Formatting Data in Excel

Excel provides many ways to format data, which can allow greater understanding of its structure and characteristics.

• Formatting Cells

• The Representation of Numbers

Formatting Cells

There are numerous was to format cells; here are a few of them.

• To make sure cells are just wide enough to see everything in them, select columns or rows containing them and then autofit them:

Menu:

Format Column Autofit Selection

 

• To change the font face, size, style, or color in particular cells, rows, or columns, select them and then format the font:

	Menu:	Format Cells…
	Click:	Format Cells Font
	Menu or Type:	Format Cells Font [Font face, style, size, or color]
	Click:	Format Cells OK

 

• You can also add borders to particular cells. First select them, and then:

	Menu:	Format Cells…
	Click:	Format Cells Border
	Click:	Format Cells Border Line Style: [style]
	Click:	Format Cells Border Border [border]
	Click:	Format Cells OK

 

• Changing fonts and using borders helps to distinguish one group of cells from the others:
   
  

The Representation of Numbers

One other aspect of "formatting" in Excel is the way that numbers are represented.

• The representation of numbers will depend on what they are used for, common formats for that purpose, and the precision one desires.
   
  For example, the same number might have the following purposes:
   
  
  • raw: "0.64"
  • currency: "$0.64" (U.S. Dollars)
  • time: "3:24 PM" (a fraction of 24 hours)
     
  In addition, each of these might be written in different formats:
   
  
  • raw: "6.4E-01" (scientific notation)
  • currency: "64¢"
  • time: "15:24" (military time)
     
  Finally, we can choose the precision with which we wish to display numbers, whether greater or smaller:
   
  
  • raw: "0.6417" or "0.6"
  • currency: "$0.642" or "$1"
  • time: "3:24:03 PM" or "3 PM"
     
  In all cases, the value of the number as stored by Excel is the same, only the way it is represented is different.
   
  
• All of the various representations can be selected, again, with the Format Cells control:

	Menu:	Format Cells…
	Click:	Format Cells Number
	Click:	Format Cells Number Category [number, currency, time, etc.]
	Click:	Format Cells Number [precision, etc.]
	Click:	Format Cells OK

 

• The General representation is the default; it makes no assumptions, displaying data as originally entered.
   
  General does, however, right-align recognizeable numbers and left-align other text.