In Microsoft Excel, how can I apply several formats to a cell in one step?

To reduce your formatting time in Microsoft Excel, design one or a combination of complex formats to apply to a single cell or a range of cells. To do so, choose one of the following methods:

Use existing formatting

In Excel 2010 or 2007:

1. Select the cell containing the combination of formats you wish to use.
   
   
2. From the Home tab, click the drop-down menu next to "Cell Styles" (2010) or "Styles" (2007). At the bottom, choose New cell style.
   
   
3. In the "Style name:" field, enter a name for the style, and then click OK.
   
   
4. To apply this style to other cells, highlight the cell or cell range you wish to format.
   
   
5. From the drop-down menu next to "Cell Styles" (2010) or "Styles" (2007), select a style.
   
   

In Excel 2003:

1. Select the cell containing the combination of formats you wish to use.
   
   
2. From the Format menu, select Style.
   
   
3. In the "Style name:" field, enter a name for the style, and then click OK.
   
   
4. To apply this style to other cells, highlight the cell or cell range you wish to format.
   
   
5. From the Format menu, select Style.
   
   
6. In the "Style name:" field, select the style you wish to apply, and then click OK.

Create new formatting

In Excel 2010 or 2007:

1. Highlight the cell or cells you wish to format.
   
   
2. On the Home tab, at the bottom of the drop-down menu next to "Cell Styles" (2010) or "Styles" (2007), choose New cell style.
   
   
3. Type a name for the style and click Format... to select the format options. Once you are finished with your selections, click OK. You can use this new style in the future.

In Excel 2003:

1. Highlight the cell or cells you wish to format.
   
   
2. From the Format menu, select Style. In the "Style name:" field, enter a new style name.
   
   
3. Select the format options you would like to include and click Add. Excel will apply this style to the cells you highlighted, and you can use the new style in the future.

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