Worksheet cells are Excel’s building blocks. They store and display the information you enter in an Excel worksheet and allow you to perform worksheet calculations.

You can enter information directly in a cell, or you can enter information through the Formula Bar.

The Formula Bar displays the contents of the active cell. The contents of the active cell appear in the Formula Bar, and the active cell address is displayed in the Name box at the left end of the Formula Bar.

The Insert Function button is always available, but the other two formula-editing buttons appear only while you are entering or editing data in a cell.

Clicking the Cancel button cancels the current action in the cell and is the same as pressing the Esc key.

Clicking the Enter button enters the current action into the cell and is the same as pressing the Enter key (except that pressing the Enter key also normally activates the cell directly below the active cell).

Clicking the Insert Function button displays a dialog box that helps you construct formulas.

More about creating formulas later.