Format Cells from the Ribbon in Excel 2013
The formatting buttons that appear in the Font, Alignment, and Number groups on the Home tab in Excel 2013 enable you to accomplish targeted cell formatting. Some spreadsheet tables require a lighter touch than formatting as a table offers.
For example, you may have a data table where the only emphasis you want to add is to make the column headings bold at the top of the table and to underline the row of totals at the bottom (done by drawing a borderline along the bottom of the cells).
The Formatting Command Buttons in the Font, Alignment, and Number
Groups on the Home Tab
| Group |
Button Name |
Function |
Hot Keys |
| Font |
|
|
|
|
|
Font |
Displays a Font drop-down menu from which you can assign a new
font for the entries in your cell selection. |
Alt+HFF |
|
|
Font Size |
Displays a Font Size drop-down menu from which you can assign a
new font size to the entries in your cell selection. Click the Font
Size text box and enter the desired point size if it doesn’t
appear on the drop-down menu. |
Alt+HFS |
|
|
Increase Font Size |
Increases by one point the font size of the entries in your
cell selection. |
Alt+HFG |
|
|
Decrease Font Size |
Decreases by one point the font size of the entries in your
cell selection. |
Alt+HFK |
|
|
Bold |
Applies and removes boldface in the entries in your cell
selection. |
Alt+H1 |
|
|
Italic |
Applies and removes italics in the entries in your cell
selection. |
Alt+H2 |
|
|
Underline |
Applies and removes underlining in the entries in your cell
selection. |
Alt+H3U (single) or Alt+H3D (for double) |
|
|
Borders |
Opens a Borders drop-down menu from which you can assign a new
border style to or remove an existing border style from your cell
selection. |
Alt+HB |
|
|
Fill Color |
Opens a drop-down Color palette from which you can assign a new
background color for your cell selection. |
Alt+HH |
|
|
Font Color |
Opens a drop-down Color palette from which you can assign a new
font color for the entries in your cell selection. |
Alt+HFC |
| Alignment |
|
|
|
|
|
Top Align |
Aligns the entries in your cell selection with the top border
of their cells. |
Alt+HAT |
|
|
Middle Align |
Vertically centers the entries in your cell selection between
the top and bottom borders of their cells. |
Alt+HAM |
|
|
Bottom Align |
Aligns the entries in your cell selection with the bottom
border of their cells. |
Alt+HAB |
|
|
Orientation |
Opens a drop-down menu with options for changing the angle and
direction of the entries in your cell selection. |
Alt+HFQ |
|
|
Wrap Text |
Wraps all entries in your cell selection that spill over their
right borders onto multiple lines within the current column
width |
Alt+HW |
|
|
Align Text Left |
Aligns all the entries in your cell selection with the left
edge of their cells |
Alt+HAL |
|
|
Center |
Centers all the entries in your cell selection within their
cells. |
Alt+HAC |
|
|
Align Right |
Aligns all the entries in your cell selection with the right
edge of their cells. |
Alt+HAR |
|
|
Decrease Indent |
Decreases the margin between entries in your cell selection and
their left cell borders by one tab stop. |
Alt+H5 or Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Tab |
|
|
Increase Indent |
Increases the margin between the entries in your cell selection
and their left cell borders by one tab stop. |
Alt+H6 or Ctrl+Alt+Tab |
|
|
Merge & Center |
Merges your cell selection into a single cell and then centers
the combined entry in the first cell between its new left and right
borders. Click the Merge and Center drop-down button to display a
menu of options that enable you to merge the cell selection into a
single cell without centering the entries, as well as to split up a
merged cell back into its original individual cells. |
Alt+HMC |
| Number |
|
|
|
|
|
Number Format |
Displays the number format applied to the active cell in your
cell selection. Click its drop-down button to open a drop-down menu
where you can assign one of Excel’s major Number formats to
the cell selection. |
Alt+HN |
|
|
Accounting Number Format |
Opens a drop-down menu from which you can select the currency
symbol to be used in the Accounting number format. When you select
the $ English (U.S) option, this format adds a dollar sign, uses
commas to separate thousands, displays two decimal places, and
encloses negative values in a closed pair of parentheses. Click the
More Accounting Formats option to open the Number tab of the Format
Cells dialog box where you can customize the number of decimal
places and/or currency symbol used. |
Alt+HAN |
|
|
Percent Style |
Formats your cell selection using the Percent Style number
format, which multiplies the values by 100 and adds a percent sign
with no decimal places. |
Alt+HP |
|
|
Comma Style |
Formats your cell selection with the Comma Style Number format,
which uses commas to separate thousands, displays two decimal
places, and encloses negative values in a closed pair of
parentheses. |
Alt+HK |
|
|
Increase Decimal |
Adds a decimal place to the values in your cell selection. |
Alt+H0 (zero) |
|
|
Decrease Decimal |
Removes a decimal place from the values in your cell
selection. |
Alt+H9 |
Don’t forget about the shortcut keys: Ctrl+B for toggling on and off bold in the cell selection, Ctrl+I for toggling on and off italics, and Ctrl+U for toggling on and off underlining for quickly adding or removing these attributes from the entries in the cell selection.

Excel Glossary
active cell
The worksheet cell that contains the cell cursor. Each worksheet can have only one active cell.

Excel Glossary
AutoComplete
A feature that looks at the entries that you make in a worksheet column and automatically duplicates them in subsequent rows whenever you start a new entry that begins with the same letter or letters as an existing entry in that column.

Excel Glossary
AutoCorrect
A feature that alerts Excel 2007 to common typing errors and your own typing errors (that you specify) and tells the program how it should automatically fix them for you.

Excel Glossary
AutoFill
An Excel 2007 feature that quickly creates a series of entries based on the data you enter in one or two cells. AutoFill works with days of the week, months of the year, yearly quarters; consecutive series of numbers; and formulas. You also can add your own custom AutoFill series.

Excel Glossary
AutoFilter
A feature in Excel 2010 that enables you to temporarily hide everything in a table except the records you specifically want to view, based on criteria you specify.

Excel Glossary
Backstage view
A new feature in Excel 2010 — accessible from the green File tab — that enables you to manage files and to view the properties and stats about the workbook file you're editing.

Excel Glossary
cell
The intersection of a column and row in the worksheet.

Excel Glossary
cell address
The cell identifier, determined by its column letter(s) followed by the row number, as in cell A1, the very first cell of each worksheet at the intersection of column A and row 1.

Excel Glossary
cell cursor
The black border that surrounds the active cell in a worksheet.

Excel Glossary
clip art
Readymade drawings, illustrations, and photos offered by Microsoft for use in Microsoft Office applications.

Excel Glossary
Compatibility Checker
A utility in Excel 2007 and 2010 that you use to find potential compatibility issues if you plan to save an Excel workbook file in the older Excel 97–2003 file format.

Excel Glossary
current cell
The worksheet cell that contains the cell cursor. Each worksheet can have only one current cell.

Excel Glossary
data table
A range of cells in a worksheet in which you enter a series of possible values that Excel plugs into a formula so you can perform what-if analysis on the data.

Excel Glossary
dialog box
A rectangular window with settings and commands that appears when you click a dialog box launcher or certain other commands on the Ribbon.

Excel Glossary
dialog box launcher
A small icon in the lower-right corner of a group of command buttons on the Ribbon that you click to access a dialog box with additional related settings and commands.

Excel Glossary
function
A part of a formula that takes a number of specific arguments and then returns a single value based on those arguments.

Excel Glossary
gallery
A drop-down list of thumbnail selections that appears when you click certain command buttons on the Ribbon.

Excel Glossary
group
A section of a tab on the Excel 2007 Ribbon that organizes related command buttons into subtasks normally performed as part of the tab's larger core task. The name of a group appears at the bottom of the group, such as the Font group on the Home tab.

Excel Glossary
hyperlink
Specially formatted text that anyone can click to jump to Web sites, move to other cells or workbooks, or create an e-mail message.

Excel Glossary
keyboard shortcuts
A combination of keys that you can press to execute certain commands, as opposed to finding and clicking the commands' buttons on the Ribbon or elsewhere.

Excel Glossary
Live Preview
A feature in Excel 2007 that enables you to point to thumbnails on a drop-down gallery to see how a new font, font size, table style, or cell style would look on your selected data before you actually apply it.

Excel Glossary
macro
A series of commands or actions in Excel that are recorded and saved together in a file. You can run the macro whenever you need to perform the task.

Excel Glossary
Name box
The left-most section of the Formula bar that displays the address or name of the current cell.

Excel Glossary
pivot table
A special type of table unique to Excel 2007 that enables you to summarize large amounts of data and pivot or rearrange the table's data to display different summaries of the information it contains.

Excel Glossary
Ribbon
A new feature of the Excel 2007 interface that replaces the menus and toolbars of previous versions; appears at the top of the Excel window, just below the title bar.

Excel Glossary
ScreenTip
A small window that displays descriptive text when you point to but don't click a command on the Ribbon or other objects in a worksheet.

Excel Glossary
sheet tabs
Small tabs near the bottom of a worksheet that you click to move between the worksheets in a workbook. You can assign descriptive names to sheet tabs.

Excel Glossary
slicers
New graphic objects in Excel 2010 that enable you to quickly filter the contents of a PivotTable on more than one field.

Excel Glossary
SmartArt
A type of graphic object in Excel 2007 that gives you the ability to quickly and easily construct graphical lists and diagrams in the worksheet.

Excel Glossary
sparklines
Tiny graphs (miniature charts) that fit within a single cell in the worksheet, used to show basic trends in data.

Excel Glossary
Status bar
A horizontal bar that appears at the bottom of the Excel 2007 window and keeps you informed of Excel's current mode. In addition, you can use the Status bar to select a new worksheet view and to zoom in and out on the worksheet.

Excel Glossary
tabs
The various "pages" of Excel 2007's Ribbon interface that you click to display command buttons relating to the tab's name, such as Page Layout and Formulas.

Excel Glossary
template
A pre-designed worksheet that can be used as a basis for creating new worksheets.

Excel Glossary
WordArt
Stylized text objects that you use to add pizzazz and emphasis to headings and other text in Excel 2007 worksheets.

Excel Glossary
workbook
The basic file type that you create when you use Excel 2007. A new workbook consists of three worksheets by default.

Excel Glossary
worksheet
The main document that you work in when you enter data into cells within Excel 2007. A worksheet is stored in a workbook file.

Excel Glossary
worksheet area
The portion of an Excel 2007 worksheet in which you enter cell data and add objects such as charts and graphics.

Excel Glossary
XPS XML Paper Specification
A file format developed by Microsoft that enables people to open and print documents in XPS Reader without access to the original programs with which the documents were created (such as Excel).

Excel Glossary
Zoom slider
An object on the Status bar in Excel 2007 that enables you to increase the magnification in a worksheet or shrink it down to get an overall picture of the worksheet data.