How to Apply Styles in Excel

Microsoft Excel is widely known for its powerful calculation and data analysis capabilities, but its formatting and presentation tools are just as important. One of the most efficient ways to make your spreadsheets professional, readable, and consistent is by using styles. Excel styles allow you to apply a predefined set of formatting options—such as fonts, colors, borders, and number formats—with a single click.

In this article, you will learn what Excel styles are, why they matter, and how to apply, customize, and manage them effectively. By the end, you’ll be able to use styles to create clean, visually consistent spreadsheets while saving time and reducing formatting errors.

What Are Styles in Excel?

In Excel, a style is a collection of formatting attributes applied together. Instead of manually changing font size, color, borders, and number formats separately, a style bundles these settings into one reusable option.

Excel includes several built-in styles, such as:

• Title
• Heading 1, Heading 2
• Good, Bad, Neutral
• Input
• Output
• Calculation
• Total

Each style is designed for a specific purpose, helping users quickly understand the structure and meaning of data within a worksheet.

Why Using Styles in Excel Is Important

Applying styles is not just about appearance—it improves usability, accuracy, and efficiency.

1. Improves Readability

Styles help visually separate headers, totals, inputs, and outputs. This makes large datasets easier to scan and understand, especially when shared with others.

2. Ensures Consistency

When you manually format cells, inconsistencies can easily creep in. Styles enforce uniform formatting across the workbook, which is essential for professional reports and dashboards.

3. Saves Time

Instead of applying multiple formatting options repeatedly, styles let you format cells instantly with one click.

4. Makes Updates Easier

If you update a style, all cells using that style automatically reflect the change. This is extremely useful when adjusting design standards later.

5. Enhances Collaboration

When multiple people work on the same file, styles provide a shared formatting standard, reducing confusion and rework.

Where to Find Styles in Excel

Excel styles are located in the Home tab on the Ribbon.

Steps to Access Styles

1. Open Excel.
2. Go to the Home tab.
3. Look for the Styles group.
4. Click Cell Styles.

This opens a gallery showing all available built-in styles.

How to Apply Built-In Cell Styles

Applying a built-in style is straightforward and requires no prior formatting knowledge.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Select the cell or range of cells you want to format.
2. Go to the Home tab.
3. Click Cell Styles.
4. Choose a style from the gallery.

The selected cells will immediately adopt the formatting defined by that style.

Commonly Used Built-In Styles and Their Purposes

Title

Used for worksheet titles. Typically large, bold, and centered.

Heading Styles

Used for column headers or section titles. These styles usually include bold text and background shading.

Good, Bad, and Neutral

Often used in reports to visually indicate results or status:

• Good: Positive values or successful outcomes
• Bad: Errors, losses, or failures
• Neutral: Informational or unchanged values

Input and Output

Useful in calculation models:

• Input cells are often shaded to indicate user-editable fields.
• Output cells highlight calculated results.

Total

Used for subtotal or grand total rows, typically bold with top borders.

How to Apply Table Styles (Different from Cell Styles)

Excel also offers Table Styles, which are applied when your data is formatted as a table.

How to Apply a Table Style

1. Select your data range.
2. Go to the Home tab.
3. Click Format as Table.
4. Choose a table style.
5. Confirm whether your table has headers.

Table styles automatically add:

• Alternating row colors
• Filter dropdowns
• Structured references

These styles are especially useful for data analysis and dynamic datasets.

Creating a Custom Cell Style

Built-in styles may not always meet your needs. Excel allows you to create custom styles tailored to your specific requirements.

Steps to Create a Custom Style

1. Go to Home > Cell Styles.
2. Click New Cell Style.
3. Enter a name for the style.
4. Click Format.
5. Set font, border, fill, alignment, and number formatting.
6. Click OK to save.

Your custom style will now appear in the Cell Styles gallery and can be reused across the workbook.

Modifying an Existing Style

You can change a style at any time, and Excel will update all cells using that style automatically.

How to Modify a Style

1. Go to Home > Cell Styles.
2. Right-click the style you want to change.
3. Click Modify.
4. Adjust formatting settings.
5. Click OK.

This is especially helpful when you need to apply a new branding color or font across an entire workbook.

Deleting Unused Styles

Over time, workbooks—especially those copied from other files—can accumulate many unused styles.

How to Delete a Custom Style

1. Go to Home > Cell Styles.
2. Right-click the custom style.
3. Click Delete.

Note: Built-in styles cannot be deleted, only modified.

Copying Styles Between Workbooks

Excel does not provide a direct “copy style” button, but styles can be transferred by copying cells.

Method

1. Open both the source and destination workbooks.
2. Copy a cell that uses the desired style.
3. Paste it into the destination workbook.
4. The style will be imported automatically.

This is useful when maintaining consistent formatting across multiple files.

Applying Styles to Headers and Data Separately

For clarity, it’s best practice to apply different styles to headers and data.

Recommended Approach

• Use Heading styles for column headers.
• Use a neutral or default style for data cells.
• Use Total styles for summary rows.

This visual hierarchy improves readability and reduces misinterpretation.

Combining Styles with Conditional Formatting

While styles apply static formatting, conditional formatting applies formatting dynamically based on values.

Best Practice

• Use styles for structure (titles, headers, totals).
• Use conditional formatting for logic (highlighting high/low values, duplicates, or trends).

This combination results in both visually consistent and analytically powerful spreadsheets.

Styles and Number Formatting

Styles can include number formatting such as:

• Currency
• Percentage
• Date
• Accounting

This ensures that numbers are displayed consistently throughout the workbook.

For example, a custom “Financial” style might include:

• Currency format
• Two decimal places
• Right alignment
• Bold font for totals

Best Practices for Using Styles in Excel

1. Plan Before Formatting

Decide which styles you will use for titles, headers, inputs, and outputs before applying them.

2. Keep Styles Simple

Avoid excessive colors or fonts. Clean, minimal styles improve clarity.

3. Use Custom Styles for Repeated Tasks

If you frequently format the same type of data, create a custom style.

4. Avoid Manual Overrides

Manually changing formatting on styled cells can lead to inconsistencies.

5. Use Styles for Large Workbooks

The larger the workbook, the more valuable styles become.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Applying too many different styles in one worksheet
• Using bright colors that reduce readability
• Mixing manual formatting with styles
• Ignoring style updates after design changes
• Not naming custom styles clearly

Avoiding these mistakes will help keep your spreadsheets professional and easy to maintain.

When to Use Styles vs. Manual Formatting

In most professional scenarios, styles are the better long-term choice.

Conclusion

Applying styles in Excel is a powerful yet often underutilized feature. Styles help you format faster, maintain consistency, and present data more clearly. Whether you’re working on a simple budget, a complex financial model, or a shared business report, using styles can significantly improve both efficiency and professionalism.

By understanding how to apply built-in styles, create custom ones, and manage them effectively, you gain greater control over the appearance and structure of your spreadsheets. Instead of spending time repeatedly formatting cells, you can focus on what matters most—analyzing and communicating your data effectively.

Mastering Excel styles is a small skill with a big impact, and it’s an essential step toward becoming more confident and efficient in Excel.