How to use the format painter

And although formatting tools in Excel are easy to use, applying formatting manually can quickly get tedious.

One tool you’re able to use to speed things up is the Format Painter.

The Format Painter copies formatting from one group of cells to another.

To the right, I have another table with the same kind of data, and no formatting.

The question is, how can I quickly format the second table to match the first?

This is a perfect job for the Format Painter.

First, choose the cells with the formatting you want to copy.

Next, smack the Format Painter tool on the home tab of the ribbon.

You’ll see the cursor change to a small paint brush.

Now tap the upper left cell in the group of cells you’d like to format.

In one step, the Format Painter applies all formatting.

it’s possible for you to also use the Format Painter with small groups of cells.

To illustrate, I’ll go for the Format Painter with just one cell selected.

Now I can drag across the header in the second table and apply the same formatting.

Let’s undo that and try working with columns.

A single click will apply formatting to the same number of cells that were originally selected.

Normally, the Format Painter stops working after you click once.

However, you could lock the cursor in Format Painter mode by double-clicking the tool.

you might then keep working with the same format.

Press the Escape key to exit the Format Painter.

Switch to the second worksheet, and nudge the origin.

All cells will be formatted to match the first worksheet.