Format cells so a list is easy to read

A list is easier to trust when other people can see where one row ends and the next begins, and when money looks like money. Formatting is that extra clarity. Microsoft's basic-tasks page covers three everyday tools you will use here: cell borders, cell shading (fill colour), and number formats such as currency, percentages, or dates.

Number formats change how a value is displayed. They do not change the value itself. Microsoft's number-format help says this plainly: formats only change how numbers appear and do not affect the values. If cell C2 contains 5.49 and you apply a Currency format, the cell may show something like $5.49, but Excel still stores 5.49 for any later formula. That is why you typed plain numbers in Lesson 3.

Good formatting is calm. A bold-looking header row (a light fill and a bottom border) helps. A thin border around the data block helps. Matching decimal places in a money column helps. Rainbow colours, a different fill on every row, or a tiny font do not help. If you use colour, use it as a backup to clear labels, not as the only way to tell categories apart — a print-out or a photocopy may lose the colour.

You do not need to format empty rows below the list. Format the cells you are actually using, including the header row. If you add a new row later, you can copy the format from a neighbour cell or select the new cells and apply the same border and number format again.

Microsoft's steps for a border are:

1. Select the cell or range you want to add a border to.
2. On the Home tab, in the Font group, click the arrow next to Borders, and then click the border style you want.

A useful style for a small list is All Borders around the block that has data, or a bottom border under the header row. Select a range by clicking the first cell and dragging to the last cell. To use the keyboard, Microsoft says to hold down Shift while you press the arrow keys.

Microsoft's steps for shading are:

1. Select the cell or range.
2. On the Home tab, in the Font group, choose the arrow next to Fill Color, and then under Theme Colors or Standard Colors, select the colour you want.

A pale fill on the header row (A1:C1 on Hours, or A1:D1 on Household) is enough. Avoid very dark fills that hide black text. If you colour a cell by mistake, open Fill Color again and choose No Fill if that option appears, or pick white.

Select first, then click the tool. If you click Borders or Fill Color with only one cell selected, only that cell changes. If you meant to format the whole list, select the full block and apply the style again.

Border menus often list more than one style (for example a bottom border, outside borders, or all borders). For a small everyday list, all borders — lines around and between the cells — usually make the grid easiest to follow on screen and on paper. If the result looks too heavy, choose a simpler style and try the range again.

To distinguish types of numbers, Microsoft says to add a format such as currency, percentages, or dates:

1. Select the cells that have the numbers you want to format.
2. Click the Home tab, and then click the arrow in the General box.
3. Pick a number format. If you do not see the one you want, click More Number Formats.

The number-formats page lists the same idea on the Home tab Number drop-down, and it names formats you will meet most: General (the starting point), Number (you can set decimal places), Currency (shows the default currency symbol), Accounting (also for money, and it lines up symbols and decimal points), Date, and Percentage (multiplies the display by 100 and adds a % sign). Percentage is powerful — only use it when the cell already holds a rate such as 0.05, not when it holds 5.49 dollars.

For the Hours sheet, Number with one decimal place is a sensible choice for column B so 6 and 7.5 line up. For the Household sheet, select C2:C6 and choose Currency. On a computer set up for Canada, the symbol is often $. If you see a different symbol, the computer's default currency is different; you can open More Number Formats and look for a currency choice you recognise, or leave the amounts as Number with two decimal places and keep Amount (CAD) in the header. Either way, this is display only. It is not tax help.

Do not apply Percentage to a money column. Do not apply Currency to the hours column. Match the format to what the column means.

1. On Hours, apply a header fill, borders around the data, and a Number format on the hours.
2. On Household, apply Currency to Amount (CAD) and a header fill.
3. Click C2 on Household and read the formula bar. You should still see the underlying number (5.49), even if the cell displays a dollar sign.
4. Do not apply Percentage to the amount column.

What makes a printed list hard to read at a hall meeting — faint pencil totals, missing headers, or crowded numbers? Which one formatting change would help most?