Formatting cell content

In addition to content, each cell is characterized by a format that aims to highlight some of its features. For example, the header of the table should be in some way highlighted, with any different font, font style or a different background color; rows could also be colored with different colors, for better visibility; numbers may have a number of decimals … The text that follows will describe ways to format the contents of a cell.

The cell format consists of:

  • How cell content is displayed (number, text, date, time, etc.)
  • Alignment and position of cell contents
  • Font of the cell contents: type, color, style, size, etc.
  • Border of a cell or a group of cells
  • The color and texture of a cell or group of cells
  • Display and security parameters

We can change the cell format if we select one or more cells, and then click on one of the shortcuts in the Home toolbar options. Or, if we want to be faster, we can achieve this by pressing the CTRL + 1 key combination. After this action, the Format Cells dialog box opens.

00003-1The first thing we formulate in a cell is the way it is displayed (Number). This tab contains a set of options to determine if the content of the cell is a general type (General), a decimal number (Number), currency (Currency) a number in the accounting format (Accounting), Date, Time, Percentage, Fraction, exponential records (Scientific), Text (Text), Special (Special), or user customized record (Custom). When it comes to the numbers  most of the options listed here have the ability to determine the number of decimals, the choice of the sign display to separate thousands, and some of them also offer a currency selection that will be displayed next to the number. It is important to know that the mode of displaying numbers, dates and times also depends on the regional settings of the Windows operating system. Carefully pay attention to adjusting the decimal point and point mode.

The second set of options (Alignment) contains options for adjusting content alignment in relation to the length and width of the cell. By width, the content can be aligned to the left, to the right, centered or aligned on both sides (Justified). In height, the text can be aligned to the top, to the bottom or to the middle of the cell. There are some other types of alignment, but they are seldom used so that there will not be a word on them. Also, it is important to note the option of merge and merge function (wrap text). The first option allows you, after selecting multiple cells, to activate that cell in one. Using the same option, we can separate more pre-connected cells. The second option is to set the automatic text refinement. If the selected text is longer than the column width, it will automatically switch to the next line.

The third group of options (Font) refers to the type, style, size and color of a font. Also, it is possible to apply striketting effects, superscript writing, or subscript. It is important to note that the style of the letters can also refer to the part of the content of the cell. For example, if there is a word in a cell, it is possible to mark it, and then change the color of the font only to the first letter of that word. When formatting the font style universal shortcuts can be used: CTRL + B (Bold) to display bold letters, CTRL + I (Italic) to display the cursive letters, by pressing and CTRL + U (Underlined) for the underlined letters. Also, CTRL + 1, CTRL + 2 or CTRL + 3, respectively, can be used for this purpose.

The fourth set of options, depending on the selection, determines the border of a cell or cell group (Border). For the given selection, the type of border, style and colors can be determined. The fifth set of options (Fill) allows you to adjust the background color of the cell or the background of the cell background. The last group of options (Protection) refers to content protection, which will be discussed in one of the following texts.