One of Excel's most important features is its Help system. The Help icon, a blue circle with a question mark in it, is located near the upper-right corner of the Excel window. Clicking the Help icon or pressing the F1 function key displays the help window, as shown in Figure 1-8.
Figure 1-8: The Excel Help system window.
The two primary methods for navigating help are the Search box and the Table of Contents. Typing keywords into the Search box and clicking the Search button displays a list of relevant help articles in the main window. The Table of Contents lists many related help articles in chapters. The Table of Contents window can be hidden when not in use. Note that the Search button is actually a drop-down control. Click the small arrow, and you can choose the general type of Help you need.
By default, the content shown is downloaded from the Microsoft Office Online Web site. If you do not have Internet access or you prefer to limit Help to articles on your computer, click the Connection status bar in the lower-right corner of the Help window. A small menu appears that allows you to specify which help system to use and also includes a Help icon-help for the Help system.