Section C.5. Format Menu

C.5. Format Menu

The Format menu has options that help you make your data look attractive by tweaking fonts, alignment, colors, or borders. Many of these options are also available through the Formatting toolbar (described in Chapter 4).

C.5.1. Cells

The Format Cells dialog box (Format Cells) provides multiple tabs of formatting options. You can use these options to change the appearance of the current cell selection. Page Section 4.1 (Chapter 4) dissects the different options in the Format Cells dialog box in detail.

C.5.2. Row

Use the Format Row command to manually set the height for the currently selected rows (choose Height) or according to the current content (choose AutoSize). You can also hide the current row (choose Hide). To unhide a row, select a range of cells that includes the hidden row (for example if you've hidden row 6, select rows 5 through 7) and choose Unhide from this menu.

C.5.3. Column

The Format Column command lets you manually set the width for the currently selected columns (choose Width) or according to the current content (choose AutoSize). You can also hide the current column (choose Hide). To unhide a column, select a range of cells that includes the hidden column (for example if you've hidden column B, select columns A through C), and choose Unhide from this menu.

C.5.4. Sheet

Use the Format Sheet command to set worksheet-specific formatting options. You can apply a picture as a worksheet background (choose Background) or change the color of the worksheet tab (choose Tab Color ). You can also hide the current worksheet (choose Hide); to reveal it, choose Unhide and pick the worksheet from the list of hidden worksheets that Excel provides. Finally, you can rename the worksheet by choosing Rename. This puts the worksheet tab at the bottom of the Excel window into edit mode, letting you type in some new text and commit your change by pressing Enter.

C.5.5. AutoFormat

To use AutoFormat, select a table of cells and then select this command. Excel shows you a number of preset formatting stylesyou can choose one and apply its combination of fonts, colors, and borders by clicking OK. For more information about AutoFormat, see Section 4.3.2 (Chapter 4).

C.5.6. Conditional Formatting

The conditional formatting dialog box (Format Conditional Formatting) lets you define formatting instructions that Excel applies only when the content in the cell meets certain criteria. (For example, you could use this feature to set a cell to use red lettering for numbers under 1,000). To learn how to create conditional formatting conditions, see Section 4.3.5 (Chapter 4).

C.5.7. Style

This command opens the Style dialog box. (Styles are groups of formatting settings that have a descriptive name, which help you easily apply to different parts of your worksheet). In the Style dialog box, you can do two thingsapply a style to the current cell by selecting it in the style list and clicking OK, or you can type in a new style name and click OK to create a style using the formatting settings in the current cell. For more on Styles see Section 4.3.4 (Chapter 4).