How to Format Cell in Excel Application? 6 Helpful Elements

In this tutorial, I will explore how to format cell in Excel application. So, formatting cells in Microsoft Excel is a versatile and essential aspect of creating visually appealing and organized spreadsheets. It empowers users to control the appearance of data, making it easier to interpret and analyze.

Excel offers a wide range of formatting options, like adjusting font styles and colors, number formats, cell borders, fill color, and protecting documents. Whether you’re highlighting important figures, emphasizing specific data points, or simply enhancing the overall aesthetics of your worksheet, mastering cell formatting is a key skill in harnessing the full potential of Excel.

How to Format Cell in Excel Application?

Excel provides a wide range of cell formatting options for various data types. The below dialog box shows different cell formats. So, you can format cell in Excel using this dialog box.

Format Cell Number in Excel:

In the number tab, there are more categories like general, number, currency, etc., as you can see in the below screen shot. I will explain and explore each of them one by one in detail.

• General: The “General” cell format in Excel serves as the default, and it’s incredibly versatile. It allows you to display data in its most basic form, making it suitable for various types of information.
• Number: When you choose the “Number” cell format, Excel will display the cell’s content as a number, often with thousands separators for readability.
• Currency: Opting for the “Currency” cell format adds a currency symbol to your data, making it clear that the numbers represent monetary values.
• Accounting: Similar to the “Currency” format, “Accounting” is primarily used for financial and accounting purposes. It ensures that currency values are consistently formatted, aligning the decimal points for easy comparison.
• Date: With the “Date” cell format, Excel offers a range of date formatting options, allowing you to display dates in various styles, such as “17-09-2013” or “17th-Sep-2013,” depending on your preference.
• Time: The “Time” cell format provides flexibility in displaying time values. You can choose formats like “1.30 PM” or “13:30” to represent different time conventions.
• Percentage: Selecting the “Percentage” format transforms your data into a percentage, often with decimal places included, making it suitable for expressing proportions, growth rates, and more.
• Fraction: When you apply the “Fraction” cell format, Excel displays your data as a fraction, which can be handy for representing parts of a whole, like “1/4” or “1/2.”
• Scientific: The “Scientific” format presents your data in exponential notation, which is commonly used for very large or very small numbers, like “5.6E+01.”
• Text: If you want to keep your data exactly as you entered it, without any special formatting, the “Text” cell format is the choice for you. It treats your content as regular text.
• Special: The “Special” cell format offers a range of specialized formatting options, such as formatting for zip codes or phone numbers, ensuring that your data adheres to specific standards.
• Custom: With the “Custom” cell format, you have the freedom to create your own unique formatting rules, allowing you to tailor your cell appearance precisely to your requirements.

Format Cell Alignment in Excel:

In Excel, cell alignment plays a crucial role in controlling how the content within a cell is positioned or oriented. Proper cell alignment is essential for maintaining a well-organized and visually appealing spreadsheet, especially when working with lists of data. Here are some common cell alignment options used in list formats:

• Left Alignment: Left-aligned text or numbers in a cell are positioned against the left edge of the cell. This is often used for labels or headings in list formats, making it easier to read and scan the data.
• Center Alignment: Center-aligned content is positioned in the middle of the cell both horizontally and vertically. This alignment is frequently used for titles or headers in list formats to create a balanced appearance.
• Right Alignment: Right-aligned text or numbers are positioned against the right edge of the cell. This alignment is commonly used for numeric data, such as dates or amounts in list formats.
• Top Alignment: Top-aligned text or numbers are positioned at the top of the cell, leaving space at the bottom. This can be useful for aligning labels or titles in list formats.
• Bottom Alignment: Bottom-aligned content is positioned at the bottom of the cell, leaving space at the top. This alignment can be effective when you want to align notes or additional information in a list.
• Wrap Text: Enabling the “Wrap Text” option allows cell contents to wrap within the cell, accommodating long text entries. This is valuable for displaying lengthy descriptions or comments in list formats.
• Merge and Center: The “Merge and Center” option combines selected cells into a single, larger cell and centers the text horizontally and vertically within the merged cell. This is often used for creating titles or labels that span multiple columns in list formats.

Cell Font Setting in Excel:

In Excel’s “Cell Format” dialog box, you have a variety of font-related options to control the appearance of text within cells. These options allow you to customize the font style, size, color, and effects in your list or spreadsheet. Here are the various font options in the “Font” tab of the “Cell Format” dialog box:

• Font: This dropdown menu lets you choose the font type for your text. Excel provides a selection of commonly used fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, and Calibri, among others.
• Font Style: In this dropdown menu, you can select the style of the font, such as regular, italic, or bold. Some fonts may offer additional style variations.
• Size: Use this dropdown menu to set the font size for your text. You can choose from various sizes to make your text larger or smaller as needed.
• Underline: This option allows you to underline your text. You can select different underline styles, such as single, double, or dotted lines.
• Color: The color palette allows you to change the font color. You can pick from a wide range of colors to suit your formatting needs.
• Strikethrough: Enabling this option adds a horizontal line through the middle of your text, indicating that it’s struck through. This can be useful for indicating deleted or outdated information.
• Subscript: Subscript text is positioned slightly below the baseline of the regular text. It’s often used for mathematical notations or chemical formulas.
• Superscript: Superscript text is positioned slightly above the baseline of the regular text. It’s commonly used for exponentiation or footnote references.
• Effects: This dropdown menu offers additional text effects like shadow, outline, emboss, and engrave. These effects can give your text a distinctive appearance.
• Font Color: This button opens a color palette, allowing you to choose a specific font color from a broader range of options.
• Underline Color: Similar to font color, this button opens a color palette to choose the color for underlined text.
• Strikethrough Color: You can select the color for strikethrough text using this button.

These font options in the “Cell Format” dialog box provide you with a wide range of choices to format text in your Excel lists and spreadsheets, enabling you to create visually appealing and organized documents.

Cell Border Setting in Excel:

Certainly! In Excel’s “Cell Format” dialog box, you have various border-related options that allow you to control the appearance of cell borders in your lists or spreadsheets. These options help you create well-structured and visually appealing tables. Here are the various border options in the “Border” tab of the “Cell Format” dialog box:

1. Line Style: This dropdown menu lets you choose the style of the border lines. You can select from options like solid, dashed, dotted, double, or various other line styles.
2. Border Color: Clicking this button opens a color palette, allowing you to choose the color for the cell borders. You can select from a wide range of colors to suit your formatting needs.
3. Border:
   • Outline: This option applies a border to the outside edge of the selected cells, creating a frame around them.
   • Inside: Selecting this option adds borders to the inside edges of the selected cells, outlining the individual cells within the range.
   • Inside Horizontal: This option adds borders only to the horizontal edges inside the selected cells.
   • Inside Vertical: Similar to the previous option, this adds borders only to the vertical edges inside the selected cells.
   • Diagonal Down: Enables a diagonal line from the top left corner to the bottom right corner of the selected cells.
   • Diagonal Up: Enables a diagonal line from the top-right corner to the bottom-left corner of the selected cells.
4. Width: This dropdown menu allows you to set the line thickness or width for the selected cell borders. You can choose from various line thickness options.
5. Presets: Excel offers preset border configurations for quick formatting. These presets include options like “All Borders,” “Outside Borders,” and “No Border,” among others.
6. Outline: Clicking this button applies the chosen border style, color, and width to the outline of the selected cells, creating a frame around them.
7. Inside: This button applies the selected border style, color, and width to the inside edges of the selected cells, outlining each individual cell within the range.
8. Erase Border: To remove a border from the selected cells, use the “Erase Border” button.
9. Merge and Center: The “Merge and Center” button allows you to merge selected cells and apply a border around the merged area. This is often used to create header cells in tables.

These border options provide you with a range of choices to format cell borders in Excel, allowing you to create tables and lists with clear and well-defined boundaries.

Fill Color in Cell:

Certainly! In Excel’s “Format Cells” dialog box, you have various options for filling cells with color. These options allow you to enhance the visual appeal and organization of your lists and spreadsheets. Here are the various fill color options in the “Fill” tab of the “Format Cells” dialog box:

1. Background Color: This dropdown menu allows you to choose a background color for the selected cells. The background color fills the entire cell, providing a backdrop for your text or data.
2. Pattern Style: You can select from a variety of pattern styles, which are essentially background textures or patterns. These can be used in conjunction with a background color to create visually interesting effects.
3. Pattern Color: Clicking this button opens a color palette, enabling you to choose a pattern color. The pattern color is applied to the selected pattern style.
4. Automatic: Selecting “Automatic” removes any background color or pattern from the selected cells, restoring them to their default appearance.
5. No Color: The “No Color” option is used to clear any existing background color or pattern from the selected cells, making them transparent.
6. Fill Effects: Clicking this button opens a dialog box that provides advanced options for customizing cell fill effects. You can set gradients, textures, and more using this feature.
7. Foreground Color: This button allows you to choose a foreground color, which is essentially the text or content color within the selected cells. This color contrasts with the background color or pattern.

By utilizing these fill color options in the “Format Cells” dialog box, you can add visual emphasis, categorization, and clarity to your lists and spreadsheets in Excel. Whether you prefer a solid color, a textured background, or custom fill effects, Excel provides a range of choices to suit your formatting needs.

Cell Protection in Excel:

Certainly! In Excel’s “Format Cells” dialog box, the “Protection” tab provides options for protecting cells and controlling their security settings. These options are useful for securing sensitive data, preventing accidental changes, and managing the overall protection of your spreadsheet. Here are the various protection options in the “Protection” tab of the “Format Cells” dialog box:

1. Locked: When a cell is locked, it can be protected with a worksheet password. By default, all cells in an Excel worksheet are locked. However, this option is primarily used for specifying which cells should remain locked when you protect the worksheet.
2. Hidden: Hidden cells are not visible in the worksheet, but they can still contain data. This option allows you to hide sensitive information from view. Keep in mind that it doesn’t provide robust security, as hidden cells can be easily unhidden by someone with access to the spreadsheet.

Locking cells or hiding formulas in Excel does not take effect until you protect the worksheet. Excel allows you to set specific cell protections, such as locking cells to prevent editing and hiding formulas to keep them confidential or to simplify the view. However, these protections remain inactive until you explicitly protect the entire worksheet.

To activate these protections, you need to go to the “Review” tab in Excel and use the “Protect Sheet” option. This action ensures that the cell locking and formula hiding settings you’ve configured are enforced. Once the worksheet is protected, users can only edit or view cells based on the permissions you’ve set, including locked cells and hidden formulas.

This feature is valuable for maintaining data integrity, confidentiality, and controlled access to sensitive information in your Excel workbooks.

By following these steps, you can easily format cells in Excel to suit your data and presentation requirements, ensuring that your spreadsheets are both functional and visually appealing.