Format cells and numbers

Sheets lets you change how cells look without changing the values inside them. You can apply text styles, number formats, colours, borders, and alignment from the Format menu in the toolbar.

All formatting requires edit access to the spreadsheet. The quick-format buttons in the centre of the toolbar are hidden when the spreadsheet is read-only.

Text style

To change how text looks in one or more cells:

1. Select the cells you want to format.
2. Open Format → Text.
3. Choose from the available styles:
   • Bold (Ctrl+B): makes the text heavier.
   • Italic (Ctrl+I): tilts the text.
   • Underline: adds a line under the text.
   • Strikethrough (Alt+Shift+5): draws a line through the text.
4. To change the font family, open Format → Text → Font and pick a font from the list.
5. To change the text colour, open Format → Text → Font color and pick a colour from the picker.

Font size

1. Select the cells.
2. Open Format → Font size and choose a size: 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 36, 48, or 72.

Number format

Number formatting controls how a value is displayed. The stored value does not change.

1. Select the cells.

2. Open Format → Number and choose a format:

   Format	What it shows
   Automatic	Sheets decides the display based on the value
   Plain text	Shows the raw value with no formatting
   Number	Shows two decimal places (e.g. 1000.12)
   Percent	Multiplies by 100 and adds a % sign (e.g. 12.21%)
   Scientific	Scientific notation (e.g. 1.01E+5)
   Accounting	Currency symbol, two decimal places, negatives in brackets
   Currency	Currency symbol followed by the value
   Date	Formats as yyyy-MM-dd
   Time	Formats as hh:mm AM/PM
   Time 24H	Formats as hh:mm
   Date time	Date and time combined

3. To choose from a wider list of currency, number, or date formats, point to Custom formats and then open More currency formats, More number formats, or More date and time formats.

Cell colour

Fill colour

1. Select the cells.
2. Open Format → Fill color and pick a colour from the picker.

You can also use the fill colour button (the highlighter icon) in the quick-format bar in the centre of the toolbar.

Text colour

1. Select the cells.
2. Open Format → Text → Font color and pick a colour.

The text colour button (a letter icon with a colour stripe beneath it) is also in the quick-format bar.

Alignment

Horizontal alignment

1. Select the cells.
2. Open Format → Alignment and choose left, center, or right.

The three alignment buttons in the quick-format bar in the centre of the toolbar do the same thing.

Vertical alignment

1. Select the cells.
2. Open Format → Alignment and choose Top, Middle, or Bottom.

Text wrapping

By default, text that is wider than a cell overflows into the next empty cell. You can change this:

1. Select the cells.
2. Open Format → Wrapping and choose an option:
   • Overflow: text spills into the next empty cell (the default behaviour).
   • Wrap: the row grows taller to show all the text inside the cell.
   • Clip: text is cut off at the cell edge.

Text rotation

To rotate text inside a cell:

1. Select the cells.
2. Open Format → Text rotate and choose a preset: None, Tilt Up, Tilt Down, Stack Vertically, Rotate Up, or Rotate Down.

Borders

To add or remove borders around cells:

1. Select the cells.
2. Open Format → Borders and choose a border type:
   • Top border, Bottom border, Left border, Right border: adds a border to one side only.
   • No border: removes all borders from the selection.
   • All borders: adds borders around and between every cell in the selection.
   • Outside border: adds a border around the outer edge of the selection only.
   • Inside border: adds borders between cells, but not around the outer edge.
   • Horizontal borders or Vertical borders: adds borders in one direction only.
   • Slash border: draws a diagonal line across each cell.

To set a custom border colour or line style, point to Custom border… at the bottom of the Borders submenu and pick a colour and a style. The settings apply the next time you click a border type.

Merge cells

Merging combines several cells into one. The content of the top-left cell is kept; content in other cells is discarded.

1. Select the cells to merge.
2. Open Format → Merge cells and choose an option:
   • Merge all: merges the entire selection into one cell.
   • Merge Horizontally: merges each row in the selection separately.
   • Merge Vertically: merges each column in the selection separately.

To split merged cells back apart, select the merged cell and choose Format → Merge cells → Unmerge.

Clear formatting

To remove all formatting from a selection without changing the values:

1. Select the cells.
2. Open Format → Clear formatting.

Clearing formatting removes text styles, colours, alignment settings, borders, and number formats. It keeps the cell values.