Readable Excel Tables

Excel Table Formatting Exercises (Readable Spreadsheet Drill)

Fix hard-to-read tables in a virtual Excel right in your browser. You use the same ribbon, dialog boxes, and shortcuts as the real thing, with a mouse or the keyboard. Practice on a computer.

Read "How to Make a Table in Excel" first →

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Chapter 1: Align text and numbers

Right-align numbers, align headers, use one font, and fix column widths.

  1. 1Right-align the numbers
  2. 2Align headers with their columns
  3. 3Use one font and size
  4. 4Fit column widths to their contents

Chapter 2: Number formats

Set thousands separators, decimal places, values in thousands, negatives in parentheses, how 0 appears, and units.

  1. 5Add thousands separators to amounts
  2. 6Use the same number of decimal places
  3. 7Show amounts in thousands
  4. 8Show negatives in red parentheses
  5. 9Show 0 as "-"
  6. 10Add a unit to numbers

Chapter 3: Dates and odd displays

Add weekdays to dates, fix dates shown as numbers, and fix ####.

  1. 11Add the weekday to dates
  2. 12Fix dates shown as numbers
  3. 13Fix the #### display

Chapter 4: Borders and colors

Use mostly horizontal borders, lines for headers and totals, colors for headers and input cells, and gridlines.

  1. 14Change a full grid to horizontal lines only
  2. 15Add lines under headers and around the total
  3. 16Color the header row
  4. 17Color only the input cells
  5. 18Cut back on colors
  6. 19Hide gridlines

Chapter 5: Conditional formatting basics

Highlight missed targets, top values, and duplicates, and show size with data bars and color scales.

  1. 20Highlight cells below target
  2. 21Highlight the top 3 sales
  3. 22Highlight duplicate values
  4. 23Show sizes with data bars
  5. 24Show trends with a color scale

Chapter 6: Conditional formatting with formulas

Color whole rows, weekends, and overdue items, and practice rule order and deletion.

  1. 25Color every "Not done" row
  2. 26Color weekend rows
  3. 27Color overdue rows
  4. 28Change rule priority
  5. 29Delete an unwanted rule

Chapter 7: Make long tables easier to read

Freeze headers, center without merging, group rows, and use tables.

  1. 30Freeze the header row
  2. 31Center the title without merging
  3. 32Group the detail rows
  4. 33Convert to a table with banded rows

Chapter 8: Case studies

Combine everything so far to finish tables you would use at work.

  1. 34Tidy an expense list for your team
  2. 35Tidy a monthly sales report
  3. 36Finish a price quote for a client