Table Formatting with AutoFormat

Using Excel's AutoFormat feature to format a table of data is a real nobrainer. Simply position the cell pointer in any cell of the table and choose Format → AutoFormat to open the AutoFormat dialog box. Excel then automatically selects all the cells in the table (including the one with the table's title). All you have to do is select the table format in the AutoFormat dialog box that you want to apply to the selected range and then click OK.

The list box in the AutoFormat dialog box offers 16 distinct table formats from which you can choose. Excel gives descriptive names to these table formats, which are arranged by category in two columns in this list box. At the very bottom of the list box, you find a None table format that you can select to remove any previously selected table formatting from the selected range.

When choosing the table format to apply to the cell range containing your data, use the thumbnails of the different formats as a guide. These thumbnails attempt to show what alignment, attributes (such as bold or italics), number formatting, borders, and patterns will be applied to the selected cell range. Also, all the table formats (except for None) automatically widen the columns and heighten the rows of the table as needed to display all the data after applying these various attributes to their cells.

The None table format removes all formatting from the cells of the table, including any attributes manually assigned to individual cells or cell ranges prior to applying table formats with AutoFormat. Selecting None does not, however, restore column widths that Excel changed as part of previously selecting one of the other table formats.

Excel makes it easy to customize any of its 16 built-in table formats:

1. Click the Options button in the AutoFormat dialog box.
   The dialog box expands to display individual check box format options in the Formats to Apply area along the bottom.
2. To customize a particular table format, select its thumbnail in the AutoFormat list box and then clear all the individual format check boxes in the Formats to Apply area that you don't want to use.