Cells and Ranges

The term active cell describes any cell that you have selected and highlighted in your spreadsheet. Data can be entered or formatted in an active cell, without modifying the rest of your sheet.

example of an active cell

There can be one or more active cells on a spreadsheet. More than one active cell is called a range, which can either be continuous or noncontinuous. Active cells that are all adjacent to each other signify a continuous range. To define a continuous range, click on an active cell and drag your cursor to highlight neighboring cells.

example of a continuous range

Active cells that have gaps between them form a noncontinuous range. To define a noncontinuous range, press and hold down the Control key and click and drag your cursor to highlight cells.

example of a noncontinuous range