Formatting 2

Lesson 8: Fonts, Row/Col Size & Colors

S M L XL FS | Slo Reg Fast 2x | Bookmark

In Lesson 8, we continue working with formatting by learning how to change the font and font size in your sheet, as well as how to resize rows and columns. We will walk through how to change the background color using the fill color tool, adjust the foreground or font color for better visibility, and use features like the font size buttons and column auto-resize. We also discuss the difference between theme and standard colors, and I will show you how to highlight specific values using color and formatting.

Navigation

Prev: Lesson 07
Next: Lesson 09

Keywords

TechHelp Excel, change font, font size, resize columns, resize rows, change background color, change text color, fill color, font face, column width, row height, bold text, italic text, underline text, formula bar, theme colors, highlight cells

Subscribe to Formatting 2
Get notifications when this page is updated

Transcript

In lesson 8, we are going to continue learning about formatting our sheets. We will learn how to change the font and the font size. We will also learn how to resize rows and columns, as well as how to change the foreground and background colors.

In the last lesson, we learned how to select a range of cells and make them bold, italic, or underlined. In this lesson, we are going to learn some more of the font options.

Let's select cells A1 through E1 again and change the font face, or the way the font looks. Right up here in the font group, you will see the font face drop-down box. If you click that box open, you will see a whole bunch of different types of fonts in here, everything from Alberta to Algerian, and you can scroll down.

The fonts that you have on your system may be slightly different than the fonts that I have on my system. Look down the list and find something that you like. I will pick Broadway, and as soon as you click on it, you see the change takes effect. In fact, if you look while I am scrolling down here, as I hover over the different fonts, you can see in the background a preview of what the sheet will look like if I pick that font.

Let's switch to Arial Rounded right here. There is the new font.

If you want to change the size of the text, select the cells again. Right next to the font face is the font size. Drop that box down. You can hover over each number here and see a preview of what it will look like with that particular font size. I will go with 14 point. There we go.

If you do not see a value that you like, for example, if 16 is too small but 18 is too big, you can type in a number like 17 right up here in the top box. Just click back up here and type in 17, then press Enter. There is 17 point.

There are also two little buttons right here: Increase Font Size and Decrease Font Size. You can click on these to step down or step up in increments to change your font size.

Now, take a look at something interesting that just happened when I increased my font size. Notice here in cell A1, the value "Sales Rep" is still in the cell, and I know that because I can see it in the formula bar. However, in the cell itself, I am only seeing the word "Sales." That is because the data that is in that cell is too wide to fit in the column.

To fix that, I can either reduce the font size so you can see the whole thing, or I can just make the column wider. To resize a column, take your mouse and move it right between the column headers A and B. You will see your mouse pointer changes to a black double-pointing arrow with a line in the center of it. Click there and drag to resize that column.

Now you can see I have made column A wide enough to display all of the data in cell A1. I can now see the whole label "Sales Rep."

You can resize any column that you want. Let's say I want to make column D larger. I will move my mouse right here, click, and drag. I have just made column D wider. If you want to bring it back, just click and drag back to the left. There we go.

Here is a neat little trick. If you do not want to have to guess at how wide your column should be, move your mouse right there in that same spot and double-click. Watch this. Click, click. Excel automatically resizes that column to fit the data in it.

This is handy, for example, if you have a small column, like that, and you just want to be able to double-click to widen out that column exactly as wide as it needs to be to fit the data in it. You can do that with any column that you want: column B, C, D, and E. There we go. I have just automatically resized all of those columns to be as wide as Excel thinks they need to be.

You can resize rows almost the same way that you resize columns. Just take your mouse and move to the border between row 1 and 2, for example. Click and drag to make the row taller. I will just put that back. There we go. You can also double-click there to automatically resize the row.

Now, let's change the background color, the fill color behind the cell. I am going to select A1 through E1 again. This little paint can right here changes the fill color. Notice the little color underneath the paint can is yellow, so if I click on the paint can, I get a yellow background. If you click off of those cells, you can see there is the yellow.

But I do not want yellow. I want some different colors. So again, let's select those cells. Notice a little tiny down arrow just to the right of the fill color. Drop that down by clicking on it. Here you can see a whole bunch of different colors. Go ahead and pick one that you like. I will pick a light red. There it is. Once again, click off of that range of cells to see the color exactly as it is going to appear.

Notice the little bar underneath the paint can is now light red. That represents the color that is in the paint can. If I click somewhere else now and just click on the paint can, I get that light red. I will undo that.

If you want a different color, again select the cells. Open up the paint can. You can pick from theme colors. Remember, themes are packages of colors and fonts that make your spreadsheets look more professional. We will talk more about themes in a future lesson.

There are also standard colors down here, like reds, yellows, greens, blues, and so on. There is "No Fill," which is the default. There is also "More Colors" that opens up an even larger palette of colors you can pick from. I will pick, let's go with dark purple right here. There we go. I now have a dark purple background.

Now it is kind of hard to read black text on a purple background. Let's change the text color, or the foreground color. I am going to select A1 through E1 again. Right here is the foreground color, or the font color. It works the same way as the paint can. Right now, it is red. That means if I click on that I am going to get red text. That is kind of ugly, red on purple.

Let's drop this down and pick a different foreground color. We could go with white or a light orange. Let's go with a light blue right about there. That looks neat. Now I have a real light blue on a purple background.

Let's say we want to make our sales rep names a slightly different color. I am not going to pick that same light blue because now I can barely read them. So let's open this up and go with, how about a dark blue like that?

This low value right here, Pat only had $12 in sales in January. Pretty bad value. I am going to click on this and change it to red so it highlights it. Maybe even bold it too. Now Pat's January sales really stand out.

That is how we can change our background color and our foreground color.

Intro

Quiz

Q1. Where can you change the font face (the way the font looks) in Excel?
A. In the font group drop-down box on the ribbon
B. By right-clicking the cell and selecting Properties
C. By typing the font name directly into the formula bar
D. By selecting "Font" from the File menu

Q2. What happens when you hover over a font name in the font face drop-down menu?
A. You see a preview of the font in the selected cells
B. The font automatically changes
C. Nothing happens until you click
D. The font size is adjusted

Q3. If you want a font size that is not listed in the drop-down, what can you do?
A. Type the size you want in the font size box and press Enter
B. Use the scrollbar to reveal hidden sizes
C. Right-click the font group and select Advanced Mode
D. Only use the sizes that are available in the drop-down

Q4. What does the Increase Font Size button do?
A. Increases the text size one step at a time
B. Sets text to the maximum size available
C. Changes all text in the worksheet to bold
D. Increases the size of the entire worksheet

Q5. If text is cut off in a cell because it is too wide for the column, what can you do?
A. Resize the column to make it wider
B. Change the cell alignment
C. Press Tab to view the entire text
D. Split the cell into multiple cells

Q6. How can you automatically resize a column to fit the data in Excel?
A. Double-click between the column headers
B. Right-click the column and select AutoSize
C. Click the Format Painter
D. Use the Merge Cells option

Q7. Which tool in Excel lets you change the background color of a cell?
A. The paint can (Fill Color) icon
B. The font color drop-down
C. The Sort & Filter button
D. The Freeze Panes option

Q8. What action do you take to see more fill colors to choose from?
A. Click the small down arrow next to the fill color paint can
B. Right-click the cell and select Edit Color
C. Double-click the paint can icon
D. Select the font color drop-down

Q9. What should you do if black text is hard to read on a dark background?
A. Change the foreground (font) color to a lighter color
B. Delete the cell content
C. Change the worksheet theme
D. Rotate the text vertically

Q10. How do you resize a row in Excel?
A. Drag the border between row numbers up or down
B. Double-click the column header
C. Use the font face drop-down
D. Right-click and select Change Font Size

Q11. If you want all your column widths to fit the contents automatically, what should you do?
A. Double-click between each column header needed
B. Click "Wrap Text" on the ribbon
C. Use the Insert Function tool
D. Press Tab after entering your data

Q12. What is the "No Fill" option in the fill color menu used for?
A. Removes any background color from selected cells
B. Deletes the cell content
C. Hides the cell
D. Deletes columns

Answers: 1-A; 2-A; 3-A; 4-A; 5-A; 6-A; 7-A; 8-A; 9-A; 10-A; 11-A; 12-A

DISCLAIMER: Quiz questions are AI generated. If you find any that are wrong, don't make sense, or aren't related to the video topic at hand, then please post a comment and let me know. Thanks.

Summary

Today's video from Excel Learning Zone continues our exploration of formatting options in Excel. We are going to focus on changing fonts and font sizes, resizing rows and columns, and adjusting both foreground and background colors in your worksheet.

In our previous lesson, we looked at selecting ranges of cells to apply bold, italics, or underline. Now, we are going to explore more font features.

Start by selecting cells A1 through E1, then look for the font face drop-down in the font group. When you open it, you will see a variety of fonts available on your system. These may differ slightly depending on the fonts you have installed. Scroll through the list and pick a font style that you prefer. For example, you might select Broadway, and as soon as you choose it, the change appears in your selected cells. Excel also gives a live preview as you hover over different font options, so you can see how your data will look before committing to a new font. If you decide you want to change it again, just reselect the text and choose another font, such as Arial Rounded.

Next, to adjust the font size, with your cells still selected, use the font size box right next to the font face option. As you move your mouse over the different values, Excel shows you a preview in real time. Maybe you settle on 14 point. If you do not see the font size you want, you can type any value into the size box, like 17, and confirm with Enter. You will also notice two small buttons for increasing or decreasing font size by set increments, giving you another method for quick adjustments.

Sometimes when you increase the font size, the data may no longer fit in the cell. For example, after making text larger in cell A1, you may only see part of your label, such as "Sales" instead of "Sales Rep," even though the full value still appears in the formula bar. This happens because the column is not wide enough to display all the text at the new size.

To resolve this, you can either decrease the font size or make the column wider. To adjust the width of a column, place your mouse on the line between two column headers, like between A and B. The mouse pointer changes to a double-headed arrow. Click and drag to widen or narrow the column. This way, you can make column A wide enough to show all of "Sales Rep." You can adjust any other columns in the same way. If you want to return a column to a narrower width, simply drag the separator back in the opposite direction.

There is also a handy feature in Excel that automatically resizes columns for you. By double-clicking on the border between two column headers, Excel expands the column just enough to fit the widest piece of data present. You do not need to estimate or guess the correct width. This can be done on any column, and it really helps tidy up the layout of your sheet.

Rows can be resized similarly. Move your mouse to the edge between two row numbers, such as between rows 1 and 2, and drag to change the row height. Double-clicking here will also auto-fit the row to the tallest piece of data inside it.

To change the background color (also called fill color) behind the text, select the desired cells, for example A1 through E1, and use the fill color tool. The icon looks like a paint bucket, and the color underneath shows your current selection. Clicking the bucket will apply the displayed color (such as yellow) to your selected range. To choose a different color, use the small arrow next to the paint bucket to open the color palette. You will see a range of theme colors, standard colors, and an option for "No Fill," as well as "More Colors" to access an extended palette. Selecting something like a light red or a dark purple immediately applies it as the new background color behind your text.

If your new background color makes the text hard to read, you can switch the text color as well. Select your cells again and find the font color tool, which works just like the paint bucket. The little underline under the letter A shows you the current color that will be applied. To change the color, open the color menu and pick from a similar range of theme and standard colors. For a purple background, you might want to use white or a light blue font to improve readability.

You can also highlight certain cells for emphasis. For instance, if one of your sales rep names needs to stand out, you can select that cell and use a darker or contrasting font color. If you have a notably low sales figure, such as Pat's $12 in January, you might want to use red text and bold formatting to make sure it catches your attention.

By mastering these tools, you can significantly improve both the appearance and clarity of your spreadsheets. That covers how to change font faces and sizes, resize rows and columns, and work with both fill and font colors.

For a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on all of these formatting techniques, visit my website at the link below.

Live long and prosper, my friends.

Topic List

Selecting a range of cells to change formatting
Changing the font face in Excel
Previewing font styles before selection
Selecting and setting font size
Typing a custom font size value
Using Increase and Decrease Font Size buttons
Understanding cell content overflow with large fonts
Resizing columns manually
Automatically resizing columns to fit data
Resizing rows manually
Automatically resizing rows to fit content
Changing cell background (fill) color
Selecting colors from the fill color palette
Choosing theme and standard colors
Using the "No Fill" and "More Colors" options
Changing the text (foreground) color
Selecting text colors to enhance readability
Highlighting specific cell values with color and bold formatting

Article

In this lesson, we will focus on formatting worksheets by changing fonts, adjusting row and column sizes, and using different foreground and background colors to make your data easier to read and more visually appealing.

To begin, select the range of cells you want to format. For example, you might want to select cells A1 through E1 if you are working with column headers. At the top of the Excel window, in the Font group, you will find the font face drop-down box. Clicking on this box reveals a list of all the fonts available on your computer. The selection you see may be slightly different than what others have, but you can scroll through and pick any font you like. As you move your mouse over each option, Excel provides a live preview in your worksheet, so you can immediately see how your chosen font will look. For example, you might try out Broadway or Arial Rounded. Once you click your choice, Excel applies that font to the selected cells.

Next to the font face box is the font size drop-down. You can use this to make your text larger or smaller. As you hover over each size, Excel previews what your text will look like at that size. You can choose any of the listed numbers, such as 14 point, and see the change applied instantly. If you do not see the exact size you want, you can type a custom number directly into the size box and press Enter. For example, if 16 is too small and 18 is too large, you can type 17 and Excel will resize your text to 17 point.

You will also notice two small buttons, Increase Font Size and Decrease Font Size, which let you change the size of your text one step at a time. This is helpful if you want to make quick adjustments without picking a number from the list.

Sometimes, after increasing your font size, you might notice that the text does not fit within its cell. For instance, if column A contains the label Sales Rep but only the word Sales appears, it means the cell's contents are too wide for the column. You can fix this in a few ways. One option is to reduce the font size. However, a better solution is often to widen the column so all the text can be seen. To do this, move your mouse pointer to the line between the column letters at the top, such as between A and B. The cursor will change to a black double arrow with a line. Click and drag to the right to make the column wider. You can repeat this for any column, dragging left or right as needed.

If you do not want to guess the right width, you can let Excel do it for you. Move your mouse to the line between two columns and double-click. Excel will automatically adjust the column to fit the longest value in it. This method quickly resizes the column to display all content without extra empty space. You can use this trick on any column, such as B, C, D, or E, to keep your worksheet tidy.

You can resize rows in a similar way. Move your mouse to the border between two row numbers, like between 1 and 2, and click and drag up or down to make the row taller or shorter. You can also double-click to have Excel automatically adjust the row height based on the largest content.

Changing background color, also called fill color, is another way to highlight important data or organize information visually. Select the range of cells you want to format. Look for the paint can icon in the toolbar. The color showing under the paint can is the current fill color; clicking directly on the paint can will fill the selected cells with this color. If you want to pick a different color, click the small arrow next to the paint can. This opens a palette with a range of theme colors and standard colors, as well as options for no fill and even more colors if you need a custom shade. For example, you could choose a light red for your headers or a dark purple for a more dramatic effect.

If you choose a darker background color, you may find that the standard black text becomes hard to read. To change the text color, or foreground color, select your cells and look for the font color button, usually represented by the letter A with a color bar beneath it. Clicking the arrow next to this button also opens a palette. You might pick white or a light blue for text on a dark background. As soon as you select the color, Excel updates your worksheet so you can see how it looks.

You can also highlight individual cells. For instance, if you have a low sales value that you want to stand out, select that cell, change the font color to red, and make the text bold. This draws attention to the value and helps users notice important data at a glance.

By using these formatting tools, you can quickly adjust fonts, resize rows and columns, and change colors to organize your spreadsheet and make your data easier to interpret. These steps are useful for presentation, clarity, and effective data analysis.

Primary Topics

font face selection, font size adjustment, column resizing, row resizing, background color, foreground color, cell formatting

Secondary Topics

theme colors, automatic column sizing, undo formatting actions