Excel cell formatting controls how values look without necessarily changing the underlying value. You can format numbers, dates, alignment, borders, fills, fonts, and protection.
Steps
- Select the cells you want to change.
- Use the Home tab for common number, font, alignment, border, and fill controls.
- For more options, open Format Cells with Ctrl+1.
- Choose the relevant category and settings, then apply them.
Formatting does not always change data
A date is normally stored as a serial value, and currency formatting does not turn a number into different arithmetic. Likewise, displaying fewer decimal places does not necessarily round the stored value.
Use styles for repeated designs
If the same formatting appears throughout a workbook, Cell Styles or table styles can be easier to maintain than manually formatting each range. Conditional Formatting is appropriate when appearance should change according to a value or formula.
Before applying broad formats to imported data, confirm numbers are actually numeric rather than text; formatting alone will not repair every data-type problem.
After making the change, test the specific result before doing more. For how to format excel cells: a, keep the original settings or data available until you are satisfied the new configuration works as intended.
Check the result
Before finishing this format excel cells task, review the changed setting and confirm that the resulting behavior matches what you intended. Leave unrelated settings alone while testing format excel cells so the result can be traced to this change. If format excel cells produces an unexpected result, undo the most recent change first and troubleshoot that symptom before making additional adjustments. Testing format excel cells in isolation makes it easier to identify the cause without introducing a second problem.
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