Excel 2013 All-in-One For Dummies
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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.

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Greg Harvey, PhD, is President of Mind Over Media and a highly skilled instructor. He has been writing computer books for more than 20 years, and his long list of bestsellers includes all editions of Excel For Dummies, Excel All-in-One For Dummies, and Excel Workbook For Dummies.

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