Weekly Computer Tip # 141
28 January 2006

apply formatting options to part of a cell's content only (Microsoft Excel)

This week I've been co-facilitating a Train-the-Trainer session in Houston. I won't bore you with details about the topic (records management, Zzzzzzzzzzz ;-) but one of the sections is about the retention schedule (which, in a nutshell, tells you how long to keep different types of information) and is often captured in a giant spreadsheet.

To enhance the appearance of the information in such a (or any) worksheet, you can use different fonts and/or formatting. Most probably you already use the various buttons on the Formatting toolbar (or the Format, Cells command) to apply a new font type, style, size, attribute or colour to the entire contents of the selected cell(s). However, you can also change the formatting options of part of a cell's contents.

Here's how:

1. Click the cell that contains the text you want to format.
2. In the Formula bar, select the specific character(s) you want to format.
3. Select the new formatting option(s) as normal.
4. Press [ENTER].

Well, that's me done for today. Off to bed to kick the jet-lag!

Until next week.

PS I’m committed to sharing the best of what I know with others so please don’t keep me a secret. If you enjoyed today’s tip, please forward it to anyone you feel may benefit. Alternatively, feel free to reprint it (with full copyright and subscription information) in your newsletters and message boards.

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