Instant Range Formatting

Right after data entry comes formatting. When building a new spreadsheet, you don't stop to take the time to assign formats to the data entries you make (by typing dollar signs, commas, and the like). Instead, you enter all the raw data and then assign the required formatting to the various cell ranges.

When formatting cells in a standard table of data, you can usually rely on the AutoFormat feature to apply the various types of formatting to all the different elements in one fast-and-easy operation. When formatting individual ranges of cells that aren't part of a standard table of data, you can use Excel's handy-dandy Format Painter to quickly copy an existing format to unformatted ranges that need it. Finally, you can preformat a blank cell range by copying just the formatting assigned to any formatted cell and pasting that formatting into the cell range.