now that I have my basic bills listed in
my worksheet I think I like to clean it
up and format it formatting your
worksheet can make it look nice and make
it easier to read you will find some of
the font formatting commands on the Home
tab in the font group let's start by
making the title bold to do this you
first need to select the text you want
to make bulb now just click the bold
command I think I'll do the same with
all my bills here on the left if I want
to format more than one cell at a time
I can select entire columns and rows or
specific cells to select the entire
column just left-click the column
heading and the entire column will
appear as selected to select specific
cells in the column
just click a cell and drag your mouse to
select the entire cells you wish to
format then release the mouse button
now you can left-click the bold command
and all the selected cells will be
formatted now I'll just do the same
thing to this room in addition to the
bold command you also have the italic
and underline commands that work the
same way I think the title will look
good in italics so I'll just select it
and click the italics command the
underlined command works the same way
but it does have extra menu options
let's add the word total and cell a 29
eventually I'll add up my monthly bills
and list it in this room
I think it would be a good idea to draw
attention to this so I'll make it bold
and underline it to format it with a
simple line and just make sure the cell
is selected and then click the underline
command if you want a double line click
the down arrow and select the double
underline option you can also change the
font style size and color to change the
font style select the cells you want to
modify
I'll just left-click the rose 7 heading
to select the entire row and then left
click the font drop-down box on the Home
tab to select the font style from the
list as you move over the font list
you'll see the fonts previewed in the
spreadsheet this is the live preview
feature at work for you
I think to Helmer will look good and I
think I'll choose a different font style
for the title
it looks good but I think the font size
needs to be bigger
just select the drop-down arrow next to
the font size box and choose a size
option yeah this size looks good
while we're changing things let me show
you how to change the text color just
select the text and then click the down
arrow next to the text color command a
color palette appears I can select the
color I like or click more colors to
open a dialog box and access other
colors click the color you like and then
click OK
there that looks good now I'm ready to
make some additional formatting changes
that will make the worksheet easier to
read you can do this by adding borders
and fill color to your worksheet in
select places in the fonts dialog box
you'll find the fill effects command and
the borders command side-by-side let's
go ahead and select the cells we want to
add a border to so I'll just select the
rose and then click the arrow next to
the borders command on the Home tab and
menu appears with all sorts of choices
you can decide whether you only want to
border on the top or border on the
bottom or some type of combination just
left-click an option from the list it
selects it and it will appear in the
worksheet
adding fill color to cells can be a
great way to format a worksheet so that
it's easy to read you may have seen some
long business reports that have
alternating colored rows or columns to
make it easier to read you can also
change the fill color to draw attention
to a specific part or just make a little
nicer overall let's change the fill
color of the title cells just select the
cells then click the fill command a
color palette appears you can select the
color you like or choose more colors to
open a dialog box of colors here
I like this color right here it looks
pretty good but I think I need to change
my text color to white if the fill color
is dark like this
I can use a fill color in the same way
to format my columns to make them easier
to read you may have noticed that I have
my bill amounts listed each month but
there isn't a dollar sign in front of
each amount Excel gives you the ability
to change the number formats by default
the numbers appear in the general
category which means there is no special
formatting if I want to change the
number formatting I just need to select
the cells and then click the drop down
arrow in the number format box from here
you can see that there are many ways you
can format numbers in your worksheet
since I'm dealing with monetary amounts
I think currency or accounting will work
best to select one just left-click it
and there you go now the amounts appear
in the currency formats in the number
group you have some other options for
example you can change the US dollar
sign to another currency format you can
change the numbers to percents and add
commas you can even change how many
places appear after the decimal by
clicking the increase or decrease
decimal commands now before we wrap up I
want to add my due dates in this second
column
hmm I really don't like the way this is
formatted to change the formatting all
you have to do is go back to the number
group and click on the drop down arrow
from here I can choose how I want my
date to be displayed so I want it to be
displayed in the short date format or
the long date format I think I'm going
to choose a short date format to avoid
having to do this for each and every
cell in this column all I have to do is
select the remaining cells where I would
like to enter my dates now I have to go
back to the number group click on the
drop down arrow and click on short date
again this means that no matter what
format I try to enter my date the only
format that will be applied is a short
date format here I'll show you
now I'll click outside of the cell for
the changes to apply see this helps with
consistency now things are looking
pretty good but I'd like to Center my
title over my entire budget to do this I
need to left click cell a1 and drag it
to my right to select all the cells over
to and including oh one now on the Home
tab in the alignment group I just need
to click the merge & Center command and
the title is now centered over the
selected cells you'll also notice that
the separate column lines no longer
appear well that's because the selected
cells were merged into one cell
formatting rows columns and text and
Excel makes data look a little more
interesting go ahead and start
formatting your worksheet for a
customized and appealing look