Lesson 2.2 – Formatting Cells

Formatting cells is essential for making your data clear, readable, and professional. Good formatting improves communication, helps prevent errors, and ensures your spreadsheet follows international standards used in business and data analysis.

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1. Font Formatting

You can change the appearance of text using the Font group on the Home tab.

• Bold – highlight important labels
• Italic – emphasize specific values
• Underline – titles or totals
• Font size – adjust readability
• Font color – use sparingly for clarity

Avoid using too many colors or styles, as this reduces readability.

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2. Cell Alignment

Alignment controls how content is positioned inside a cell.

• Left – default for text
• Right – default for numbers and dates
• Center – useful for headers
• Vertical alignment – top, middle, bottom
• Wrap Text – keeps long text visible inside the cell
• Merge & Center – combine cells for titles

Use Merge & Center only for titles, not for data tables.

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3. Borders and Cell Outlines

Borders help separate sections and make tables easier to read.

• All Borders – for simple tables
• Outside Borders – highlight a block of data
• Thick Borders – emphasize totals or key sections

Keep borders minimal to maintain a clean, professional look.

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4. Cell Fill Color

Fill color is useful for highlighting categories or important values.

• Use light colors for readability
• Avoid strong or saturated colors
• Use consistent color coding across the sheet

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5. Cell Styles

Excel includes predefined styles that apply multiple formatting settings at once.

• Heading – for titles
• Input – for editable fields
• Good / Bad / Neutral – quick visual indicators

Styles help maintain consistency across large spreadsheets.

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6. Practical Exercise

Practice formatting cells by completing the following steps:

1. Create a worksheet named Lesson_2_2_Practice.
2. Enter a small table with three columns: Product, Quantity, Price.
3. Format the header row using bold text and center alignment.
4. Apply borders to the entire table.
5. Use a light fill color for the header row.
6. Center-align the Quantity column.
7. Apply a predefined Cell Style to the header.

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Next Lesson

Lesson 2.3 – Number Formats