Mastering Cell Formatting in Excel Text Alignment Borders And Colours
Excel isn’t just about numbers and formulas—it’s about making data clear, readable, and visually appealing! 💡 By mastering text alignment, borders, and colors, you can highlight important data, improve presentation, and make spreadsheets easier to understand.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
✅ Text alignment tricks for better readability
✅ Borders to structure data clearly
✅ Colors & shading to highlight key information
✅ Bonus shortcuts to speed up formatting
📌 A well-formatted spreadsheet = A professional spreadsheet! 🚀
📌 1. Text Alignment: Adjust How Data Appears in Cells
By default, Excel left-aligns text and right-aligns numbers. But you can customize alignment to make your data easier to read.
✅ Horizontal & Vertical Alignment
1️⃣ Select the cells you want to align
2️⃣ Go to the Home tab
3️⃣ Use the Alignment group to:
- 📌 Align Left, Center, or Right
- 📌 Align Top, Middle, or Bottom
📌 Shortcut: Use Ctrl + E to center align instantly!
🎥 Watch this tutorial on text alignment:
🔗 Excel Text Alignment Guide
🔄 2. Merging & Wrapping Text
🔹 Merge Cells: Combines multiple cells into one
🔹 Wrap Text: Keeps all text visible inside a cell
✅ How to Wrap Text Automatically
1️⃣ Select the cells
2️⃣ Click Wrap Text in the Home tab
📌 Shortcut: Press Alt + H + W to wrap text instantly!
🎥 Watch how to wrap text in Excel:
🔗 Wrap Text in Excel
📌 3. Adding Borders for Clearer Data Organization
Borders help separate data visually and make it easier to read.
✅ How to Add Borders?
1️⃣ Select the cells
2️⃣ Go to Home > Borders (🟦🟨 icon)
3️⃣ Choose:
- All Borders (outline every cell)
- Thick Border (for headings)
- Bottom Border (underline key data)
📌 Shortcut: Press Ctrl + Shift + & to add borders instantly!
🎥 See how to use borders effectively:
🔗 Excel Borders Guide
📌 4. Using Colors for Better Readability
Adding cell colors, text colors, and shading makes data stand out.
✅ How to Change Font & Background Color?
1️⃣ Select the cells
2️⃣ Click the Font Color 🎨 (A icon) for text color
3️⃣ Click the Fill Color 🟨 (paint bucket) for background color
4️⃣ Choose a color to apply
📌 Best Practices for Colors:
✔ Use light colors for backgrounds (light gray, pastel blue)
✔ Use bold/dark colors for headers (dark blue, black)
✔ Avoid too many bright colors—keep it professional!
🎥 See color formatting in action:
🔗 Excel Color Formatting Guide
🚀 Bonus: Conditional Formatting (Auto-Highlight Important Data!)
Conditional Formatting automatically changes colors based on values.
✅ Example: Highlight Sales > $10,000
1️⃣ Select your data
2️⃣ Click Conditional Formatting (Home tab)
3️⃣ Choose Highlight Cell Rules > Greater Than…
4️⃣ Enter 10000 and pick a highlight color
5️⃣ Click OK
🎥 See Conditional Formatting in action:
🔗 How to Highlight Data Automatically
🚀 Final Thoughts
Mastering text alignment, borders, and colors will make your spreadsheets clearer, more readable, and professional! Formatting isn’t just about looks—it helps you and others understand data faster.
📌 Next Steps:
🔹 Want to learn Excel shortcuts? Check out this guide
🔹 Need help with tables and reports? Watch this video
📢 How do you format your spreadsheets? Share your best tips below! 💬👇