Fabulous Format Tips

If you want to center text across several cells, enter the text into the leftmost cell, select all cells, and click the Center Across Cells button.In older versions of Excel, you could not insert/delete columns where a merged cell exists. Excel 2000 can, but if you have an old worksheet, you might need to File → Save As with a new name to get the functionality.

To wrap text, use the Format Cells command and look on the Alignment tab

When you use currency ($) and comma (,) style buttons, you can use the increase or decrease decimal places buttons to hide/show decimal detail.

Often if you use the currency ($) style, you will want to use the comma (,) style in other cells, so numbers align correctly.

To get lines (borders) that print, use the Borders button

Click the Borders button to apply the border shown on the button.

To apply other borders, click the drop-down arrow next to the Borders button.

To remove borders, select No Border from the Borders drop-down. It is the option with a grid of dotted lines.

For more options, right-click, choose Format Cells and click the Borders tab.

Format columns of ZIP codes, phone numbers, and Social Security Numbers using the Format Cells command. Click the Numbers tab, select the category Special and choose the appropriate format.

You can create custom number formats. Search for help on "custom number formats."

To format numbers as thousands (e.g. 12,000 &8594; 12 k), use the custom format:

0, k

Select a range of cells and choose Format ? AutoFormat to preview and apply common formats.