Formatting Numbers and Labels

When you first create a spreadsheet, numbers and labels appear as plain text. Plain labels might look boring, but plain numbers (such as 8495 or 0.39) can be difficult to read and understand if the numbers are supposed to represent currency amounts ($8,495) or percentages (39%).

To make labels visually interesting and numbers appear more descriptive of what they actually represent, you need to format your data after you type it into a spreadsheet.

You can format a cell or range of cells after you have already typed in data or before you type in any data. If you format cells before typing any data, any data you type in will appear in your chosen format.

Formatting numbers

To format the appearance of numbers, follow these steps:

1. Select one or more cells using the mouse or keyboard. To select multiple cells, drag the mouse or hold the Shift key while pressing the arrow keys.
   
   
2. Click the Home tab and then click the Number Format list box in the Number group. A pull-down menu appears.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   The Number Format list box lists the different ways you can format the appearance of numbers.

   The Number group also displays three icons that let you format numbers as Currency, Percentage, or with Commas in one click, as shown in Figure. If you click the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the Accounting Number Format icon, you can choose different currency symbols to use such as $, £, or €.

   
   
   
   
3. Click a number format style, such as Percentage or Scientific. Excel displays your numbers in your chosen format.

Displaying negative numbers

Because many people use spreadsheets for business, they often want negative numbers to appear highlighted so they can see them easier. Excel can display negative numbers in parentheses (–23) or in red so you cannot miss them. To define how negative numbers appear in your spreadsheet, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell or range of cells that you want to modify and then click the Home tab.
   
   
2. Click the Format icon in the Cells group. A pop-up menu appears.
   
   
   
   

   The Format icon lets you format the appearance of rows, columns, or individual cells.

3. Choose Cells. The Format Cells dialog box appears.
   
   
4. Choose Currency or Number from the Category list.
   You can choose how to format negative numbers only if you format your numbers using the Currency or Number category.
   
   
5. Click a negative number format and then click OK. If any of your numbers become negative in the cell or cells you selected in Step 1, Excel automatically displays those negative numbers in the negative number format you chose.
   
   
   
   

   The Format Cells dialog box lets you customize the appearance of your numbers.

Formatting decimal numbers

If you format cells to display numbers with decimal places, such as 23.09 or 23.09185, you can modify how many decimal places appear. To define the number of decimal places, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell or cells that contain the numbers you want to format and then click the Home tab.
   
   
2. Click in the Number Format list box and choose a format that displays decimal places, such as Number or Percentage. Excel formats the numbers in your chosen cells.
   
   

You can click the Increase Decimal (increases the number of decimal places displayed) or Decrease Decimal icon (decreases the number of decimal places displayed).

Formatting cells

To make your data look prettier, Excel can format the appearance of cells to change the font, background color, text color, or font size used to display data in a cell.

Excel provides two ways to format cells: You can use Excel’s built-in formatting styles, or you can apply different types of formatting individually. Some of the individual formatting styles you can choose include.

• Font and font size
  
  
• Text styles (underlining, italic, and bold)
  
  
• ext and background color
  
  
• Borders
  
  
• Alignment
  
  
• Text wrapping and orientation

Formatting cells with built-in styles

Excel provides a variety of predesigned formatting styles that you can apply to one or more cells. To format cells with a built-in style, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell or cells that you want to format with a built-in style and then click the Home tab.
   
   
2. Click the Cell Styles icon in the Styles group. A pull-down menu appears listing all the different styles you can choose, as shown.
   
   
   
   

   The Cell Styles menu offers different ways to format your cells quickly.

3. Move the mouse pointer over a style. Excel displays a Live Preview of how your selected cells will look with that particular style.
   
   
4. Click the style you want. Excel applies your chosen style to the selected cells.

Formatting fonts and text styles

Different fonts can emphasize parts of your spreadsheet, such as using one font to label columns and rows and another font or font size to display the actual data. Text styles (bold, underline, and italic) can also emphasize data that appears in the same font or font size. To change the font, font size, and text style of one or more cells, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell or cells that you want to change the font and font size and then click the Home tab.
   
   
2. Click the Font list box. A pull-down menu of different fonts appears. Click the font you want to use.
   
   
3. Choose one of the following methods to change the font size:
   
   
   • Click the Font Size list box and then choose a font size, such as 12 or 16.
     
     
   • Click the Font Size list box and type a value such as 7 or 15.
     
     
   • Click the Increase Font Size or Decrease Font Size icon until your data appears in the size you want.
   
   
4. Click one or more text style icons (Bold, Italic, Underline).

Formatting with color

Each cell displays data in a Font color and a Fill color. The Font color defines the color of the numbers and letters that appear inside a cell. (The default Font color is black.) The Fill color defines the color that fills the background of the cell. (The default Fill color is white.) To change the Font and Fill colors of cells, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell or cells that you want to color and then click the Home tab.
   
   
2. Click the downward-pointing arrow that appears to the right of the Font Color icon. A color palette appears.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Click the color you want to use for your text.
   The color you select appears directly on the Font Color icon. The next time you want to apply this same color to a cell, you can click the Font Color icon directly instead of the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the Font Color icon.
   
   
4. Click the downward-pointing arrow that appears to the right of the Fill Color icon. A color palette appears and then click a color to use to fill the background of your cell.
   The color you select appears directly on the Fill Color icon. The next time you want to apply this same color to a cell, you can click the Fill Color icon directly instead of the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the Fill Color icon.

Adding borders

For another way to highlight one or more cells, you can add borders. Borders can surround the entire cell or just the top, bottom, left, or right side of a cell. To add borders to a cell, follow these steps:

1. Select one or more cells and then click the Home tab.
   
   
2. Click the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the Border icon. A pull-down menu appears. Click a border style. Excel displays your chosen borders around the cells you selected in Step 1.
   
   
   
   

   The Border menu lists different ways to place borders around cells.