15 Formatting

The formatting toolbar appears on the screen below the standard tool bar:

If you cannot see this toolbar, click on View in the menu bar, use the mouse to highlight Toolbars and then click on Formatting.

The formatting toolbar is the easiest way to change many attributes of text. Hover the pointer over each toolbar and read the screen tip that appears. Don't worry if one or two tools do not appear on the toolbar. As you become familiar with Excel you will learn how to add and remove tools to the toolbars.

To use a tool on the formatting toolbar:

1. Select the cell or part of a cell using any of the methods decribed above.
2. Click on the appropriate tool.
3. If you can't remember what a particular tool is for then hover the pointer over it and after a couple of seconds the screen tip to appear.
4. If the tool has a menu click on a option from the menu.
   The selected cell or part cell will be formatted accordingly.

Font size

The first 2 tools on this toolbar are the:

• Font - The arrowhead to the right of the font name box opens a list of available fonts. The menu can be scrolled through to show all available fonts.
• Font Size - A font size can be typed in to the white part of the font size box or the arrowhead to the right of the box can be used to open a list of available font sizes. The larger the font size the larger the text will appear.

To set the font or font size:

1. Select/highlight the cell or part cell to be formatted.
2. Click on the triangle next to the Font tool or Font Size tool.
3. Scroll through the drop-down menu until you see your preference.
4. Click on your preference.
   The selected cell or part cell will be formatted accordingly and the drop-down menu will automatically close.

Bold, Italics and Underline

The next three tools enable you to style your selected text:

• Font Style - B is for setting text in bold, I is for setting text in italics and U is for underlining text.

To set the text in bold, italics or underlined:

1. Select/highlight the text to be formatted.
2. Click on Bold tool, Italic tool or Underline tool.
   The selected text will be formatted accordingly.

Alignment

The next four tools enable you to set the alignment of your selected text:

• Alignment - Text can be aligned to the left, centre, or right side of the cell.

To align text:

1. Select/highlight the text to be aligned.
2. Click on the Align Left tool, Centre tool or Align Right tool.
   The selected text will be aligned accordingly.

Merge and Centre

The next tool enables you to merge more than one cell:

• Merge and Centre - Combines a number of adjacent cells to form one large cell and centres the text. If more than one cell contains text then only the text in the top left cell will appear in the new large cell.

To merge and centre cells:

1. Select/highlight the cells to be merged and centred.
2. Click on the Merge and Centre tool.
   The selected cells will be merged and any text in the top left cell will appear at the centre bottom of the new cell.

Currency

The next tool enables you to set cells containing numbers in to currency:

• Currency - Currency formats are used for genertal monetary values.

To format numbers as currency:

1. Select/highlight the cells to be formatted as currency.
2. Click on the Currency tool.
   The selected cells will be formatted as currency, i.e. 55 will become £55.00.

Percentage

The next tool enables you to set cells containing numbers in to percentages:

• Percent Style - Percentage formats multiply the cell value by 100 and displays the result with a percentage symbol.

To format numbers as percentage:

1. Select/highlight the cells to be formatted as currency.
2. Click on the Percent Style tool.
   The selected cells will be formatted as percentage, i.e. 5 will become 500%.

Comma style

The next tool enables you to insert a comma separater to large numbers and add decimal places:

• Comma Style - large numbers will be separted in to thousands by a comma and two decimal places will be added.

To separate large numbers in to thousands:

1. Select/highlight the cell or cells containing the large number or numbers.
2. Click on the Comma Style tool.
   The selected cell or cells will be formatted accordingly, i.e. 5000000 will become 5,000,000.00.

Decimal places

The next two tools enable you to increase or decrease the number of decimal places:

• Increase/Decrease Decimal - Change the number of decimal places of cells containing only numbers.

To set the number of decimal places:

1. Select/highlight the cell or cells containing only numbers.
2. Click on the Increase Decimal tool or Decrease Decimal tool.
   The numbers will formatted accordingly.

Indentation

The next two tools enable you to adjust the indentation of cell contents:

• Increase/Decrease Indent - Change the indentation of text in relation to the cell it is in.

To set the indentation of text:

1. Select/highlight the cell or cells containing text to be indented.
2. Click on the Decrease Indent tool or Increase Indent tool.
   The text will be indented accordingly.

Border

The next tool enables you to apply a border to a cell or cluster of cells:

• Outside Border - Add a border around a cell or cluster of cells. The arrowhead to the right of the border box opens a menu of options of where to place a border in relation to selected cell.

To apply a border to a cell or cluster of cells:

1. Select/highlight the cell or cells to apply a border to.
2. Click on the Outside Border tool if it already shows the type of border to apply, or click on the triangle next to the tool to open up a drop-down menu.
3. Scroll through the drop-down menu until you see your preference.
4. Click on your preference.
   The selected border will be applied to the cell or cells and the drop-down menu will automatically close.

Cell colour

The next tool enables you to fill a cell or cells with colour:

• Fill Colour- This option enables a cell or cluster of cells to be filled with different colours. The colour shown on the button is the currently selected colour to use. The black triangle to the right of the image opens up a menu of other available colours.

To fill a cell or cells with colour:

1. Select the cell or cells to fill with colour.
2. Click on the Fill Colour tool if it already shows the colour to apply, or click on the triangle next to the tool to open up a drop-down menu.
3. Scroll through the drop-down menu until you see your preference.
4. Click on your preference.
   The selected cell or cells will be coloured accordingly and the drop-down menu will automatically close.

Text colour

The next tool enables you to set the colour of the text.

• Font Colour - This option enables the text to be shown in different colours. The colour shown on the button is the currently selected colour to use. The black triangle to the right of the image opens up a menu of other available colours.

To set the colour of text:

1. Select/highlight the text to colour.
2. Click on the Font Colour tool if it already shows the colour to apply to the text, or click on the triangle next to the tool to open up a drop-down menu.
3. Scroll through the drop-down menu until you see your preference.
4. Click on your preference.
   The selected text will be formatted accordingly and the drop-down menu will automatically close.

For more formatting options available in the Format Cell box click here.

Using the Format Painter

A handy feature for formatting text is the Format Painter located on the standard toolbar:

If, for example, you have formatted a cell with a certain font face, size, and style and you want to format another cell the same way, you do not need to manually add each attribute to the new cell. Instead, use the Format Painter.

To use the Format Painter:

1. Place the cursor within the cell that contains the formatting you want to copy.
2. Click the Format Painter button in the standard toolbar. The pointer will then have a paintbrush beside it.
3. Using the mouse, select the cell or cluster of cells you want to add the same format to and then release the mouse button.

To add the formatting to multiple cells that are not clustered, follow the above steps but in step 2. instead of clicking the Format Painter button once double-click it. The format painter then stays active until you click on Format Painter again or press the Esc key on your keyboard to turn it off.

Exercises.

For exercises to practice the above click here.

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