Microsoft® Excel® 2010 Inside Out

Formatting Fundamentals

Worksheet editing involves creating and modifying the content, layout, and organization of data, while worksheet formatting deals with the appearance and readability of that data. With formatting, you can take mind-numbing detail and turn it into information by highlighting the important stuff, adding visual cues and clues, and enhancing overall readability and organization. Be careful, though—over formatting can be as distracting as none at all. Usually, the goal of a good worksheet is to call attention to the right information, not to showcase Excel’s formatting features (or your mastery of them).

Formatting in Excel is easy: Select the cell or range, and use the appropriate buttons and commands on the ribbon to apply ...