Format an Excel Worksheet - Tips to Help Make Your Excel Worksheet More Professional

Microsoft Excel worksheets are very easy to use and are very powerful if you know how to use them. However, they can be difficult to put into a professional format that will be easy for you to present and for your audience to read. I began using Excel ten years ago and have picked up quite a few tricks along the way. You can easily get into the habit of using the tips I lay out in this article and will never have to worry about how to format an Excel worksheet again.

The following tips will help regardless of the version of Microsoft Excel you are using:

How to Format an Excel Worksheet Tip #1 - Determine if the sheet should be portrait or landscape orientation

The answer to this question depends on the information that you want to present. If you are working with an Excel worksheet with quite a few columns, you want to consider using the landscape format. This can be done using the Page Setup feature.

How to Format an Excel Worksheet Tip #2 -Add a header and footer

If you are using the Excel worksheet for business purposes, it's good practice to add a header and footer even if you don't think the sheet will be formal. You will usually want the header to display the title of the sheet and the date created. You can use the footer to keep track of the page numbers. As in the tip above, the header and footer can be found in Page Setup.

How to Format an Excel Worksheet Tip #3 -Use shading minimally

Adding color to your Excel worksheet can really help it pop. Just be sure that you don't use too much. Only use shading when you want to highlight the column headers or want to highlight other important items in the sheet. You can highlight cells by using the Fill feature in Format Cells.

How to Format an Excel Worksheet Tip #4 -Make sure that font and format are consistent

Make sure that the font and the format you use are consistent throughout the Excel worksheet. You don't want to mix fonts unless there is a good reason. You also don't want to have inconsistent formatting. An example would be to bold and highlight some of the column headers, but not all.

How to Format an Excel Sheet Tip #5 -Set the print area

One of the quickest ways to destroy the look of your Excel worksheet is to ignore the print area. If you ever plan on printing your worksheet, you should set the print area to include only the items that you want to show on your printout. Make sure that you do not have extra columns or rows in your print area. You can set the print area under Page Setup and Sheet.

How to Format an Excel Worksheet Tip #6 - Set the rows to repeat at top

Similar to the tip above, always set the rows to repeat at top. If your Excel worksheet prints on multiple pages, you should have your column headers display on each and every page to ensure maximum readability. Also as on the tip above, you set the rows to repeat at top under Page Setup and Sheet.

How to Format an Excel Worksheet Tip #7 - Do you need gridlines?

If you are trying to fit a lot of data onto one Excel worksheet select Gridlines under Page Setup, Sheet, and Page. You won't see the screen change, but when you print, there will be gridlines between all of the cells.

How to Format an Excel Worksheet Tip #8 - Bold section headers

If your Excel worksheet has multiple sections be sure to bold (or otherwise set apart) the headers of the sections. The worksheet will be easier to read if the reader can visually spot the sections.

How to Format an Excel Worksheet Tip #9 - Center horizontally

It's a very simple thing to do, but centering the Excel worksheet horizontally can make the sheet look much better when printed. You can do this at Page Setup and Margins.

How to Format an Excel Worksheet Tip #10 - Add footnotes

Finally, make sure to put footnotes at the bottom of your to describe anything in your Excel worksheet in necessary detail. Use an asterisk, bolding, or some other formatting to set apart the footnotes.

These quick and very easy tips will help you produce a much more professional and readable Excel worksheet. Now, all you have to do is fill the Excel worksheet with data that makes sense.