Excel Data Entry, Editing and Formatting Practice Questions with Solutions

Introduction

Data entry and formatting are some of the most frequently used Excel skills. In this chapter, you will practice entering different types of data, editing existing values, copying and pasting information, using Autofill and Flash Fill, finding and replacing data, and applying useful formatting. The questions use different situations so you can test how well you can manage and format Excel data. Excel Data Entry, Editing and Formatting practice questions with solutions to help you understand the concepts.

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Question 1: Enter Employee Information in Excel

Problem Statement

Create an employee table and enter the following information into Excel.

Excel Data

Employee ID	Employee Name	Department	Salary	Joining Date
E101	Rahul Sharma	Sales	35000	10/01/2025
E102	Priya Verma	HR	42000	15/02/2025
E103	Amit Kumar	IT	50000	20/03/2025
E104	Neha Singh	Finance	46000	05/04/2025
E105	Arjun Mehta	Marketing	39000	12/05/2025

Solution

1. Open a blank Excel worksheet.
2. Enter the column headings in row 1.
3. Enter the employee records below the headings.
4. Make sure employee IDs remain as text values.
5. Enter salary as numeric values.
6. Enter joining dates as actual Excel dates.

Expected Output

The worksheet should contain the complete employee table with five employee records.

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Question 2: Edit Incorrect Employee Information

Problem Statement

The following student data has some incorrect information.

Roll No.	Student Name	Course	Marks
101	Rohan	Python	78
102	Priya	Excel	85
103	Aman	SQL	67
104	Neha	Python	72

Make these changes:

• Rohan’s marks should be 82.
• Priya’s course should be Advanced Excel.
• Aman should be changed to Amit.

Solution

1. Locate Rohan’s marks cell.
2. Replace 78 with 82.
3. Locate Priya’s course cell.
4. Replace Excel with Advanced Excel.
5. Locate Aman.
6. Replace it with Amit.

Expected Output

Roll No.	Student Name	Course	Marks
101	Rohan	Python	82
102	Priya	Advanced Excel	85
103	Amit	SQL	67
104	Neha	Python	72

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Question 3: Copy and Paste Product Data

Problem Statement

You have the following product list in one worksheet. Copy the complete table and paste it into another worksheet.

Excel Data

Product ID	Product	Category	Price
P101	Keyboard	Accessories	850
P102	Mouse	Accessories	550
P103	Monitor	Hardware	8500
P104	Printer	Hardware	12000
P105	Webcam	Accessories	1800

Solution

1. Select the complete table.
2. Press Ctrl + C.
3. Open another worksheet.
4. Select cell A1.
5. Press Ctrl + V.

Expected Output

The complete product table should appear in the second worksheet starting from cell A1.

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Question 4: Use Autofill for Serial Numbers

Problem Statement

Create a serial number from 1 to 20 using Excel’s Autofill feature instead of typing every number manually.

Excel Data

Start with:

Serial Number
1
2

Solution

1. Enter 1 in cell A1.
2. Enter 2 in cell A2.
3. Select both cells.
4. Move the pointer to the small square at the bottom-right corner of the selection.
5. Drag the fill handle down until you reach row 20.

Expected Output

Excel should automatically create:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ... 20

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Question 5: Create a Monthly Series Using Autofill

Problem Statement

Create a list of months from January to December using Excel’s Autofill feature.

Excel Data

Enter:

January

Solution

1. Type January into cell A1.
2. Select the cell.
3. Drag the fill handle downward.
4. Excel should recognize the month sequence.
5. Continue until December appears.

Expected Output

Month
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

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Question 6: Use Flash Fill to Separate Names

Problem Statement

You have full names in column A. Create separate First Name and Last Name columns using Flash Fill.

Excel Data

Full Name
Rahul Sharma
Priya Verma
Amit Kumar
Neha Singh
Arjun Mehta

Create:

Full Name	First Name	Last Name
Rahul Sharma	Rahul	Sharma
Priya Verma	Priya	Verma
Amit Kumar	Amit	Kumar
Neha Singh	Neha	Singh
Arjun Mehta	Arjun	Mehta

Solution

1. Enter the full names in column A.
2. In B2, manually enter Rahul.
3. Start entering the next first name.
4. Excel may show a Flash Fill preview.
5. Press Enter to accept the suggestion.

For the last name:

1. Enter Sharma in C2.
2. Start entering the next last name.
3. Accept the Flash Fill suggestion when Excel recognizes the pattern.

Expected Output

First and last names should be separated into their respective columns.

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Question 7: Find and Replace Department Names

Problem Statement

A company has renamed its Sales department to Business Development. Replace every occurrence of Sales in the worksheet.

Excel Data

Employee	Department
Rahul	Sales
Priya	HR
Amit	Sales
Neha	Finance
Arjun	Sales

Solution

1. Select the worksheet or relevant data range.
2. Open Find and Replace.
3. Enter Sales in the Find what field.
4. Enter Business Development in the Replace with field.
5. Choose Replace All.

Expected Output

Employee	Department
Rahul	Business Development
Priya	HR
Amit	Business Development
Neha	Finance
Arjun	Business Development

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Question 8: Format a Sales Report

Problem Statement

Format the following sales report so that it is easier to read.

Excel Data

Product	Quantity	Price	Sales
Laptop	5	55000	275000
Monitor	8	12000	96000
Keyboard	20	850	17000
Mouse	25	550	13750

Apply the following formatting:

• Make headings bold.
• Add borders.
• Center-align Quantity.
• Format Price and Sales as currency.
• Adjust column widths.

Solution

1. Select the heading row and click Bold.
2. Select the complete table and apply borders.
3. Select the Quantity column and use center alignment.
4. Select Price and Sales.
5. Apply an appropriate currency format.
6. Adjust the column widths so all values are visible.

Expected Output

The sales report should have clear headings, visible borders, correctly formatted currency values and readable column widths.

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Question 9: Format Dates and Percentages

Problem Statement

Format the following employee performance data.

Excel Data

Employee	Joining Date	Attendance	Performance
Rahul	10/01/2025	95	0.88
Priya	15/02/2025	92	0.91
Amit	20/03/2025	89	0.84
Neha	05/04/2025	97	0.95

Apply these formats:

• Joining Date → DD-MMM-YYYY
• Attendance → Percentage
• Performance → Percentage

Solution

1. Select the Joining Date column.
2. Open the number formatting options.
3. Apply a date format such as 14-Jan-2025.
4. Select the Attendance values.
5. Apply Percentage formatting.
6. Select the Performance values.
7. Apply Percentage formatting.

Expected Output

Employee	Joining Date	Attendance	Performance
Rahul	10-Jan-2025	95%	88%
Priya	15-Feb-2025	92%	91%
Amit	20-Mar-2025	89%	84%
Neha	05-Apr-2025	97%	95%

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Question 10: Prepare and Format a Professional Customer List

Problem Statement

Create and format a customer contact list using the following information.

Excel Data

Customer ID	Customer Name	City	Phone	Email
C101	Rahul Sharma	Delhi	9876543210	rahul@example.com
C102	Priya Verma	Jaipur	9876543211	priya@example.com
C103	Amit Kumar	Noida	9876543212	amit@example.com
C104	Neha Singh	Delhi	9876543213	neha@example.com
C105	Arjun Mehta	Gurgaon	9876543214	arjun@example.com

Perform these tasks:

• Make the headings bold.
• Add borders.
• Adjust column widths.
• Center-align Customer ID and Phone.
• Use a suitable format for the phone numbers.
• Apply a different fill color to the heading row.
• Use Autofill to create the Customer IDs if entering the list from scratch.

Solution

1. Enter the customer data into Excel.
2. Enter C101 and C102.
3. Use Autofill to continue the customer ID sequence.
4. Select the heading row and apply Bold.
5. Apply a fill color to the heading row.
6. Select the complete table and add borders.
7. Center-align Customer ID and Phone.
8. Adjust column widths so all information is visible.
9. Review the final table for alignment and formatting consistency.

Expected Output

The final worksheet should contain a clean, readable customer contact list with:

• Sequential customer IDs
• Properly entered customer information
• Clearly formatted headings
• Borders around the data
• Appropriate column widths
• Consistent alignment

Key Takeaways

• Excel allows you to enter and edit different types of data such as text, numbers and dates.
• Copy and Paste can quickly duplicate existing information.
• Autofill can create sequences such as numbers and months.
• Flash Fill can recognize patterns and automatically transform data.
• Find and Replace is useful when the same information needs to be changed throughout a worksheet.
• Formatting improves the readability of Excel data.
• Numbers, dates, percentages and currency values should use appropriate number formats.
• Bold headings, borders, alignment and suitable column widths can make a table easier to understand.
• Always check whether Excel has interpreted entered data correctly, especially dates and numbers.
• Consistent formatting is important when creating professional Excel reports.

FAQs

1. What is data entry in Excel?

Data entry means entering information such as text, numbers, dates, percentages and other values into Excel cells.

2. What is Autofill in Excel?

Autofill allows Excel to automatically continue a recognized pattern, such as numbers, dates, days or months.

3. What is Flash Fill in Excel?

Flash Fill recognizes a pattern from the data you enter and automatically fills the remaining cells according to that pattern.

4. What is Find and Replace used for in Excel?

Find and Replace allows you to search for specific content and replace it with different content. It is particularly useful when the same value appears many times.

5. How can I format numbers as currency in Excel?

Select the cells containing the monetary values and apply an appropriate currency or accounting number format from Excel’s formatting options.

6. How can I format a date in Excel?

Select the date cells and choose the required date format from the Number Format options. Excel provides several predefined date formats.

7. Why does Excel sometimes change the way I enter data?

Excel automatically detects patterns and data types. For example, it may recognize an entry as a date, number or percentage and display it according to the cell’s format.

8. What is Paste Special in Excel?

Paste Special provides additional options when pasting data, such as pasting only values, formulas, formatting or other specific parts of copied cells.

9. How do I make an Excel table easier to read?

You can use bold headings, borders, suitable number formats, proper alignment, appropriate column widths and consistent formatting.

10. Can I undo an incorrect formatting or editing action?

Yes. You can use the Undo command or press Ctrl + Z to reverse a recent action.

Written by Shubhranshu Shekhar, who has trained 20000+ students in coding.