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Microsoft Excel Help

In Excel 2002 you can access the entire help system by using the additional Microsoft Excel Help window.

This window is automatically displayed when you press F1 or you select (Help > Microsoft Excel Help).

You can also use the (F6) shortcut key to quickly switch between the different tabs.

Ask a Question

In Excel 2002 a new Ask a Question box was added to the top right hand corner of your Excel application.

This is a textbox that allows to type in a question or keywords at any time.

A list of help topics will be displayed immediately. If your search finds more than 5 topics then a "See More" link will appear at the bottom.

Don't worry about capitalisation or even about entering a complete sentence. Just typing in a keyword will work.

Contents tab

This displays a list of the major topics in Excel and expanding the tree structure allows you to drill down.

This is similar to a table of contents in a book. Click on any plus sign (or double click) to the left of a topic to display the sub topics.

Click once on the help page listing to display the page.

Answer Wizard tab

This can be very useful if you are not familiar with all the buzz words.

Typing in a question, such as "functions" will display a list of general topics and keywords.

Index tab

This can be used to search for keywords or a short sentence describing your problem.

A list of keywords in alphabetical order is also provided.

It is always worth searching for related topics as well as the topic itself.

Whats This ? button

It is also possible to get help with any of the toolbar buttons or menus by using the "Whats this" prompt.

Once this command has been activated the mouse cursor will change to a small question mark.

You can also be activated using the shortcut key (Shift + F1).

This can be activated from the Help menu.

Things to Remember

Pressing (Alt + C) switches to the Contents tab.

Pressing (Alt + A) switches to the Answer Wizard tab.

Pressing (Alt + I) switches to the Index tab.