I know many people who are good at Excel.  But very few who are good at formatting spreadsheets!  It's a shame because, a relatively simple but well-formatted spreadsheet leaves a great impression.  

BEAUTY IN EXCEL  - YOUR FREE EXCEL FORMATTING CHECKLIST 

Equally, a spreadsheet with strong technical merit but no visual appeal is routinely ignored.  This is why we need to think about how to create beauty in Excel, simply and quickly. 

In this video, I show you how to harness my 'Beauty In Excel' checklist to effectively format an Excel spreadsheet in around 10 minutes.  The checklist couldn't be simpler - around 30 points to tick off while you create your own beauty in Excel.  I organise the points around my five Excel formatting principles: Space, Colour, Cleanliness, Readability and Distinctiveness. 

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

EXCEL DOWNLOAD FILE LINK 

The Excel file I use in the video as, as ever, available for you to download, practice the techniques, and build your confidence. 

So, is today the day you finally get the Excel presentational skills that your Excel technical skills deserve?  Ready to create attractive and distinctive spreadsheets that you and your colleagues will love using?  And, crucially, that they'll associate with YOU and YOUR unique style? 

Grab the Beauty In Excel checklist and the Excel download file, work along with me - and don't forget to tell me how you got on in the YouTube comments, I'll get back to you there.

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KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS (Windows PC)

& = hit keys simultaneously (hold down first (or first and second), hit last)

+ = hit keys sequentially (one-by-one)

Ctrl & Spacebar - SELECT WHOLE COLUMN

Ctrl & Shift & + - ADD COLUMM / ROW with whole column row / selected

Alt + H + O + W - ADJUST COLUMN WIDTH

Alt + H + O + H - ADJUST ROW HEIGHT

F4 - REPEAT LAST ACTION eg. size a row or column

Shift & Arrow Keys - EXPAND SELECTION (LEFT, RIGHT, UP, DOWN)

Ctrl & Shift & Arrow Keys - SELECT TO END OF RANGE

Alt + H + F + D + O - SELECT OBJECTS (eg. buttons)

Alt + H + H + M - CUSTOM CELL BACKGROUND COLOURS

Ctrl & C - COPY

Ctrl & Alt & V - PASTE SPECIAL (then 't' and 'enter' for formats)

Alt + H + E + A - CLEAR CELL (including formats)

Alt + H + E + F - CLEAR CELL FORMATS ONLY

Alt + H + O + E - DISPLAY CELL FORMATTING OPTIONS (used for custom date / time format)

Alt + H + B + A - ALL CELL BORDERS

Alt + W + V + G - TOGGLE GRIDLINES

Alt + H + M + A - MERGE ACROSS CELLS