Adding a worksheet

Let's add a new worksheet to this workbook. In this worksheet, we will keep track of the daily sales for one fundraising booth. We will set up the worksheet to show the date, location, and sales for the booth at the entrance of the park. 

We will use the AutoFill handle to make entering data faster and easier. 

A new, blank worksheet opens. By default, this sheet is named Sheet2. It is good practice to rename new worksheets as they are added. We are going to track the sales for the fundraising booth at the entrance of the park. So we will name this sheet "Sales - Entrance." 

NOTE: New worksheets are named in numeric order. Depending on recent Excel tasks, your new worksheets may be numbered differently than the examples in these materials. 

The new worksheet has been named and is now active.

Adding column headings 

We're now ready to begin adding content to the worksheet. Let's begin by adding the column headings: Date, Location, and Sales.

Using the AutoFill handle to enter data

Earlier in this course, we used the AutoFill handle to copy a function to adjacent cells. However, the AutoFill handle can also be used to make data entry easier, faster, and more accurate. 

Using the AutoFill handle to complete a series

When Microsoft Excel can recognize part of a series (such as dates or days of the week) or pattern (101, 102, 103...), the series or pattern can be continued by pressing and dragging the AutoFill handle to adjacent cells.

Let's type the first date in cell A2 and then use the AutoFill handle to add the remaining dates. 

Now that the first date has been entered, we can use the AutoFill handle to add the remaining dates. 

Let's add the dates for the rest of the week, to 6/11/2022. 

When the date was entered, Microsoft Excel automatically adjusted the number format to Date. Before we add the remaining dates, let's confirm that this happened as expected. In the middle of the Home tab, the Number Format drop-down should show Date (). If another format is selected, take a moment to change it.

The dates are in column A. However, they may not appear as expected. When numeric data doesn't fit in a cell, Excel fills the cell with a series of hashtags (########). To remedy this, it may be necessary to widen the column.

The column is now wide enough for all of the dates to be visible. 

With the dates in place, let's add the location.

Using the AutoFill handle to copy text data

We are entering the daily sales for the fundraising booth near the entrance of the park. Therefore, the location for each date will be "Entrance." The data for this location will be added to the data for the other booth locations, so while the location may seem repetitive now, it will be important later.

We could add the location to cell B2 and use traditional copy/paste methods to copy it to the other cells. But when the data is being copied to adjacent cells, the AutoFill handle makes the process quick and easy. 

The location, Entrance, has been copied to the adjacent cells. 

Adding numeric data to the worksheet

Now that we've done all we can with AutoFill, we will have to manually enter the daily sales in column C. 

The worksheet is almost complete. Before we're ready to move on, we need to format the Sales column as currency. 

Now that the sales for the Entrance location have been entered, we're ready to add this data to the worksheet that contains information for all of the locations.