Section: Support/IT

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet editor from Microsoft that allows for viewing, editing, and creation of spreadsheets. The data can be used with the built-in analysis tools, for creating graphs or charts, finding patterns or trends, and more.

To get started, you will want to organize your data. Labeling your rows and columns is a clean and efficient way to get yourself organized. When you click on one of the cells (or boxes) in the document, you can start typing letters or numbers to fill in the cells. To delete information in the cells, highlight the cell and hit the delete key on your key board. If you want to delete the information in multiple cells, you can highlight multiple cells by clicking and dragging your mouse across the page. Depending on what you want to do with your data, you should highlight your data and select a few options from the ‘Quick Analysis Tool’ as described below in this document. Using the quick analysis tool, you can sum or average your data values, or create graphs and charts as well as many other options.

Tell Me

At the top of the navigation menu over to the right, you will notice a little light bulb icon with a search box next to it. This is Microsoft Office’s Tell Me feature, which allows you to search for features in Microsoft Office by typing in certain key words or phrases. For example if you type in “equations” it will give you several options for creating and using equations with your data.

 

Protected View

When you download a document from your email or online you might notice you can’t make any changes to it. This is because by default Excel only allows you to view the document for your safety. If you trust where you received the document from you can hit “Enable Editing” to the right of the notification under your Navigation area to be able to edit the document as normal.

 

Navigation Menu

• The “File” tab will bring up a new window where you can save, open, print, and share a spreadsheet. This is also where you can create a spreadsheet.
• The “Home” tab contains basic formatting and aesthetic options to edit your data.
• The “Insert” tab allows you to place different graphs, charts, and symbols into your data sheet
• The “Page Layout” tab contains specific and advanced formatting options.
•  The “Formulas” tab gives you the option to create your own formulas to be used along with your data.
• The “Data” tab can be used to group your data in a specific way and analyze it meaningfully without graphs.
• The “Review” tab has options to help self-evaluate and check the information in your data sheet.
• The “View” tab has options that make your graph easier to see and work with.

 

Quick Access Toolbar

The quick access toolbar allows you to quickly access tools and functions that you might need or want commonly.

• The “Save” button allows you to quickly save without having to go through the file tab. If you have not yet saved your document this will act as “Save As”, asking where you would like to save it and what you would like to name it. Shortcut: Ctrl + S on Windows and  + S on Mac.
• The “Undo” button allows you to undo the last change you made to your document. This will allow you to undo any changes you’ve made this session. The arrow down next to it will allow you to select a specific change and it will undo everything from that point on. Alternatively you can hold down the shortcut to undo until release. Shortcut: Ctrl + Z on Windows and  + Z on Mac.
• The “Repeat” button allows you to do a couple different things. It is commonly used to redo an action you might have accidentally undone or it can also repeat the last thing you did such as inserting a table. Holding down the shortcut will use this function multiple times. Shortcut: Ctrl + Y on Windows and  + Y on Mac.
• The last button on the Quick Access Toolbar is a dropdown menu which features common windows functions such as save and spell check. This can be customized to include features you commonly use so you don’t have to memorize shortcuts or switch tabs every time you wish to do something.

 

Quick Analysis Tool

The quick analysis tool saves you time by performing different operations on your data. Once you have all of your data set up, you’ll want to highlight all of the cells that you want to add, sum, make a graph of, and many other options by clicking and dragging the mouse over the cells. In this example, we will highlight all of our values, but you can as few or many rows, columns, or cells as you want.

After your data is highlighted, this icon will pop up at the bottom right corner of the highlight window. Click on it to bring up the options window.

The formatting, charts, totals, tables, and ‘Sparklines’ options all give you different tools to manage your data. The ‘charts’ sections gives you different graphing options as shown in the picture.

 

Recommended Charts

Excel has new types of charts that can be found in the insert tab at the top of the screen.  If you want to use any of the old styles of graphing from excel, you can find them in the ‘All Charts’ tab from the ‘Recommended Charts’ pop up window.

 

Ink Equations

Another cool new feature called Ink Equations allows you to convert
your hand written equations into an equation that excel can use for your data. Simply click the ‘Insert’ tab and then the ‘Symbols’ option. At the bottom of the drop down menu there will be the “Ink Equation” option, click on it to open the writing window. This new window (on the right) will allow you to draw up an equation using your mouse. This is especially handy when your equation might be easier to draw then to type. 

Microsoft Access is a database management system (DBMS) from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft with a graphical user interface and software-development tools.

 

Tell Me

The “Tell me” feature allows you to search for features in Microsoft Access by typing in certain key words or phrases. For example, if you wanted to know how to insert a picture into your document, you could search “filter” and Tell Me will come up with a small list of features, including AutoFilter and Advanced Filtering Options. This feature can be found to the right of the Navigation Menu.

 

Protected View

When you download a document from your email or online you might notice you can’t make any changes to it. This is because by default Access only allows you to view the document for your safety. If you trust where you received the document from you can hit “Enable Editing” to the right of the notification under your Navigation area to be able to edit the document as normal.

 

Navigation Menu (Ribbon System)

The picture above shows the Ribbon System, or what is more commonly known as, the Navigation Menu. Each tab will bring up a different set of tools to modify and control your document, by pressing the Alt key. Access will show you the shortcut combos to quickly navigate the menu and features inside each menu. To use these shortcuts just tap Alt then the key shown, Alt does not have to be held down.

• The “File” tab will bring up a new window where you can save, open, print, and share a document. This is also where you can create a new document.
• The “Home” tab is where you can paste, refresh, and filter things in your database.
• The “Create” tab is where you create new tables for your database and query items from your database.
• The “External data” tab allows you to import data from multiple different sources including Excel or a text file.
• The “Database Tools” tab is where you can compact and repair your database, Run Macros, create relationships and dependencies and analyze the table.
• The “Design” tab is where you can make or append a table. You can also go through all the table commands for SQL with an interface instead.

 

Quick Access Toolbar

The quick access toolbar allows for you to quickly access tools and functions that you might need or want commonly. It can be found at the top left of the program.

• The “Save” button allows you to quickly save without having to go through the file tab. If you have not yet saved your document this will act as “Save As” asking where you would like to save it and what you would like to name it. Shortcut is: Ctrl + S on Windows and  + S on Mac.
• The “Undo” button allows you to undo the last change you made to your document. This will allow you to undo any changes you’ve made this session. The arrow down next to it will allow you to select a specific change and it will undo everything from that point on. Alternatively you can hold down the shortcut to undo until release. Shortcut: Ctrl + Z on Windows and  + Z on Mac.
• The “Repeat” button allows you to do a few different things. It is commonly used to redo an action you might have accidentally undone or it can also repeat the last thing you did such as inserting a table. Holding down the shortcut will use this function multiple times. Shortcut: Ctrl + Y on Windows and  + Y on Mac.
• The last button on the Quick Access Toolbar is a dropdown menu which features common windows functions such as save and spell check. This can be customized to include features you commonly use so you don’t have to memorize shortcuts or switch tabs every time you wish to do something.

Microsoft PowerPoint is a program allowing you to create, edit, and view presentations. You can change the theme, add videos, include animations and transitions, and more.

 

Tell Me

At the top of the navigation menu over to the right, you will notice a little light bulb icon with a search box next to it. This is Microsoft PowerPoint’s Tell Me feature, which allows you to search for features in Microsoft PowerPoint by typing in certain key words or phrases. For example, if you wanted to know how to insert a picture into your document, you could search “picture” and Tell Me will come up with a small list of features, including the insert picture action.

 

Protected View

When you download a document from your email or online you might notice you can’t make any changes to it. This is because by default PowerPoint only allows you to view the document for your safety. If you trust where you received the document from you can hit “Enable Editing” to the right of the notification under your Navigation area to be able to edit the document as normal.

 

Navigation Menu (Ribbon System)

The picture above shows the Ribbon System, or what is more commonly known as, the Navigation Menu. Each tab will bring up a different set of tools to modify and control your document. By pressing the Alt key, PowerPoint will show you the shortcut combos to quickly navigate the menu and features inside each menu. To use these shortcuts just tap Alt then the key shown, alt does not have to be held down.

• The “File” tab will bring up a new window where you can save, open, print, and share a document. This is also where you can create a new document.
• The “Home” tab is the main tab, where you can make new slides, add shapes, and edit font size and layout options.
• The “Insert” tab is where you’ll insert or embed things into your document such as tables, shapes, videos, comments, symbols, and equation notations. You can also insert a cover page from here.
• The “Design” tab allows you to select from a number of pre-made document themes as well as customize it. This is also where you would add watermarking.
• The “Transitions” tab is for making animated or custom transitions between slides. You can choose which transitions you like, and preview them. You can also add sounds to these transitions.
• The “Animations” tab allows you to animate objects on the slide from images to text. These can be made to either be automatic or manually triggered.
• The “Slide Show” tab allows you to preview your presentation in Slide Show view. You can choose when slides will change, and what slide to start from.
• The “Review” tab is to check over your presentation. You can use things like Spell Check and the Thesaurus to make sure your presentation is error free.
• The “View” tab is to change the way you can see your presentation. These different views can make it easier to rearrange your presentation, and the outline view can be handy for making notes about slides.

 

Quick Access Toolbar

The quick access toolbar allows for you to quickly access tools and functions that you might need or want commonly.

• The “Save” button allows you to quickly save without having to go through the file tab. If you have not yet saved your document this will act as “Save As” asking where you would like to save it and what you would like to name it. Shortcut is: Ctrl + S on Windows and  + S on Mac.
• The “Undo” button allows you to undo the last change you made to your document. This will allow you to undo any changes you’ve made this session. The arrow down next to it will allow you to select a specific change and it will undo everything from that point on. Alternatively you can hold down the shortcut to undo until release. Shortcut: Ctrl + Z on Windows and  + Z on Mac.
• The “Repeat” button allows you to do a few different things. It is commonly used to redo an action you might have accidentally undone or it can also repeat the last thing you did such as inserting a table. Holding down the shortcut will use this function multiple times. Shortcut: Ctrl + Y on Windows and  + Y on Mac.
• The “Start” button allows you to start the slideshow from the beginning. This will start the presentation at the first slide despite what slide you have currently selected. Shortcut: F5
• The last button on the Quick Access Toolbar is a dropdown menu which features common windows functions such as save and spell check. This can be customized to include features you commonly use so you don’t have to memorize shortcuts or switch tabs every time you wish to do something.

 

Bottom Toolbar

The bottom toolbar should look familiar to anyone who’s used previous versions of PowerPoint before. It will show you what slide you’re currently looking at, what notes you’ve made about that slide, and comments others have made. You can also switch views here, as well as zoom in and out, and enter Slide Show mode.

 

Collaboration

The “Collaboration” tool in PowerPoint 2016 allows you to work on slides with others in real time. To use this feature you must login to PowerPoint and save your document on either OneDrive or SharePoint. Other users you then invite will be able to edit or view, depending on the permissions you grant, the document in real-time with you. If you decide you want to later remove a user or change their permissions, you can do so by clicking on their icon to the left of the invite button.

• The “invite” button allows you to invite another user by the email that they use to login to Microsoft PowerPoint. You can select what permissions to give them so that if you only want them to be able to view the document and not make any changes, you can do so.
• The “history” button allows you to see a history of changes, who made them, and at what time. This will also allow you to revert back to old version of the document if necessary.
• The “chat” button opens the chat window. You can use standard text chat to type to other users of the document by connecting to a Skype For Business account if that account is different than the one you used to login to PowerPoint. If you would like to message only a specific person you can click on their icon.

 

If you are having difficulty accessing your W2 statements on the VSC Portal, please make sure that your web browser is not blocking pop-ups when you click on the year of your statement.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

After clicking on the year, a notice will appear at the bottom of the screen.

• Click Options for this site
• Then select Always allow
• Click on the year again and your W2 should open in a new tab/window.

Microsoft Edge

After clicking on the year, a notice will appear at the bottom of the screen.

1. Click Allows allow
2. Click on the year again and your W2 should open in a new tab/window.

Mozilla Firefox

After clicking on the year, a notice will appear at the top of the screen.

1. Click the Options button
2. Select Allow pop-ups for portal.vsc.edu
3. Click on the year again and your W2 should open in a new tab/window.

Google Chrome

After clicking on the year, a notice will appear at the top of the screen in the address bar.

Click the small window icon with a red X  on it located on the right-side of the address bar

1. Select Always allow pop-ups from https://portal.vsc.edu
2. Click the Done button
3. Click on the year again and your W2 should open in a new tab/window.

Still having issues?

Try using the direct WebServices website

1. Go to: https://webservices.vsc.edu 
2. In the top-right corner, click Log In
3. After logging in, you should see a banner on the right-side similar to WebServices for Employees
4. Under the Employee Compensation section, you will find the W-2 Statements

 

To disable the Clutter folder in your mailbox, please follow these instructions:

• Navigate to vtc.edu/mail
• Log in with your VTC username and password
• Click on the gear icon next to your profile picture in the top right corner of the window
• Under Your App Settings at the bottom, click Mail
• Under Mail -> Automatic Processing, click on Clutter
• Uncheck the box labeled Seperate items identified as clutter
• Click the Save button at the top to save your changes

To return to your mailbox, click the back arrow next to Options in the top left.

Students, Faculty and Staff

1. Right-click on the Wi-Fi icon on the task bar (lower-right corner near the clock).

2. Select the VTC network and click Connect

3. Enter your VTC credentials and click OK

4. Click Connect once more.

You are now connected to the VTC network