Stardustby Nebulosa Workspace

1The screen

2Getting started

1. Click a cell and type. Enter confirms and moves down; Tab confirms and moves right.
2. Numbers follow the Brazilian format in every language: 1.234,56 (comma as decimal separator), R$ 50,00, 15%, dates 25/10/2026 (day/month/year) and times 14:30. Stardust recognizes them and applies the format.
3. For a formula, start with =: =A1+B1, =SUM(B2:B10).
4. To start from a ready-made example, use File › New from template: Monthly budget, Class grades, Sales by month or Shopping list (the template texts come in the chosen language).
5. Save with Ctrl+S. The default format is Excel's (.xlsx).

3Selecting and moving around

• Click and drag to select a range; Shift+click extends the selection.
• Click a column letter or row number to select the whole column or row; the top-left corner selects everything.
• Ctrl + arrows jumps to the end of the data; Shift + arrows extends the selection; Ctrl + Home goes back to A1.
• The bottom bar shows the Sum, Average and Count of the selection.
• Zoom: control in the footer or Ctrl + mouse wheel.

4Formulas and functions

Formulas follow Excel. In English, functions appear with their English names (SUM, AVERAGE, IF, VLOOKUP); as in Brazilian Excel, the semicolon separates arguments and the comma is the decimal separator — in every language.

• More than 120 functions: math, statistics, logic, text, lookup and reference, date and time, information and financial. The full list, with an explanation of each one, is in the Functions panel (ƒx button).
• You can type the names in English (SUM, AVERAGE, IF, VLOOKUP), in Portuguese (SOMA, MÉDIA, SE, PROCV) or in Spanish (SUMA, PROMEDIO, SI, BUSCARV); the file keeps the formula in Excel's standard and it shows up in the chosen language.
• As you type, the function list appears: ↑ ↓ choose and Tab accepts. Below the formula bar, the tip with the arguments appears, highlighting the one you are typing.
• While writing a formula, click a cell (or drag across a range) to insert the reference. References appear in color on the grid.
• F4 cycles between A1, $A$1, A$1 and $A1 (fixed reference when copying).
• Reference to another sheet: =Sales!B2 or ='My sheet'!B2. While writing the formula, click the other sheet's tab and then the cell.
• Parentheses forgotten at the end are closed automatically.

Errors

5Copy, paste and fill

• Ctrl + C / Ctrl + X / Ctrl + V: copy, cut and paste — including from and to Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets.
• When pasting formulas, relative references follow the new position (as in Excel).
• Edit › Paste values only and Paste formatting only.
• Fill handle: the small square at the corner of the selection. Drag down or sideways to continue series: 1, 2, 3…; dates; months; weekdays; “Item 1, Item 2…”; and to copy formulas. Double-clicking the handle fills down to the end of the data in the neighboring column.
• Ctrl + D fills down and Ctrl + R fills right. Ctrl + Enter writes the same value in all selected cells.

6Formatting

• Toolbar: font (Calibri, Cambria, Consolas), size, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, text color, fill color, borders (all, outside, thick, bottom, top…), alignment, wrap text and merge and center.
• Number formats: General, Number, Currency (R$), Percentage, Date, Long date, Time, Text and Scientific; buttons for decimal places and thousands separator.
• Format cells (Ctrl + 1): Number tab (with Excel format code, e.g. #,##0.00), Alignment, Font, Border and Fill.
• Column width and row height: drag the divider in the header; double-click to fit the content. Also in Format.
• Hide and unhide rows and columns: right-click the header.

7Rows, columns and sheets

• Insert and delete rows and columns: Insert menu or right-click the cell or header. Formulas adjust by themselves.
• New sheet: + button in the footer (Shift+F11). Double-click the tab to rename; right-click to duplicate, move or delete; drag the tab to change the order.
• View › Freeze panes: first row, first column or everything above and to the left of the current cell. Useful to keep the header visible.
• View › Gridlines shows or hides the grid lines.

8Data: sort, filter, find

• Sort A→Z / Z→A: click a cell in the column and use the buttons. Stardust finds the whole table and notices whether the first row is a header. Data › Sort… lets you choose the column, the order and a second criterion.
• Filter: turns on small arrows in the table header. In each one, check the values you want to see, search, sort or clear the filter.
• Remove duplicates: deletes repeated rows, keeping the first one.
• Find (Ctrl + F) and Find and replace (Ctrl + H), in this sheet or in all of them.

9Conditional formatting

Changes the look of the cells automatically, according to the value of each one — for example, making grades below 5 red.

1. Select the cells and use Format › Conditional formatting… (or right-click the cell).
2. In Format cells with, choose the rule: greater than, less than, greater than or equal, less than or equal, between, equal to, not equal to, text that contains, duplicate values, unique values, above average, below average, color scale or data bars.
3. Type the value (when the rule asks for one) — numbers, dates such as 01/01/2026 or texts.
4. Choose the look: red, yellow, green, Nebulosa purple, Nebulosa orange, bold only, red text only or Custom (background, text color and bold). For the color scale and the bars, choose the colors.
5. Click Apply.

The window shows the sheet's rules; the top one has priority. The trash can deletes a rule and Remove rules from range clears a range. Format › Remove conditional formatting from selection and Clear formatting also remove them.

Rules follow row and column insertions and deletions, appear in the PDF and JPG and are saved in the .xlsx as Excel conditional formatting.

10Data validation and drop-down lists

Limits what can be typed. The most common use is the drop-down list: the cell gets a small arrow with the options.

1. Select the cells and use Data › Data validation….
2. In Allow, choose:
   • List of options — type the options separated by semicolons (Yes; No; Maybe) or point to a range starting with “=” (=E1:E10 or =Lists!A1:A20). If the range changes, the list changes too.
   • Whole number, Number, Date or Text length — with between, not between, equal, not equal, greater, less, greater or equal, less or equal.
3. Decide what happens to a value outside the rule: Reject (asks for another value) or Warn only (the person decides whether to keep it). If you want, write your own error message.

In a cell with a list, click the small arrow next to it or press Alt+↓ to open the options. Remove validation (in the window or in Data › Remove validation from selection) removes the rule.

11Comments

• To comment on a cell: right-click › Insert comment…, Insert › Comment… or Shift+F2. Type and click Save (or Ctrl+Enter).
• The cell gets a red triangle in the corner. Hover over it to read.
• To change it, repeat the command (Edit comment…). To delete it, use Delete in the window or right-click › Delete comment. Clear all also deletes the comments in the selection.
• Comments go into the .xlsx as Excel and LibreOffice comments (notes), and come back when opening.

12Charts

1. Select the data with the headings (for example, months in the first column and the values next to them).
2. Click Chart and choose the type: Column, Bar, Line, Area, Pie, Doughnut or Scatter.
3. The chart appears next to the data and the Chart panel opens for adjustments: type, title, data range (type it or click ▦ to pick it on the sheet), series in columns or rows, legend, data labels, stacked and colors (Stardust, Nebulosa or Sober).
4. Drag the chart to move it; the dots change its size. Delete deletes the selected chart.
5. Right-click the chart › Download image (PNG).

Charts follow the data: change a number and the chart changes too. In the .xlsx file they are saved as native Excel charts, editable in Excel and LibreOffice.

13Opening files

Open (Ctrl+O) or drag the file into the window. Accepted formats: .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb, .xls, .ods, .csv (separated by semicolon, comma or tab), .tsv and .txt.

• From .xlsx/.xlsm come values, formulas, formatting, widths, merged cells, frozen panes, charts, conditional formatting, data validation and comments. (Conditional rules made with Excel's own formulas are not read yet.)
• From .xls, .xlsb and .ods come values, formulas, number formats, widths and merged cells.
• Password-protected files do not open.

14Saving and exporting

Save (Ctrl+S) and Save as (Ctrl+Shift+S) show the formats:

In Chrome and Edge, the system window opens to choose the folder and the name; afterwards, Ctrl+S writes to the same file. In other browsers the file goes to the downloads folder.

File › Print generates the PDF and opens the browser's print dialog.

15Keyboard shortcuts

The list is also in Help › Keyboard shortcuts.

16Frequently asked questions

I opened an .xls and saved it again: the colors disappeared.

The .xls, .xlsb and .ods formats are saved without colors and charts. Save as .xlsx to keep everything.

######## appears in the cell.

The number does not fit the column width. Double-click the column divider in the header to fit it.

My formula with commas does not work.

In Stardust, as in Brazilian Excel, the argument separator is the semicolon: =SUM(A1;B1). The comma is the decimal separator: =A1*1,5.

Do the charts show up in Excel?

Yes, when saved as .xlsx or .xlsm: they are native charts that you can edit in Excel or LibreOffice.

I saved as .xls/.ods: the rules and comments disappeared.

Conditional formatting, data validation and comments are saved in .xlsx and .xlsm. Use one of these formats to keep them.

What does not exist (yet)?

Macros and pivot tables.

17Inside the Nebulosa Workspace

• Help menu: the Help menu has: User manual, Keyboard shortcuts, Function list, Terms of use, Privacy, Credits and licenses, 🌐 Language and About Stardust. The manual and the legal pages open in a window inside the program itself (you can switch between them with the buttons at the top of the window; Esc closes it).
• Open Stardust from the side menu, from its card on the home page or from the search (Alt + K).
• The Appearance button at the top of the Workspace switches Stardust's look between its original look and Nebulosa Default (purple, navy blue, orange and yellow). The choice applies only to this program and is remembered.
• The Language button (🌐) at the top of the Workspace — or Help › 🌐 Language inside the program — switches the menus, texts, function names and error codes between Português do Brasil (the default), English and Español. The choice applies to all programs and is remembered. What you wrote in your files is not translated.
• If you close Stardust's tab with changes not yet saved to a file, the Workspace asks before closing.
• The shortcuts Alt + 1…9 and Alt + 0 (home) work even with the focus inside the program.
• Stardust also opens on its own, outside the Workspace, at its folder's address (for example …/apps/stardust/) or from the single HTML file.