Formatting Bar

Toolbar: Formatting (floating)

Control: Font

The Font control lists the current font. All the other installed fonts are available to you in a drop list. The list displays the name of the font by using the font itself, except in Excel 97. You can get some idea of what your text would look like before you even apply the font.

Control: Font Size

The Font Size control lists some common point sizes available to you in a drop list. You can type in a size also.

Buttons: Bold, Italics, Underline

The Bold, Italics, and Underline buttons apply their styles to selected text:
bold, italics, underline.

Buttons: Align

The alignment buttons align the selected text or contents of the selected cells to the left, center, or right.

Button:
Merge & Center

The Merge and Center button will take the selected cells and create one cell out of them. The contents of the upper left cell will be centered in the new merged cell.

Whatever was in any other cells in the merger is lost. This is NOT the way Word table cells work.

Buttons: Number Formats

The numbers you work with often have different formatting needs. Currency, Percentage, and Comma are pre-set formats for numbers.

Currency formats numbers in the selection as money. The default settings for money come from Regional Settings in Window's Control Panel. There you can change the default to pounds or rubles or whatever currency you usually use.

Percent formats the selected cell(s) as a percentage, rounded to show no decimals.

Comma formats the selected cell(s) as a general number with commas separating every 3 digits on the left of the decimal and showing only 2 digits to the right of the decimal.

You may see a button for Euros. This applies the Currency format with the Euro symbol.

Other formats are available in the Format dialog: Format | Cells... | Number

Whatever format you use, the actual number in the cell is not changed. Calculations will use the actual number and not the rounded one.

Buttons: Decimals

You can change the number of decimal places shown to the right of the decimal point in your numbers with the Increase Decimals and Decrease Decimals buttons. The value in the cell does not actually change. Values are rounded when decreasing decimals but are revealed again when you increase the number of places shown.

If this cell is used in a calculation, the actual number is used rather than the rounded number.

Same number with different formats
	Example 1 - large number	Example 2 - number with decimals
General	3456789	1.6287
Currency	$ 3,456,789.00	$ 1.63
Percentage	345678900%	163%
Comma	3,456,789.00	1.63
Increase decimal, from original	3456789.0	1.62870
Decrease decimal, from original	3456789	1.629

Buttons: Indents

You can indent and un-indent text in a cell or textbox with Increase Indent and Decrease Indent buttons.

Button: Borders

You can add borders to the sides of your cells, or you can outline a cell or a range of cells. The arrow at the right of the button opens a palette of common choices. There is a dialog for even more choices: Format | Cells... | Borders

Button: Fill Color

A fill is the background color of a cell or textbox. The Fill Color button shows the color that was last used. Clicking the button applies that color to whatever cell is currently selected.

To change colors, click the down arrow beside the button. A palette of colors appears. Just click on the color you want to use, or click on No Fill to remove a fill.

Button: Font Color

The Font Color is just the color of the text in a cell or textbox. The Font Color button shows the color that was last used. Clicking the button applies that color to whatever text is selected.

To change colors, click the down arrow beside the button. A palette of colors appears. Just click on the color you want to use, or click on Automatic to use the default colors.