Microsoft Excel General Knowledge — Questions and Answers

Question 1: Which keyboard shortcut saves the current workbook in Excel?

Ctrl+S (Correct answer)
Ctrl+W
Ctrl+P
Ctrl+N

Correct answer: Ctrl+S

Ctrl+S saves the active workbook, prompting for a filename if it hasn't been saved before.

Question 2: What does the AutoFill handle look like in Excel?

A small square at the bottom-right corner of a selected cell (Correct answer)
A green arrow pointing down
A blue circle in the center of the cell
A double-headed arrow on the cell border

Correct answer: A small square at the bottom-right corner of a selected cell

The AutoFill handle is the small green square that appears at the bottom-right corner of a selected cell or range.

Question 3: What is the default file extension for Excel workbooks in Excel 2016 and later?

.xlsx (Correct answer)
.xls
.xlsm
.csv

Correct answer: .xlsx

The .xlsx format is the default XML-based format introduced in Excel 2007 and used in all modern versions.

Question 4: How many rows are available in an Excel 2019 worksheet?

1,048,576 (Correct answer)
65,536
1,000,000
2,097,152

Correct answer: 1,048,576

Since Excel 2007, each worksheet supports exactly 1,048,576 rows (2^20).

Question 5: Which tab on the Excel ribbon contains the 'Freeze Panes' option?

View (Correct answer)
Page Layout
Data
Review

Correct answer: View

Freeze Panes is located in the Window group on the View tab.

Question 6: What happens when you press Ctrl+Z in Excel?

Undoes the last action (Correct answer)
Redoes the last action
Zooms into the worksheet
Closes the workbook

Correct answer: Undoes the last action

Ctrl+Z undoes the most recent action, and can be pressed repeatedly to undo multiple actions.

Question 7: Which of the following is NOT a valid Excel chart type?

Pyramid Bar (Correct answer)
Line
Scatter
Pie

Correct answer: Pyramid Bar

Excel does not have a 'Pyramid Bar' chart type; the standard types include Line, Scatter, Pie, Bar, Column, and others.

Question 8: What does the $ symbol do when placed before a column letter in a cell reference, such as $A1?

Locks the column so it doesn't change when the formula is copied (Correct answer)
Locks both the row and column
Locks the row so it doesn't change
Converts the value to currency format

Correct answer: Locks the column so it doesn't change when the formula is copied

A $ before the column letter creates an absolute column reference, keeping the column fixed when the formula is copied horizontally.

Question 9: Which function returns the number of cells in a range that contain numbers?

COUNT (Correct answer)
COUNTA
COUNTIF
SUM

Correct answer: COUNT

COUNT counts only cells containing numeric values, ignoring text, blanks, and logical values.

Question 10: What is the result of entering =5+3*2 in a cell?

11 (Correct answer)
16
10
13

Correct answer: 11

Excel follows standard order of operations (PEMDAS), so multiplication (3*2=6) is performed before addition (5+6=11).

Question 11: Which Excel feature allows you to define a meaningful name for a cell or range to use in formulas?

Name Box / Named Ranges (Correct answer)
Cell Styles
Format Cells
Conditional Formatting

Correct answer: Name Box / Named Ranges

Named Ranges (defined via the Name Box or Name Manager) let you assign descriptive names like 'TaxRate' to cells for use in formulas.

Question 12: Which of the following paste options keeps only the calculated values without formulas?

Paste Values (Correct answer)
Paste Formulas
Paste All
Paste Formats

Correct answer: Paste Values

Paste Values (Ctrl+Shift+V or via the Paste Special menu) pastes the result of formulas as static numbers.

Question 13: What does the TRIM function do in Excel?

Removes extra spaces from text, leaving only single spaces between words (Correct answer)
Cuts text to a specified length
Removes numbers from a text string
Deletes blank rows from a range

Correct answer: Removes extra spaces from text, leaving only single spaces between words

TRIM removes leading, trailing, and extra internal spaces from a text string, leaving only single spaces between words.

Question 14: How do you quickly select an entire column in Excel?

Click the column header letter (Correct answer)
Press Ctrl+C
Right-click a cell and choose Select Column
Press Shift+Down Arrow

Correct answer: Click the column header letter

Clicking the column header (the letter at the top of the column) selects the entire column instantly.

Question 15: What is the purpose of the Excel 'Flash Fill' feature?

Automatically fills data based on a detected pattern in adjacent cells (Correct answer)
Fills a range with a gradient color
Copies a formula down an entire column instantly
Highlights cells that match a pattern

Correct answer: Automatically fills data based on a detected pattern in adjacent cells

Flash Fill (Ctrl+E) recognizes patterns from examples you type and automatically fills the remaining cells accordingly.

Question 16: Which function would you use to find the position of a value in a list?

MATCH (Correct answer)
INDEX
VLOOKUP
FIND

Correct answer: MATCH

MATCH returns the relative position (row or column number) of a value within a range.

Question 17: What does 'Wrap Text' formatting do to a cell?

Displays the cell content on multiple lines within the same cell (Correct answer)
Merges the cell with adjacent cells
Shrinks the font to fit the cell width
Applies a border around the cell

Correct answer: Displays the cell content on multiple lines within the same cell

Wrap Text increases the row height and displays long text on multiple lines within the cell rather than overflowing into adjacent cells.

Question 18: Which Excel function returns the current date and time, updating every time the worksheet recalculates?

NOW() (Correct answer)
TODAY()
DATE()
TIME()

Correct answer: NOW()

NOW() returns the current date and time as a serial number and recalculates dynamically; TODAY() returns only the date.

Question 19: What does a green triangle in the top-left corner of a cell typically indicate?

A potential error detected by Excel's error checking (Correct answer)
The cell is selected
The cell contains a comment
A conditional formatting rule is applied

Correct answer: A potential error detected by Excel's error checking

The green triangle is Excel's error indicator, alerting you to a potential issue like a number stored as text or an inconsistent formula.

Question 20: Which Excel feature allows you to set rules that automatically change cell background color based on the cell's value?

Conditional Formatting (Correct answer)
Cell Styles
Format as Table
Data Validation

Correct answer: Conditional Formatting

Conditional Formatting applies formatting rules — such as color scales, data bars, or custom rules — based on cell values.

Question 21: What is a PivotTable used for in Excel?

Summarizing, analyzing, and exploring large datasets interactively (Correct answer)
Creating pivot-style animations in charts
Rotating a table 90 degrees for printing
Converting rows to columns automatically

Correct answer: Summarizing, analyzing, and exploring large datasets interactively

A PivotTable lets you quickly summarize and analyze large datasets by dragging fields into rows, columns, values, and filter areas.

Microsoft Excel General Knowledge

Which keyboard shortcut saves the current workbook in Excel?

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