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).
| 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.
