the formula and paste it in ‘c9’, then the result will be 10 and not 11. This is because, the formula copied will have new references ‘c4’ and ‘c6’ as these have the same relative locations to ‘c9’, as was the case with ‘b4’, ‘b6’ and ‘b9’. Thus the sum of the values stored in ‘c6’ and ‘c9’ will get displayed, which is 10. This is how relative referencing works.

In absolute referencing, the references do not change with the formula and the same reference is copied when the formula is copied to another cell. This is achieved by writing the formula as, ‘=b4+$b$6’. This will change the ‘b4’ reference when the formula is copied, but the ‘b6’ reference will remain as it is. This has been shown in the diagram given below.

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Switch between worksheets.

To switch between different open worksheets, we just need to click on the appropriate sheet name from the bottom of the Calc window, as has been shown in the below given illustration.
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When we click on a particular sheet name, that sheet will get opened. This is how we can switch between different open worksheets.

Insert a new worksheet, delete a worksheet.

To insert a new worksheet in Calc, you can simply click on the ‘Add Sheet’ button. This button has been shown in the diagram below. This button simply creates a new sheet with the default name. After the creation of the sheet with the default name, double click on the sheet name to open the ‘Rename Sheet’ dialog. Enter the new name for the sheet in this dialog and click on ‘OK’. The name of the sheet will get updated.

Another method to insert a new worksheet is by double-clicking on the white area in front of the ‘Add Sheet’ button, as has been shown in the diagram. Double-clicking here will open the ‘Insert Sheet’ dialog.

Enter the name for the sheet here, and change the other options as per the requirements and click on ‘OK’. This will create a new worksheet.

To delete a worksheet, simply right-click on the sheet name and click on the ‘Delete Sheet’ button from the resulting menu.

Recognize good practice in naming worksheets: use meaningful worksheet names rather than accept default names.

Whenever new worksheets are created, then Calc provides default names for these worksheets. These names are generic in nature and provide no information about the type of sheet or the type of data contained in that sheet.

So rather than accepting these default names, we should use meaningful names for our spreadsheets which convey some information about the type or nature of the data contained in the spreadsheets.

Copy, move, and rename a worksheet within a spreadsheet.

To move a sheet to a different position within the same spread sheet, click on the sheet tab and drag it to its new position before releasing the mouse button.

To copy a sheet within the same spread sheet, hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key and then click on the sheet tab and drag it to its new position before releasing the mouse button. This will create a copy of the existing worksheet in the new position.

To rename a spreadsheet, double click on the sheet name to open the ‘Rename Sheet’ dialog. Enter the new name for the sheet in this dialog and click on ‘OK’. The name of the sheet will get updated.

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Rows and Columns

Select a row, range of adjacent rows, and range of non-adjacent rows.

To select a row, simply click on the row header for that row. It should just be a single click and not a double click. This will select the entire row.

To select a range of adjacent rows, click on the row header for the first row in that range and without releasing the mouse button, drag the cursor to the last row header in the range. This will select the entire range of adjacent rows.
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To select a range of non-adjacent rows, click on one of the row headers from any of the rows and then press the ‘ctrl’ key on the keyboard. Without releasing the ‘ctrl’ key, select each of the non-adjacent row headers individually. But the ‘ctrl’ key should not be released throughout. This is how we can select a range of non-adjacent rows.

Select a column, range of adjacent columns, and range of non-adjacent columns.

To select a column, simply click on the column header for that column. It should just be a single click and not a double click. This will select the entire column.

To select a range of adjacent columns, click on the column header for the first column in that range and without releasing the mouse button, drag the cursor to the last column header in the range. This will select the entire range of adjacent columns.

To select a range of non-adjacent columns, click on one of the column headers from any of the columns and then press the ‘ctrl’ key on the keyboard. Without releasing the ‘ctrl’ key, select each of the non-adjacent column headers individually. But the ‘ctrl’ key should not be released throughout. This is how we can select a range of non-adjacent columns.

Insert, delete rows and columns.

To insert a row or a column, right-click on the column header to the left of which you want to insert a new column or right-click on the row header above which you want to insert a new row. From the resulting menu, in the case of column, click on ‘Insert Columns Left’, and in the case of rows, click on ‘Insert Rows Above’. This will insert a new row or a new column to the worksheet.

To delete a row or a column, simply right-click on the row or column header which needs to be deleted, or select multiple columns or rows and then right click on any one of the headers from the entire range. From the resulting menu, click on ‘Delete Selected Columns’ or ‘Delete Selected Rows’. The selected rows or columns will get deleted.

Modify column widths, row heights to a specified value, to optimal width or height.

To modify column widths or row heights, right click on the column header and then click on ‘Column Width’ from the resulting menu or right click on the row header and then on ‘Row Height’ from the resulting menu respectively. This will open the ‘Column Width’ or ‘Row Height’ dialog box where the width or height of the column or the row can be set. After giving the appropriate value, click on ‘OK’. This will change the height or width of the row or column accordingly.

To modify the column width or row height to optimal values, right click on the column or row header and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Optimal Column Width’ or ‘Optimal Row Height’. This will open the ‘Optimal Column Width’ or ‘Optimal Row Height’ dialogs. Click on ‘OK’ and the width or the height will get modified to the default values.

Freeze, unfreeze row and/or column titles.

Freezing locks a number of rows at the top of a spreadsheet or a number of columns on the left of a spreadsheet or both rows and columns. Then, when moving around within a sheet, the cells in frozen rows and columns always remain in view.

To freeze a row or a column, click on the row header below the rows you want the freeze or click on the column header to the right of the columns where you want the freeze. After this, click on ‘Window’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Freeze’. This will freeze the rows and columns as per your selections.

To unfreeze these rows and columns, click on ‘Freeze’ again from the ‘Window’ drop down menu from the main menu bar.

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Copy the content of a cell, cell range within a worksheet, between worksheets, between open spreadsheets.

To copy the content of a cell or a range of cells within a worksheet, between worksheets or even to another open spreadsheet, simply select the cell or the range of cells. Then right click anywhere on the selected portion and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Copy’.
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After this go to the cell location where you want to copy the selected cell or cell range. This location can be in the same worksheet, or in some other worksheet of the same spreadsheet or also in some other open spreadsheet. Right click on this cell and from the resulting menu click on ‘Paste’. This will copy the content from one location to another.

Use the auto fill tool/copy handle tool to copy, increment data entries.

You can use the ‘Fill’ tool in Calc to duplicate existing content or to create a series in a range of cells in your spreadsheet.

To use the ‘Fill’ tool to copy data, click on the cell from which you want to copy the data and then without releasing the mouse button select the cells where the data needs to be copied by dragging the mouse to any direction.

After this, click on ‘Edit’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop down, click on ‘Fill’. From the sub-menu, click on ‘Down’, ‘Up’, ‘Left’ or ‘Right’ as per the cells which have been selected. This will copy the data of the selected cell to the rest of the cells.

To make incremental data entries, select the cell from where you want to start the series and then without releasing the mouse button select the cells where the series needs to be created. After this, click on ‘Edit’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Fill’, and from the sub-menu click on ‘Series’. This will open the ‘Fill Series’ dialog box.

Make the entries of the ‘Start Value’ and the ‘Increment’ here and also select the ‘Series Type’ and ‘Direction’. After selecting everything, click on ‘OK’. The series will get created in the selected cells.

Move the content of a cell, cell range within a worksheet, between worksheets, between open spreadsheets.

To move the content of a cell or a range of cells within a worksheet, between worksheets or even to another open spreadsheet, simply select the cell or the range of cells. Then right click anywhere on the selected portion and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Cut’.

After this go to the cell location where you want to copy the selected cell or cell range. This location can be in the same worksheet, or in some other worksheet of the same spreadsheet or also in some other open spreadsheet. Right click on this cell and from the resulting menu click on ‘Paste’. This will move the content from one location to another.

Delete cell contents.

To delete the contents of a cell, right click on the cell and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Delete Contents’.

This will open the ‘Delete Contents’ dialog box. Select the appropriate options here and click on ‘OK’. This will delete the contents of the cell.

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Edit cell content, modify existing cell content.

To edit or modify the content of a cell, double click on that cell. This will enable the editing for that cell. After this, delete the already present data in that cell using the backspace button from the keyboard and enter the new data as per the requirements. This is how the content of a cell can be edited or modified in Calc.

Use the undo, redo command.

The undo command undoes the effect of the recent changes which were made to the document in such a way so that the most recent change is undone first. The redo command performs the most recent change done to the document again.
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To use the undo or redo commands, click on ‘Edit’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Undo’ or ‘Redo’ as per the requirement to perform undo or redo respectively.

Use the search command for specific content in a worksheet.

To use the search or find option in Calc, click on ‘Edit’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Find’. This displays the ‘Find’ bar at the bottom of the Calc window. Enter the number or text value which you want to find in your spreadsheet here and then click on ‘Find All’.

This will open the ‘Search Results’ dialog, in which the sheet name and position of all the cells is displayed, which contain the search term provided.

The ‘Find Next’ and ‘Find Previous’ buttons from the ‘Find’ bar can also be used to go directly to the cells which contain the required content.

Use the replace command for specific content in a worksheet.

To use the replace command for some specific content in a worksheet, click on ‘Edit’ from the main menu bar. Then click on ‘Find and Replace’ from the resulting drop-down menu. This will open the ‘Find and Replace’ dialog.

In this dialog, enter the term which needs to be replaced in ‘Search For’ and the term with which this term needs to be replaced in ‘Replace With’. After this, click on ‘Replace’ to change the content of the cells one by one or click on ‘Replace All’ to change the content of all the cells in one go.

There are also some options provided in this dialog which can be selected as per the requirements. These options help in filtering down the data to be searched in the spreadsheet cells. An example is the ‘Match case’ checkbox. This option if enabled will only search for those cells whose data not only matches the content provided in ‘Search For’, but is also in the same case. These options can be viewed by expanding ‘Other options’.

Sort a cell range by one criterion in ascending, descending numeric order, ascending, descending alphabetic order.

To sort a cell range in ascending or descending numeric order, first of all select that cell range. After this, click on ‘Data’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Sort’. This will first open the ‘Sort Range’ dialog box. This dialog will ask if only the selected cells need to be considered or other cells should also be included. Select ‘Current Selection’.

This will open the sort dialog box. Here, select whether the sorting needs to be done in the ascending order or descending order. The sort key also needs to be selected. This is generally the column or row header in which the selected cells lie. After this, click on ‘OK’.

The selected numeric data will get sorted.

To sort textual data in ascending or descending alphabetical order, follow the same steps as mentioned above. Just select the sort key and the order of sorting in the ‘Sort’ dialog box and then click on ‘OK’.

The only thing which needs to be considered is that in the ‘Sort’ dialog box, under the ‘Options’ tab, the ‘Range contains column labels’ option should be unchecked if the selected cell range does not contain the heading for that range.

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Insert, Select

Understand that a cell in a worksheet should contain only one element of data, (for example, first name detail in one cell, surname detail in adjacent cell).

Any cell in a worksheet should always contain only one element of data. Even if we want to enter the name of a person; then the first name, the last name, and the middle name (if there is one), should all be entered in different cells. This helps in manipulating and analyzing data more effectively and efficiently.
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Recognize good practice in creating lists: avoid blank rows and columns in the main body of list, insert blank row before Total row, ensure cells bordering list are blank.

When data is contained in a Calc spreadsheet in the form of a table, then the most important point is to format your data in such a way so that it can be identified as a list. When the data is manipulated in Calc, then you just need to select any cell within the list and the tool automatically picks up your list based on some rules.

Any empty row or column, or the upper or left border is considered as the boundary of the list. This is why it is very important to never have empty rows or columns within a list. At the same time, individual lists should be marked by a boundary of empty rows or columns. Also it is generally considered to be a good practice to have a blank row before the total row, the total row being the row where the total of the values of other rows gets calculated.

Enter a number, date, text in a cell.

To enter a number in a cell, double click on the cell and type the number using the keyboard. Numbers are right aligned by default.

To enter a date, select the cell and type the date in the appropriate format which is required. The date elements can be separated with a slash (/) or a hyphen (-). The date format will automatically get changed to the format which has been selected for Calc. We will learn about formatting in the subsequent chapters.

To enter text, double click on the cell and type the text. The text values are left aligned by default.

Select a cell, range of adjacent cells, range of non-adjacent cells, entire worksheet.

To select a cell, simply click on that cell. It should just be a single click and not a double click. Upon selection, the cell will get surrounded by a thick dark border.

To select a range of adjacent cells, click on the first cell in that range and without releasing the mouse button, drag the cursor to the last cell in the range. This will select the entire range of adjacent cells.

To select a range of non-adjacent cells, click on one of the cells and then press the ‘ctrl’ key on the keyboard. Without releasing the ‘ctrl’ key, click on all the cells which need to be selected. If some of the cells are adjacent, then these can be selected by dragging the mouse over them. But the ‘ctrl’ key should not be released throughout. This is how we can select a range of non-adjacent cells.

To select the entire worksheet, click on any one of the cells in that worksheet. After this, press ‘ctrl + A’ from the keyboard and this will select the entire worksheet.

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Set basic options/preferences in the application: user name, default folder to open, save spreadsheets.

To set the basic options in the Calc application, click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Options’. This will open the ‘Options’ dialog box.
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In the ‘Options’ dialog box, under ‘LibreOffice’, in ‘User Data’ we have options to enter user info. The user name can be set here.

In the same dialog box, under ‘LibreOffice’, we have ‘Paths’. Here, we can set the different default paths for the folders to open and save files.

Use available Help functions.

All the components of LibreOffice offer extensive help system to the users. Calc is no different. To get the complete help system, click on ‘Help’ button from the main menu bar. Click on ‘LibreOffice Help’ from the drop down which gets displayed and this will open the full help system.

Additionally, you can click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar and then click on ‘Options’ from the resulting drop down menu. Select the ‘LibreOffice > General’ tab from the dialog which gets opened and you can then choose to check or uncheck the available help options like ‘Tips’ and ‘Extended Tips’.

If ‘Tips’ are enabled you can place the mouse pointer over any icon to see a small tooltip box, which provides a small explanation for the functioning of that icon.

If a more detailed explanation is desired, then click on ‘What’s This?’ from the ‘Help’ dropdown on the main menu bar. Holding the pointer above any icon after this will provide a detailed explanation.

Use magnification/zoom tools.

The view magnification can simply be changed by clicking on the + or – sign in the zoom slider on the status bar.

In order to make more custom changes, click on the percentage figure on the status bar. This opens the ‘Zoom & View Layout’ dialog. The appropriate changes can be made by selecting the desired values from this dialog.

Display, hide built-in toolbars. Restore, minimize the ribbon.

Whether to display or hide the different toolbars in Calc can be controlled by using the ‘View’ button on the main menu bar. Click on ‘View’ and then click on ‘Toolbars’ from the drop down. You get a list of different toolbars which can be checked or unchecked in order to display or hide them respectively.

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Open, close a spreadsheet application. Open, close spreadsheets.

To start Calc, click on the ‘Start’ button on your Windows machine. Click on ‘All Programs’ and then go to the ‘LibreOffice’ folder in the list of all programs which gets displayed. Click on the ‘LibreOffice’ folder and then click on ‘LibreOffice Calc’. This will start the Calc application.

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Use the buttons below to navigate through the lesson

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When Calc is started, the main window opens which has been shown below.

The highlighted portion shown in the above illustration is the ‘Main Menu Bar’. This is the most important menu bar in the Calc application and most of the operations in Calc can be performed from here. In this tutorial, we are going to use the main menu bar for performing a variety of different operations.
To close Calc, simply click on the ‘white cross icon with red background’ on the upper right corner of the Calc main window screen. This will close Calc.

Once the application has been started, then a new spreadsheet can be opened. To open a new spreadsheet, click on ‘File’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘New’ and from the sub-menu which is displayed, click on ‘Spreadsheet’. This will open a new spreadsheet.

To close a spreadsheet, simply click on the same white cross icon with a red background from the top right corner of the spreadsheet screen.

Create a new spreadsheet based on default template.

A default template is the one, which is used to create spreadsheets when any new spreadsheet is created. This means that when we create a new spreadsheet, it gets created based on the default template which has been set.

We are going to learn how to set a default template in the subsequent chapters. But to create a new spreadsheet based on the default template, simply follow the steps which have been given in the last section for opening a new spreadsheet. This creates a new spreadsheet based on the default template.

Save a spreadsheet to a location on a drive. Save a spreadsheet under another name to a location on a drive.

Once the changes to a spreadsheet have been made, we need to save this spreadsheet to a location on our computer. To save a spreadsheet, click on ‘File’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Save As’. This opens the ‘Save As’ dialog box.

In this dialog box, we can browse to the folder where we want to save the spreadsheet file and thus select the appropriate location. To change the name by which the file will get saved, just enter the new name in the ‘File Name:’ field. After making these changes, click on ‘Save’. This will save the file to the location which has been specified and under the given file name.

Save a spreadsheet as another file type like: template, text file, software specific file extension, version number.

To save a spreadsheet as another file type, follow the same steps as given above. This will open the ‘Save As’ dialog box. In this dialog box, under the ‘Save as type:’ field, select the appropriate file type as per the requirement and then click on ‘Save’. This will save the spreadsheet as the selected file type.

Switch between open spreadsheets.

 

You can open multiple spreadsheets at a time in Calc. In such a case, to switch between these spreadsheets, just click on the ‘Calc’ icon on the task bar of your computer. This icon will always get displayed whenever you are running Calc on your machine.

When this icon is clicked, then the names of all the active spreadsheets get displayed as has been shown above. Simply click on the name of the spreadsheet which you want to open and that spreadsheet will get opened. You can switch between different spreadsheets using this method.

Calc is part or the Office Software Package from Libre Office
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