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This topic provides an overview of formatting features that you can use to display your data more effectively. For details about using these formatting features, click the titles of corresponding topics in the See Also section, which is visible when you are connected to the Internet.

Text and individual character formatting

To make text stand out, you can format all of the text in a cell or format only selected characters. Select the characters that you want to format, and then click a button on the Formatting toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.).

Formatting options that are not on the Formatting toolbar — such as strikethrough, superscript, subscript, or different types of underlining — can be found on the Font tab of the Format Cells dialog box (Format menu, Cells command).

Borders, colors, and text rotation

To distinguish between different types of information in a worksheet, you can apply borders to cells, shade cells with a background color, or shade cells with a color pattern.

The label for a column is often wider than the data it contains. Instead of creating unnecessarily wide columns or abbreviated labels, you can rotate the label text and then apply borders that are rotated to the same degree as the text.

Applying an autoformat

To format an entire list (list: A series of rows that contains related data or a series of rows that you designate to function as a datasheet by using the Create List command.) or other range that has distinct elements — for example, column and row labels, summary totals, and detail data — you can apply an autoformat (autoformat: A built-in collection of cell formats (such as font size, patterns, and alignment) that you can apply to a range of data. Excel determines the levels of summary and detail in the selected range and applies the formats accordingly.). The design uses distinctive formats for the various elements in the range or list.

Using styles to format data

To apply several formats in one step and ensure that cells have consistent formatting, you can apply a style (style: A combination of formatting characteristics, such as font, font size, and indentation, that you name and store as a set. When you apply a style, all of the formatting instructions in that style are applied at one time.) to the cells. Microsoft Excel has some built-in styles you can use to format numbers as currency, as percentages, or with commas that separate thousands. You can create your own styles to apply a font and font size, number formats, cell borders, and shading and to protect cells from changes. If your data is in an outline, you can apply styles according to outline level.

Reusing existing formats

If you've already formatted some cells on a worksheet the way you want, you can use the Format Painter button to copy the formatting to other cells.

Extending formats to additional rows

When this option is on (which it is by default), the formatting is automatically extended when you enter rows at the end of a range that you've already formatted. You can turn automatic formatting on or off.