Topic 3: How to Format Data and Cells in Microsoft Excel 2013

Formatting a worksheet can change the look and feel of it. You can add color, change fonts, put in
headings, apply styles, and much more. Taking the time to format a worksheet can take it from the black
and white page of data and grid lines to something that looks professional and attractive.

Change Font Size and Type

Font is defined as the style of your type. Times New Roman, Courier, and Arial are three of the most
popular fonts, but there are literally hundreds. When you create a worksheet, you can decide what type of
font you want to use. You can also decide the size of the font.

In the snapshot below, we've used Arial, size 10 font.

However, we can change that to another font and another size. Let's change it to Courier, size 12.

You can clearly see how just changing the font type and size can alter the look of a worksheet. But let's
learn how to do it.

To change the font type and size, go to Font group under the Home tab.

Next, select the data in the worksheet for which you want to change the font.

Go to the Font group, and you'll see the type of font that you're currently using. It appears in a box with a
downward arrow beside it on the left side of the toolbar. In our example, and on our toolbar, it's Calibri.

Click on the downward arrow beside the font type and select a new font. We're going to select Arial. Once
you select the font, the selected data will be changed to the new font.

To change the size, select the cells, then click the downward arrow beside the current size:

Font Attributes
You may want to select boldface, italicize, or underline data inside cells. The boldface command in MS
Excel is represented by an uppercase, boldfaced B. Italics are represented by an uppercase, italicized 'I',
and underline by an uppercase U with a line under it. These buttons are located directly below the font
type window in the Font group.

To add italics, boldface, or underlining to data in cells, select the desired cells, then click the appropriate
button (B for boldfaced, I for italic, or U for underline.)

Add Borders to Cells

Want to learn more? Take an online course in Excel 2013.

You also can add borders to cells, or a range of cells, by selecting the cell(s) you want to add a border to,

then by clicking in the Font group.

Simply select where you want to border to appear. You can also change the line color of the border and
the border style (such as dashed or solid lines).

Font Color

Changing the font color is as simple as changing the font. By default, your text in Excel 2013 appears in a
black font. If you want to change the font color, look for the uppercase A with a colored bar under it in the
Font group as pictured below.

Select your text, then click on the button to choose the color you want to apply to the selected text.
Add Color to a Cell or Range of Cells

You can also add color to a cell or range of cells. This doesn't change the font color, but instead provides a
colored background.

To the left of the font color button, you'll see what looks like a paint bucket with a yellow bar underneath
it. Simply select the cells you want to give a color, click the button, and select the color of highlight that
you want to apply.

In the example below, we chose orange:

Please note the cell borders that show up in Excel by default are no longer displayed when we add color.
If you want borders, you have to add them.

The Font Dialog Box

Click the arrow in the right side bottom corner of the Font group to access the Font Dialog box.

The dialog box looks like this:

From this dialog box, you can format your data just as you did from the Ribbon. The Preview section of
the dialog box lets you preview your changes before you apply them.

Click OK when you're finished making changes to apply them to your spreadsheet.

Formatting with the Mini-Bar

The mini-bar appears whenever you right click within a cell:

In the snapshot above, you can see that it contains the tools to change the font, font size, etc. You can use
this to format your cells to save the time you'd spend going to the Ribbon.

Merge Cells

Merging cells simply means that you merge a group of cells into one cell. It is not the same as combining
cells, because when you combine cells, the data in those cells is also combined.

When you merge cells, the information in the upper left cell is centered in the merged cell. If the content
you want in the merged cells is not in the upper left cell, then you must copy and paste the data into the
upper left cell.

Note: It's important to remember that the cells you merge must be adjacent.

To merge cells:

Select the cells to be merged.

Go to the Alignment group under the Home tab, then click Merge and Center.

Select an option:

Important Note: The cells that you merge cannot be active. Merge and Center will not appear if any
cells are active.

Apply Number Formats and Create Custom Number Formats

You can change the appearance of numbers in MS Excel 2013 without changing the value behind those
numbers. The actual value is always displayed in the Formula Bar.
For example, we can have a number formatted like this in the worksheet:

But in the Formula Bar, it's still displayed like this:

You can apply a number format to a cell by selecting the cell(s) that you want to format, right clicking,
and selecting Format Cells and select the Number tab.

In the dialog box above, you can choose the type of number formatting that you want from
the Category box. An explanation of how the formatting is used appears at the bottom of the dialog box
when you click on a specific type of number formatting.

Creating Custom Number Formatting

If you go to the dialog box above, and click Custom in the Category box, you can then create a custom
number formatting based on an existing number format in MS Excel 2013.
In the Type list, select the format that you want to edit and edit it in the Type box.

Click OK when you're finished.

Align Cell Contents

You can align the data in a cell to the left, right, or center.

To align data to the left means to align it to the left side of the cell. Simply select the cell(s) that contain
the data you want to align to the left.

Go to the Alignment group under the Home tab.

Click on the to align to the left.

Click to align to the right.

Click to align to the center.

Click to align data to the top of a cell.

Click to align data to the middle of the cell.

Click to align data to the bottom of the cell.

About Indents

You can also indent data in cells. When you increase the indent, you increase the margin between data in
the cell and the left cell border.

The cell pictured below has text data in it.

Select the cells that contain data that you want to indent. Then, go to the Alignment group under the
Home tab.
The two buttons pictured below allow you to decrease indent (first button), or increase indent.

We're going to increase the indent (second button).

About Text Wraps

Text wrap will wrap the entries from selected cells that have data that spills over their right borders.

Here's an example:

Select the cell(s) you want to apply text wrap to, then click the Wrap Text button in the Alignment group

under the Home tab: .

As you can see, the text is now wrapped to fit between the left and right borders of the cell.

Changing the Orientation of Cell Entries

Instead of wrapping text in cells, you can also change the orientation of the text by rotating the text up or
down. This can work well with labels in worksheets.

In the example below, we're going to change the orientation of the data that contains the days of the
week.

To start with, we've selected the cells that contain this data:

Next, we go to the Alignment group under the Home tab and click the Orientation button:

Now we get to choose the new orientation:

We're going to choose Rotate Text Up.

The Format As Table Gallery

The Format As Table Gallery is a way to format your cells without having to select the cells first. Think of
it as a shortcut to formatting cells. Your cell cursor just has to be within the table of data right before you
click the Format As Table button that's located in the Styles group under the Home tab (pictured below).
We're going to put our mouse cursor in a cell by clicking on the cell.

Now we're going to go to the Format As Table button and look at the gallery.

Choose a formatting style that you want.

When you click on a style you want, you'll see this dialog box:

This contains the cells referenced for the formatting. You change this.

If your table has headers or labels, make sure the box is checked.

Click OK.

In addition to adding formatting from the gallery, the Design tab opens in the Ribbon.

In the Design tab is a Table Styles Options group that allows you customize even further.

Header Row adds formatting and filter buttons to each of the headings in the first row. Ours already has
filter buttons (the down arrow).

 Total Row goes at the bottom of the table for totals.

 Banded Rows means shading will be applied to every other row.
 First Column puts row headings in the first column in boldface.
 Last Column puts row headings in the last column of the table in boldface.
 Banded Columns applies shading to every other column.