How to enter data in Excel

In this lesson, we'll look at the most basic way to enter data in an Excel worksheet—by typing. In future lessons, we'll look at a number of shortcuts for entering data faster.

To enter data in Excel, just select a cell and begin typing. You'll see the text appear both in the cell and in the formula bar above.

To tell Excel to accept the data you've typed, press enter. The information will be entered immediately, and the cursor will move down one cell.

You can also press the tab key instead of the enter key. If you press tab, the cursor will move one cell to the right once the information has been entered.

When Excel sees that you are typing into a list, pressing enter at the end of the row will move the cursor down one row and back to the first column.

At any time while you are typing you can press the escape key to cancel. This brings Excel back to the state it was in before you started typing.

When you want to delete information that has already been entered, just select the cells, and press the delete key.