How to Use Styles in Microsoft Excel – Part 2

In the second part of the article, you will learn more advanced techniques for working with styles in Microsoft Excel.

In this part, you will see how to change the default Excel styles and share them between workbooks. Here you will find some ideas to help you get the most out of using styles in Microsoft Excel.

How to change preset style?

You can change any preset style, however, you will not be able to change its name!

To change an element of one of the style attributes:

1. On the Excel Ribbon go to: Home (Home) > Styles (Style) > Cell styles (cell styles).
2. Right click on the style you want to change and click Modify (Change).
3. Uncheck the boxes next to enabled attributes, or click the button Size (Format) and change the attributes in the cell formatting dialog box.
4. Select the desired formatting and click OK.
5. Press OK in the dialog box Style (Style) to finish editing.

How to create your own new style?

Personally, I prefer creating new styles rather than modifying Microsoft’s default styles, for the simple reason that you can then give the created style a meaningful name. But this is entirely a matter of personal choice!

There are two ways to create a new style:

Method 1: Copy the style from the cell

To copy cell formatting for a new style:

1. Format the cell the way you want the new style to look.
2. Press Home (Home) > Styles (Style) > Cell styles (Cell Styles) on the Microsoft Excel Ribbon.
3. Select item New Cell Style (Create Cell Style), a formatting dialog box will appear. Notice that the formatting elements in this window are filled with the settings configured in step 1.
4. Give the style an appropriate name.
5. Press OK. Please note that now your new style is available in the style selection window under Custom (Custom).

Method 2: Create a New Style in the Formatting Dialog Box

Alternatively, you can create a new style in the formatting dialog. For this:

1. Press Home (Home) > Styles (Style) > Cell styles (Cell Styles) on the Microsoft Excel Ribbon
2. Select item New Cell Style (Create Cell Style) to open the formatting dialog box.
3. Нажмите кнопку Size (Format) to open the cell format settings dialog box.
4. Specify the desired cell formatting options and click OK.
5. Press OK in the window Style (Style) to create a new style.

Both of these methods will create a custom style in your workbook.

Helpful advice: Never again waste time manually setting cell formatting, apply styles at work, control formatting settings faster and more efficiently with the style settings menu.

Never create the same style twice! Although a style is saved only in the workbook where it was created, it is still possible to export (merge) styles to a new workbook using the merge function.

How to merge the styles of two workbooks?

To move styles between workbooks:

1. Open the workbook containing the desired style and the workbook to which the style is to be exported.
2. In the book where you want to paste the style, click Home (Home) > Styles (Style) > Cell styles (Cell Styles) on the Microsoft Excel Ribbon
3. Select item Merge Styles (Merge Styles) to open a dialog box as shown below.
4. Select the book that contains the desired style (in my case it is the book styles template.xlsx, the only open workbook other than the active one).
5. Press OK. Note that the custom styles have been merged and are now available for use in the desired workbook.

Helpful advice: You can save the cell styles you like in a separate workbook to make it easier to merge with workbooks, rather than endlessly searching for files scattered across multiple folders on your computer drive.

How to remove a custom style?

Removing a style is as easy as creating it. To remove a custom style:

1. Run: Home (Home) > Styles (Style) > Cell styles (Cell Styles) on the Microsoft Excel Ribbon.
2. Right click on the style you want to delete.
3. Select a command from the menu Delete (Delete).

Everything is elementary! No one will deny the simplicity of this tool!

Obviously, each individual will individually determine the ways in which a given tool can be used to improve efficiency. To give you food for thought, I’ll give you some of my own ideas for applying styles in Microsoft Excel.

How You Can Use Styles in Microsoft Excel

• Creating complete consistency in your documents or documents of your team / company.
• Significant reduction in effort while supporting cell formatting in the future.
• The ability to share a custom style with someone who is unable to create their own style due to technical or time constraints.
• Setting a style that contains a custom number format that you use frequently. I’m thrilled to finally have custom formatting set up: # ##0;[Red]-# ##0like style.
• Adding visual indicators that indicate the function and purpose of the cell. Input cells – in one style, cells with formulas – in another, output cells – in the third style, links – in the fourth.

Have you decided to use styles in Microsoft Excel? I am confident that this tool can and will improve your efficiency. Why does he remain so unpopular? – this question really confuses me!!!

Do you have any other ideas on how to apply styles in Excel spreadsheets? Why do you think we underestimate the usefulness of this tool? Did you find this article helpful?

Please leave your comments below! Ideas and feedback are welcome!