Write the address of a range
A range is a block of cells treated as one thing. You write it as the top-left cell, a colon, and the bottom-right cell: B2:B7 means the six cells from B2 down to B7, and A1:C4 means the twelve-cell rectangle between those corners.
Every function you will meet takes ranges. Getting the notation into your fingers now means SUM, AVERAGE, COUNTIF and VLOOKUP all read as ordinary sentences later.
You can also select a range by dragging across it with the mouse, or by clicking the first cell and shift-clicking the last. The address of whatever you have selected is shown above the grid, on the left.
Column B holds six figures, B2 down to B7. In D2, type the address of the range covering exactly those six cells.
| A | B | C | D | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Week | Sales | Range | ||
| 2 | 1 | 1240 | |||
| 3 | 2 | 1115 | |||
| 4 | 3 | 1390 | |||
| 5 | 4 | 1020 | |||
| 6 | 5 | 1480 | |||
| 7 | 6 | 950 | |||
| 8 | |||||
| 9 | |||||
| 10 |
Click a cell and type. Enter commits, Tab moves right, F2 edits in place, Ctrl+Z undoes. Drag the small square at the corner of a cell to fill. Ctrl+Enter checks your answer.