A how-to for Excel users.
My Visual QuickStart Guide books for Excel — from the edition for Excel 95 for Windows through the edition for Excel X for Macintosh — have always included an Excel function reference. In an effort to make pages available for other content, however, we’ve cut that appendix from the Excel 2007 edition of the book. I don’t feel badly about the cut, since this information is readily available in Excel Help and on the Web.
Here’s how you can find a function reference for your version of Excel and print it for your own hard-copy reference guide.
In Excel 2007 for Windows
- Click the Help button in the upper-right corner of the Excel window to display the Excel Help window.
- Enter function list in the search box and press Enter.
Among the search results that appear, you should see an item titled “List of worksheet functions (by category).” Click its link.
A help document titled “List of worksheet functions (by category) appears in the help window. It includes a complete list with brief descriptions of all Excel 2007 functions. You can read through this document and click links within it to learn more about specific functions.- To print the reference sheet, click the Print button in the Excel Help window’s toolbar. Use the Print dialog that appears to set printing options and click the Print button.
Note that you may need a connection to the Internet to access the Function List from within Excel Help. And remember that you can always resize the Excel Help window to better read what’s inside it.
Get this Information Online
This reference information is also available online for some versions of Excel. Click this one of these links:
- Excel 2007 List of Worksheet Functions (by category) – Microsoft has added dozens of new functions to Excel 2007.
- Excel 2003 List of Worksheet functions (by category) – These functions also apply to Excel 2000 (for Windows), Excel 2001 (for Macintosh), Excel 2002 (for Windows), Excel X (for Macintosh), and Excel 2004 (for Macintosh).
These pages contain clickable links to details about specific functions. They can also be printed from within your Web browser; use the Print command.
