How to Create Custom Styles in Excel

Microsoft Excel is widely known for its powerful calculation and data analysis features, but formatting plays an equally important role in making spreadsheets readable, professional, and easy to use. While Excel provides many built-in cell styles, relying solely on them can lead to inconsistent formatting—especially in large workbooks or team-based projects. This is where custom styles become essential.

Custom styles allow you to define a reusable set of formatting rules—such as font, color, borders, and number formatting—and apply them consistently across your workbook. Once created, these styles can be applied with a single click, saving time and improving accuracy.

In this article, you will learn what custom styles are, why they matter, and how to create, modify, manage, and share them effectively in Excel.

What Are Custom Styles in Excel?

A style in Excel is a named collection of formatting attributes that can be applied to cells. These attributes may include:

• Font type, size, and color
• Cell fill color
• Borders
• Alignment
• Number formatting
• Protection settings

Excel includes default styles such as Normal, Good, Bad, Input, and Heading. However, these built-in styles may not match your organization’s branding, reporting standards, or personal preferences. Custom styles allow you to create your own predefined formatting rules that better suit your needs.

Once a custom style is created, it becomes available throughout the workbook and can be reused multiple times without reapplying formatting manually.

Why Use Custom Styles?

Creating custom styles offers several practical advantages:

1. Consistency Across Worksheets

Custom styles ensure that headings, totals, inputs, and data fields look the same across all worksheets. This is especially important in dashboards, financial reports, and templates.

2. Time Savings

Instead of repeatedly adjusting fonts, colors, and borders, you can apply a custom style with a single click.

3. Easier Updates

If formatting requirements change, updating the style automatically updates all cells using that style.

4. Improved Collaboration

When working in shared workbooks, styles help maintain uniform formatting even when multiple users are involved.

5. Professional Appearance

Well-designed styles improve readability and give your spreadsheets a polished, professional look.

Understanding the Cell Styles Gallery

Before creating custom styles, it is important to understand where styles are managed in Excel.

1. Go to the Home tab on the Ribbon
2. Locate the Styles group
3. Click Cell Styles

This opens the Cell Styles gallery, where you can see built-in styles as well as any custom styles you create. Custom styles appear under a section typically labeled Custom.

How to Create a Custom Style in Excel

There are two main ways to create custom styles in Excel. The first method starts from scratch, while the second builds on existing formatting.

Method 1: Create a Custom Style from Scratch

1. Open your Excel workbook
2. Go to the Home tab
3. Click Cell Styles
4. Select New Cell Style

This opens the Style dialog box, where you can define your style.

Step 1: Name Your Style

Enter a descriptive name, such as:

• Report Header
• Data Input
• Total Row
• Warning Cell

Using clear names makes styles easier to manage later.

Step 2: Choose Formatting Options

In the Style dialog box, you will see several checkboxes:

• Number
• Alignment
• Font
• Border
• Fill
• Protection

Uncheck any categories you do not want included in the style. This is useful when you want a style to affect only certain aspects, such as font and color but not number formatting.

Step 3: Click “Format”

Click the Format button to open the familiar Format Cells dialog. Here, you can define:

• Font: typeface, size, bold/italic, color
• Border: outline or internal borders
• Fill: background color
• Alignment: horizontal and vertical alignment
• Number: currency, percentage, date, or custom formats

Once finished, click OK, then OK again to save the style.

Your custom style is now available in the Cell Styles gallery.

Method 2: Create a Custom Style from an Existing Cell

This method is faster when you already have a cell formatted the way you want.

1. Format a cell manually (font, color, borders, etc.)
2. Select the formatted cell
3. Go to Home → Cell Styles
4. Click New Cell Style

Excel automatically detects the formatting from the selected cell. You only need to name the style and confirm the formatting options.

This approach is ideal when you are refining formatting visually and want to turn it into a reusable style.

Applying a Custom Style

Once created, applying a custom style is straightforward:

1. Select one or more cells
2. Go to Home → Cell Styles
3. Click the desired custom style

The selected cells instantly adopt the defined formatting.

You can apply styles to:

• Individual cells
• Entire rows or columns
• Large data ranges

Modifying an Existing Custom Style

Over time, you may want to adjust your styles. Instead of reformatting every cell manually, you can modify the style itself.

Steps to Modify a Style

1. Go to Home → Cell Styles
2. Right-click the custom style
3. Click Modify
4. Click Format to make changes
5. Click OK to save

All cells using that style update automatically, ensuring consistency across the workbook.

Deleting a Custom Style

If a custom style is no longer needed, you can remove it:

1. Open the Cell Styles gallery
2. Right-click the custom style
3. Click Delete

This removes the style from the workbook. Cells that previously used the style revert to default formatting but retain their visual appearance.

Best Practices for Creating Custom Styles

To get the most value from custom styles, consider the following best practices.

1. Plan Your Style System

Before creating multiple styles, decide what categories you need, such as:

• Headings
• Subheadings
• Input cells
• Calculated cells
• Totals

A clear structure prevents unnecessary duplication.

2. Use Meaningful Names

Avoid generic names like “Style 1” or “Blue Text.” Instead, use functional names like “Dashboard Header” or “Editable Field.”

3. Limit the Number of Styles

Too many styles can make workbooks confusing. Focus on essential styles that serve a clear purpose.

4. Avoid Overly Complex Formatting

Simple, clean styles improve readability more than excessive colors and borders.

5. Keep Number Formatting Separate When Needed

Sometimes it is better to exclude number formatting from a style, especially when the same visual style applies to different data types.

Copying Custom Styles Between Workbooks

Custom styles are saved within a workbook, not globally. If you want to reuse styles in another file, you have two main options.

Option 1: Use the Move or Copy Sheet Feature

1. Open both workbooks
2. Right-click a worksheet containing the styles
3. Choose Move or Copy
4. Copy it to the target workbook

Excel transfers the styles along with the worksheet.

Option 2: Use Templates

If you frequently use the same styles:

1. Create a workbook with your custom styles
2. Save it as an Excel Template (.xltx)
3. Use the template for new files

This is ideal for reports, invoices, and dashboards.

Using Custom Styles with Tables and Conditional Formatting

Custom styles work well alongside other Excel features.

Tables

While Excel tables have their own styles, you can still apply custom cell styles to table headers or totals rows for additional control.

Conditional Formatting

Conditional formatting can override some visual aspects, but custom styles still provide a strong base format for your data.

Using styles first and conditional formatting second often produces the best results.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Creating duplicate styles with slightly different names
• Including unnecessary formatting categories
• Overusing bright colors that reduce readability
• Forgetting to document style usage in shared workbooks

Avoiding these mistakes helps keep your spreadsheets clean and maintainable.

When Custom Styles Are Most Useful

Custom styles are especially valuable in:

• Financial reports
• Dashboards and KPIs
• Data entry templates
• Shared or collaborative workbooks
• Reusable business documents

In these scenarios, consistency and efficiency are critical.

Conclusion

Creating custom styles in Excel is a simple yet powerful way to improve the appearance, consistency, and usability of your spreadsheets. By defining reusable formatting rules, you can save time, reduce errors, and maintain a professional look across even the most complex workbooks.

Whether you are building dashboards, managing large datasets, or designing templates for repeated use, custom styles should be a core part of your Excel workflow. With thoughtful planning and best practices, they can significantly enhance both productivity and presentation.

As you continue exploring Excel formatting techniques, mastering custom styles will serve as a strong foundation for more advanced features such as conditional formatting, tables, and templates.