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Excel Lesson 2
Changing the Appearance
of a Worksheet
Microsoft Office 2010:
Introductory
1
Pasewark & Pasewark
Objectives
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Excel – Lesson 2
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2
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Change column widths and row heights.
Position data within a cell by aligning,
wrapping, rotating, and indenting.
Change the appearance of cells using fonts,
font sizes, font styles, colors, and borders.
Designate the number format used for data
stored in a cell.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Objectives (continued)
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Excel – Lesson 2
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3
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Use the Format Painter to copy formatting
from one cell to another.
Apply and clear cell styles.
Find and replace cell formats.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Vocabulary
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Excel – Lesson 2
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Alignment
AutoFit
Border
Cell style
Clear
Column heading
Pasewark & Pasewark
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Editing mode
Fill
Font
Font size
Font style
Format Painter
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Vocabulary
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Excel – Lesson 2
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Indent
Live Preview
Merge
Number format
Orientation
Points
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Row heading
Style
Theme
Truncate
Wrap text
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Introduction
Excel – Lesson 2
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6
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Worksheet contents should be easy to read
and attractive. You can use formatting to
provide visual cues to help determine the
purpose of different data in the worksheet as
well as make the data visually pleasing.
Sometimes numbers that do not fit the cell
are displayed as a series of number signs
(######).
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Resizing Columns and Rows
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Excel – Lesson 2
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7
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You can resize the column by placing the pointer on the right
edge of the column heading until the pointer changes to a
double-headed arrow. Click and drag to the right until the
column expands to the width you want.
If you want to specify a precise column width, it’s easiest to
enter that value in the Column Width dialog box.
The process for changing row height is similar. Place the
pointer below the row heading until the pointer changes to a
double-headed arrow. Click and drag down until the row has
the number of lines you want.
You can also use the Row Height dialog box to specify an exact
row height.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Changing the Size of a Cell (continued)
Excel – Lesson 2
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8
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Columns often contain data of varying widths. To
make the worksheet easier to read, a column should
be wide enough to display the longest entry, but no
wider than necessary.
AutoFit determines the best width for a column or the
best height for a row, based on its contents. Place
the pointer on the right edge of the column heading
(or below the row heading) until the pointer changes
to a double-headed arrow. Then, double-click to
resize the column or row to the best fit.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Positioning Data Within a Cell
Excel – Lesson 2
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9
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Unless you specify otherwise, text you enter in a cell
is lined up along the bottom-left side of the cell, and
numbers you enter in a cell are lined up along the
bottom-right side of the cell.
You can align the contents of a cell horizontally and
vertically within the cell. To change the alignment of
a cell, select the cell and then click an alignment
button in the Alignment group on the Home tab of
the Ribbon.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Positioning Data Within a Cell
(continued)
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Excel – Lesson 2
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10
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You can center cell contents across several
columns. Select the cells, and then click the Merge &
Center button in the Alignment group on the Home
tab of the Ribbon.
The selected cells merge, or combine into one cell,
and the contents from the upper-left cell are
centered in the newly merged cell.
Data can be indented (or shifted to the right) within
cells to help distinguish categories or set data apart.
Use the Increase Indent button in the Alignment
group on the Home tab of the Ribbon.
To move the indent in the other direction, click the
Decrease Indent button.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Positioning Data Within a Cell
(continued)
Excel – Lesson 2
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11
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To save space in the worksheet, you can change
each cell’s text orientation to rotate its data to any
angle. Changing the text orientation of some cells
can also help give your worksheet a more
professional look.
To change text orientation, select the cells whose
contents you want to rotate. Click the Orientation
button in the Alignment group on the Home tab of
the Ribbon. A menu of orientation options appears,
with commands for angling the text at 45-degree
angles clockwise or counterclockwise, stacking the
text vertically, or rotating the text up or down.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Positioning Data Within a Cell
(continued)
Excel – Lesson 2
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12
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Text that is too long to fit within a cell is displayed in
the next cell, if it is empty. If the next cell already
contains data, any text that does not fit in the cell is
truncated, or hidden from view.
One way to see all the text stored in a cell is to wrap
text. The row height adjusts automatically to include
additional lines until all the text is visible. When you
wrap text, the column width is not changed.
To wrap text, select the cells in which you want to
wrap text. Then, click the Wrap Text button in the
Alignment group on the Home tab of the Ribbon.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Changing the Appearance of Cells
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Excel – Lesson 2
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You can modify the cell’s default font, font size, font
style, font and fill colors, and borders.
The fonts and colors used in each workbook are part
of a theme. A theme is a preset collection of design
elements, including fonts, colors, and other effects.
By default, the Office theme is applied to each
workbook.
To change a workbook’s appearance, you can select
a different theme, or you can format cells with other
fonts and colors.
As you format cells, Live Preview shows the results
of the different formatting options you can choose.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Changing the Appearance of Cells
(continued)
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Excel – Lesson 2
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14
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A font is the design of text. The default font for cells
is Calibri.
Font size determines the height of characters, as
measured in points. The default font size for cells is
11 points.
You can choose different fonts and font sizes in a
worksheet to emphasize part of a worksheet or to
distinguish worksheet titles and column headings
from other data.
Bold, italic, and underlining can add emphasis to the
contents of a cell. These features are referred to as
font styles.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Changing the Appearance of Cells
(continued)
Excel – Lesson 2
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15
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You can use color to emphasize cells or distinguish
them from one another. The default font color is
black. The default fill (or background) color of cells
is white. You can change both of these colors.
You can add emphasis to a cell by placing a border
(or line) around its edges. You can place the border
around the entire cell or only on certain sides of the
cell. You can also select different border styles, such
as a thick border or a double border.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Changing the Appearance of Cells
(continued)
Excel – Lesson 2
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16
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Number formats change the way data looks in a cell.
The actual content you entered is not changed. The
default number format is General, which displays
numbers the way you type them. However, you can
select any of the number formats.
The Formula Bar shows the actual value of the
contents you see in the active cell. For example, the
actual value shown in the Formula Bar might be
1000, whereas the number you see in the active cell
is $1,000.00.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Changing the Appearance of Cells
(continued)
Excel – Lesson 2
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17
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Format Painter enables you to copy formatting from
one worksheet cell to another without copying the
cell’s contents. This is especially helpful when the
cell formatting you want to copy includes several
formats.
The Format Cells dialog box provides access to all
the formatting options available on the Ribbon, as
well as some additional formatting options. To open
the Format Cells dialog box, you can click the Dialog
Box Launcher in the Font, Alignment, or Number
group on the Home tab of the Ribbon, or you can
press the Ctrl+1 keys.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Using Styles
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Excel – Lesson 2
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18
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A style is a combination of formatting characteristics
such as alignment, font, font size, and font color.
When you apply a style, you apply all the formatting
characteristics simultaneously. To apply a cell style,
select the cells you want to format. In the Styles
group on the Home tab of the Ribbon, click the Cell
Styles button.
To clear all the formatting, select the cell or range,
click the Clear button in the Editing group on the
Home tab of the Ribbon, and then click Clear
Format.
You can also find and replace specific formatting in a
workbook.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Summary
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Excel – Lesson 2
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19
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If data does not fit in a cell, you can resize the columns
and rows to make the data easier to read.
You can align, indent, rotate, wrap text, and merge
cells to reposition data in worksheet cells.
You can change the appearance of cells to make the
worksheet easier to read or to create a specific look
and feel. Choose the appropriate fonts, font sizes, font
styles, font and fill colors, and borders.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Summary (continued)

Excel – Lesson 2
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20
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A variety of number formats enable you to
change how a number is displayed in the cell.
No matter which number format you select, the
actual value stored in the cell does not change.
You can see this by comparing the formatted
value in the active cell with the stored value in
the Formula Bar.
Format Painter copies all the formatting from
one cell to another cell or range without
copying the contents of the cell.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Summary (continued)
Excel – Lesson 2
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21
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The Format Cells dialog box provides all the number,
alignment, font, border, and fill formatting options
available on the Ribbon, as well as some additional
ones.
A style is a combination of formatting characteristics,
such as alignment, font, font size, font color, fill color,
and borders, that you can apply simultaneously. The
Cell Styles gallery lets you quickly apply a style to
selected cells.
The Find and Replace dialog box can be used to
change cell formatting.
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory
Excel – Lesson 2
22
Pasewark & Pasewark
Microsoft Office 2010: Introductory