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Microsoft Excel Format Tutorial

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Adding Row Shading Using Formatting Styles
Shading Rows in Excel

Shading Rows in Excel

© Ted French

Adding Row Shading Using Formatting Styles

Adding color to a worksheet not only gives it a more polished and professional look, but it can also make it easier to read the worksheet data.

In this step we will apply shading to the worksheet headings in rows 2 and 7 as well as rows 3 and 6 using the Styles options located on the Home tab of the ribbon.

To make our efforts more efficient, we will select non-adjacent cells of data using the Ctrl key on the keyboard. This will allow us to apply the formatting to all highlighted cells at the same time.

Tutorial Steps:

Adding Shading to Worksheet Headings

  1. Click on the merged title cell in row 2.

  2. Press and hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard.

  3. Drag select cells A7 to F7 to highlight them as well as the merged title cell.

  4. Release the Ctrl key.

  5. Click on the down arrow at the end of the available styles list.

  6. Choose the Accent 3 option from the available styles.

  7. Both the merged title cell and the headings in row 7 should now have a green background white text.

  8. To make the white text a little more visible, click on the Bold icon on the ribbon.

  9. The bold icon is the black letter B under the font section of the ribbon.

Adding Shading to Rows 3 and 6

  1. Drag select cells A3 to F3 to highlight them.

  2. Press and hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard.

  3. Drag select cells A6 to F6 to highlight them as well as cells A3 to F3.

  4. Click on the down arrow at the end of the available styles list.

  5. Choose the 40% - Accent 3 option from the available styles.

  6. Cells A3 to F3 and A6 to F6 should now have a light green background with black text.

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