Highlight cells in excel for mac

Unlike other Office programs, such as Word, Excel does not provide a button that you can use to highlight all data or portions of data in a cell. However, you can mimic highlighting by filling the cell or cells with color alone or with a highlighting format that consists of a color and/or a pattern. You can also quickly copy the color or highlighting format to other cells.

If you want to make specific data or portions of data in a cell or a range of cells stand out, you can show that data in a different font color or format.

Do any of the following:

Newer versions Office 2011

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Fill cells with color

1. Select the cells that you want to highlight.

2. On the Home tab, in the Font group, click Fill Color.

   Note: To change the color of the fill, click the arrow next to Fill Color, and then click the color that you want.

Create a custom fill

1. On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Cell Styles, and then click New Cell Style.

2. In the Style name box, type a name for the new style.

3. Click Format.

4. On the Fill tab, select the color, pattern, and style that you want, and then click OK.

5. Click OK to close the New Cell Style dialog box.

6. On the sheet, select the cells or range of cells that you want to highlight.

7. On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Cell Styles.

8. Under Custom, click the new style that you created.

Apply an existing color or highlighting format to other cells

1. Select a cell that is formatted with the color or highlighting format that you want to use.

2. On the Home tab, double-click , and then select the cells that you want to highlight.

3. When you're done, click again.

Show data in a different font color or format

1. Select the data that you want to show in a different color or format.

   Note: To select all the data in a cell, click the cell. To select part of the data, double-click the cell, and then select the data that you want.

2. On the Home tab, in the Font group, do one or more of the following:

   To	Do this
   Apply the most recently selected text color	Click Font Color.
   Change the text color	Click the arrow next to Font Color, and then click the color that you want to use.
   Apply a color other than the available theme colors and standard colors	Click the arrow next to Font Color, click More Colors, and then use tools in the Colors dialog box to define the color that you want to use.
   Change the format	Click Bold, Italic, or Underline.

Fill cells with color

1. Select the cells that you want to highlight.

2. On the Home tab, under Font, click Fill Color.

   Note: To change the color of the fill, click the arrow next to Fill Color, and then click the color that you want.

Create a custom fill

1. On the Home tab, under Format, click Styles.

2. Click New Cell Style.

3. In the Style Name box, type a name for the new style.

4. Click Format.

5. On the Fill tab, use the pop-up menus to configure the background and foreground colors and pattern that you want, and then click OK.

6. Click OK to close the New Style dialog box.

7. On the sheet, select the cells or range of cells that you want to highlight.

8. On the Home tab, under Format, click Styles.

9. Under Custom, click the new style that you created.

Apply an existing color or highlighting format to other cells

1. Select a cell that is formatted with the color or highlighting format that you want to use.

2. On the Standard toolbar, double-click , and then select the cells that you want to highlight.

3. When you're done, click again.

Show data in a different font color or format

1. Select the data that you want to show in a different color or format.

   Note: To select all the data in a cell, click the cell. To select part of the data, double-click the cell, and then select the data that you want.

2. On the Home tab, under Font, do one or more of the following:

   To	Do this
   Apply the most recently selected text color	Click Font Color.
   Change the text color	Click the arrow next to Font Color, and then click the color that you want to use.
   Apply a color other than the available theme colors and standard colors	Click the arrow next to Font Color, click More Colors, and then use the slider in the Colors dialog box to define the color that you want to use.
   Change the format	Click Bold, Italic, or Underline.