How to Format Cells in Excel
When we format cells in Excel, we change the appearance of a number without changing the number itself. We can apply a number format (0.8, $0.80, 80%, etc) or other formatting (alignment, font, border, etc).
To change the font:
- Select the cell(s) you want to modify.
- Click the drop-down arrow next to the Font command on the Home tab. The Font drop-down menu will appear.
- Select the desired font. A live preview of the new font will appear as you hover the mouse over different options. In our example, we’ll choose Georgia.
- The text will change to the selected font.
To change the font size:
- Select the cell(s) you want to modify.
- Click the drop-down arrow next to the Font Size command on the Home tab. The Font Size drop-down menu will appear.
- Select the desired font size. A live preview of the new font size will appear as you hover the mouse over different options. In our example, we will choose 16 to make the text larger.
- The text will change to the selected font size.
To change the font color:
- Select the cell(s) you want to modify.
- Click the drop-down arrow next to the Font Color command on the Home tab. The Color menu will appear.
- Select the desired font color. A live preview of the new font color will appear as you hover the mouse over different options. In our example, we’ll choose Green.
- The text will change to the selected font color.
To use the Bold, Italic, and Underline commands:
- Select the cell(s) you want to modify.
- Click the Bold (B), Italic (I), or Underline (U) command on the Home tab. In our example, we’ll make the selected cells bold.
- The selected style will be applied to the text.
To change horizontal text alignment:
- Select the cell(s) you want to modify.
- Select one of the three horizontal alignment commands on the Home tab. In our example, we’ll choose Center Align.
- The text will realign.
To change vertical text alignment:
- select the cell(s) you want to modify.
- Select one of the three vertical alignment commands on the Home tab. In our example, we’ll choose Middle Align.
- The text will realign.
To add a border:
- Select the cell(s) you want to modify.
- Click the drop-down arrow next to the Borders command on the Home tab. The Borders drop-down menu will appear.
Select the border style you want to use. In our example, we will choose to display All Borders. - The selected border style will appear.
To add a fill color:
- Select the cell(s) you want to modify.
- Click the drop-down arrow next to the Fill Color command on the Home tab. The Fill Color menu will appear.
- Select the fill color you want to use. A live preview of the new fill color will appear as you hover the mouse over different options. In our example, we’ll choose Light Green.
- The selected fill color will appear in the selected cells.
To apply a cell style:
- Select the cell(s) you want to modify.
- Click the Cell Styles command on the Home tab, then choose the desired style from the drop-down menu. In our example, we’ll choose Accent 1.
- The selected cell style will appear.
To apply number formatting:
- Select the cells(s) you want to modify.
- Click the drop-down arrow next to the Number Format command on the Home tab. The Number Formatting drop-down menu will appear.
- Select the desired formatting option. In our example, we will change the formatting to Long Date.
- The selected cells will change to the new formatting style. For some number formats, you can then use the Increase Decimal and Decrease Decimal commands (below the Number Format command) to change the number of decimal places that are displayed.