Read the grid and its formats A1 means column A, row 1. A colon includes both endpoints: B2:D4 contains nine cells. Click or drag directly in the worksheet, or use the address control above. Entering replaces the contents of one selected cell; copying moves relative references.
A discount stored as 0.1 appears as 10.0% with the selected format. A displayed two-decimal price retains its full numeric precision for calculations. USD is an explicit label in this exercise; this is not a currency conversion. General removes the chosen numeric display format. Text stays text after a numeric format is applied.
Practice controls and current worksheet inspection Edit a captured cell and point to its inputs Select one ordinary cell, then begin an edit. The destination stays fixed while you select source cells in the worksheet. Insert a reference at the draft caret, then explicitly apply. Escape in the draft or Cancel discards the draft.
Begin edit at selected cell Undo workbook action Redo workbook action
Work with the selected cells Select complete rows Select complete columns
Practice selection keys in this browser lab Select the starting cell, then focus the pad. Control+Space selects its complete column; Shift+Space selects its complete row. The lab alternatives are Alt/Option+Shift+C and Alt/Option+Shift+R. These commands work only at this focused pad and use this worksheet’s 20 rows and 8 columns.
Focus here for selection keys Browser and operating-system shortcuts can intercept keys. Use a lab alternative if needed. Desktop Excel key execution and Ribbon controls have their own platform context. Microsoft’s Windows and Mac shortcut reference
Verified keyboard selections: 0 No active selection
Source range inspection: select B2:D4 to begin
Copy formula from Copy into selected range Number formatGeneral Number (2 decimals) USD (2 decimals) Percentage (1 decimal) Format selected cells
Preview and author a number format A format changes the displayed number, not its stored value or formula. Preview reads the actual selection without writing. Apply before downloading a copy with that format. Date previews use this lab’s 1900 date system and English labels.
Starting formatChoose a starting format General Decimal grouping Accounting Fraction Scientific Percentage Calendar date Date and clock 24-hour clock 12-hour clock Elapsed hours Number format code
Up to four sections describe positive numbers; negative numbers; zero; text. Put literal words in double quotes. A fraction display can approximate a number; elapsed [h] hours can exceed 24.
Text sections are displayed for plain literal cells here. Character-formatted text and text returned by formulas keep their existing browser display.
Preview selected cells Apply previewed format
Actual selected cells: stored value, display, formula and format Cell Stored value Displayed value Formula Number format
Check worksheet and independent inputs Download current workbook
Record a fixed clock value and compare recalculation Keep the recorded time fixed These actions replace the selected cell with a numeric value from this browser’s local clock. Date, time and timestamp entries keep their capture context; they are not formulas and do not update on recalculation. Each entry and its number format use one Undo step.
Select G8 and stamp the current date. Select G9 and stamp time. Select G10 and stamp date and time. Inspect the serials and the clock zone below. Use the normal entry controls to author G12 =TODAY(), G13 =NOW(), G14 =INT(G10), and G15 =MOD(G10,1). The last two separate the recorded timestamp into its day and clock fraction. Compare two recalculations. NOW should update between samples while all three recorded entries stay fixed. TODAY changes only when its local calendar date changes. Check this clock study. Try Undo/Redo of a recorded entry and inspect actual contents. Use the custom number-format controls if you want date/time display formats on the formula cells too. Selected: none. Stamp one ordinary unmerged cell; an entry replaces its old contents while retaining whole-cell appearance.
Stamp date Stamp time Stamp date and time
In Excel, Ctrl+; records a fixed date on Windows and Mac. Time is Ctrl+Shift+; on Windows and Command+; on Mac. In this browser lab, focus the pad first; use the buttons if the browser or operating system intercepts a key. A US semicolon key produces a colon with Shift.
Focus here for date/time keys
Cell Meaning / formula Actual stored value Actual format G8 Fixed dateGeneral G9 Fixed timeGeneral G10 Fixed datetimeGeneral G12 =TODAY()General G13 =NOW()General G14 =INT(G10)General G15 =MOD(G10,1)General
Compare two recalculations Check current clock study Download clock study and clock notes
Recorded clock context Excel serials contain no timezone. Downloads add a Clock notes sheet with recorded zone, offset and UTC capture time. The browser clock is the source; these entries are not trusted external timestamps. Local course receipts do not save worksheet contents.
Next: make the same report readable Make the same report readable Keep the calculations above, then give the report a clear header, aligned numbers and a distinct total. Use the same actual cell selection and entry controls.
Enter literal text Unit price before discount in C1 and Line total after discount in E1. Select A1:E1, choose the Header profile and apply it. It uses 14-size bold white text, blue fill, centered/middle alignment and wrapping. Select B2:E4 and apply Numbers. Select A5:E5 and apply Total; then select A5, change Horizontal to Left and apply again. Select B1 and set the column width to 100 pixels. Select C1 and set its column width to 160 pixels. Select E1 and set its column width to 180 pixels. With a cell in row 1 selected, set the fixed row height to 56 pixels. Select E2:E5 again and check the report layout. Currency/percentage formats and unrounded stored values should remain. Profiles fill the editable controls below; the worksheet changes only after Apply. Wrapping changes how long text fits inside a cell. The height control fixes the height of every selected row; the width control affects every selected column.
Appearance profileCustom Header Numbers Total Plain Font size Text color Fill color
HorizontalLeft Center Right Center across selection VerticalTop Middle Bottom
Center across selection keeps cells separate. Enter a heading in the leftmost cell, leave following cells genuinely empty, select the full horizontal span and apply. Each occupied cell starts a new span. Use unmerged horizontal text; ordinary Center affects one cell.
Apply appearance to selected cells
Center across selected cells only
Column width (pixels) Set selected column widths Fixed row height (pixels) Set selected row heights
Actual appearance of the current selected cells Cell Font Text / fill Alignment / wrap Column / row pixels
Check numeric report and layout
Downloads preserve the supported font, fill, alignment, wrap and dimensions alongside number formats and values. Browser dimensions use pixels; Excel column widths depend on font metrics. Rich text, diagonal borders, merged cells and every desktop formatting command are separate capabilities.
Practice pasting values and formulas Keep a result or keep its calculation A captured range stays in this page’s memory until the next capture or dataset reset. By default, content paste replaces destination contents, including blanks, and keeps destination cell formats. Formula mode copies literal cells too; relative references move and $-locked parts stay fixed.
Solve E2:E5 using the earlier controls. Capture B2:D4, select B10:D12 and paste values. Capture E2:E4, select E10:E12 and paste formulas. Inspect each moved formula and its result. Capture E2:E4 again, select G10:G12 and paste values. Change B10: E10 should recalculate while G10 keeps the captured result. Undo the input change and then the paste; redo them and inspect the current download. Capture range Capture current contents Paste contentValues only Formulas and literal contents Captured whole-cell formats Captured column widths Paste into selected range
OperationReplace contents Destination + copied content Destination − copied content Destination × copied content Destination ÷ copied content
Use an equal-sized destination, or swap its rows and columns for transpose. Ordinary unmerged cells outside array results are required. Skip blanks keeps the destination untouched; zero, false and a formula returning empty text are still copied. Operations use destination first, then the copied operand. Formula destinations retain their calculation; text follows this engine’s scalar arithmetic rules. Cut and cross-sheet copies remain separate flows.
Try transpose and update a whole report Capture B2:D4, select F14:H16 and turn on Transpose. Paste values and compare the first row of inputs with the first output column. Undo before trying another mode. Put 2 in F8:F10 using individual numeric entries, capture F8:F10, select E2:E4, turn off Transpose, choose Values only and Multiply. Each purchase formula is multiplied by the captured constant; edit B2 and inspect its updated result. Undo the multiplication. Try Subtract or Divide and check the operand order. A copied zero denominator produces a genuine division error. Keep destination formats and inspect the formula/frozen downloads. Capture a range containing an empty cell and repeat with Skip blanks off and on. Compare a truly empty cell with zero, false and a formula such as ="". Reuse captured formats and column widths Formats paste replaces explicit whole-cell styles, including number formats, fonts, fills, borders, alignment, wrapping and text direction. It keeps target values, formulas, errors and character documents; existing character fragments can override a whole-cell font. Conditional rules and merged geometry are separate from this style capture.
Format C2:C4 as money and D2:D4 as percentages. Capture C2:D4, then change those source formats. Select F14:G16 and paste Captured whole-cell formats. The captured patterns, not the later source changes, should appear. To rotate that style arrangement, select E10:G11 and enable Transpose. Skip blanks omits styles from genuinely empty source cells; a styled blank still applies when Skip blanks is off. Set B to a useful width and C to another width using the earlier controls. Capture B2:C4, change the live source widths, select F14:G14 and paste Captured column widths. This changes all of columns F/G, not only row 14, while retaining cell styles and data. The target row count can differ. Undo or Redo restores one complete style/width paste. Compare the captured number patterns and pixel widths below with the current workbook download. Column widths use the same number of columns, without transpose, skip-blanks or arithmetic. Formats can transpose and skip blanks, without arithmetic. These choices reset or disable incompatible draft options.
Undo workbook action Redo workbook action
Undo and Redo apply to the workbook’s most recent action, including edits made outside this panel. Capturing or changing these draft controls creates no workbook action.
Practice copying, clearing and fitting formats Use a solved numeric report and the same actual cell-selection controls. Copy cell formatting from one live source cell without copying its value or formula.
Select D3:D4 and clear cell formats. Inspect the original discount fractions with General display. Keep D2 as the percentage-format example. Enter D2 as the format source, select D3:D4 and copy cell formats. The target discounts should display as percentages again, with their own values. To try automatic width, enter a descriptive literal note in G8. Select G8, set a narrow width with the earlier controls, then auto-fit the selected column. Inspect the measured width and try a longer note. Select E2:E5 and run the numeric check again. The copied/cleared formats and measured dimensions are included in your current downloads. Plain resets the earlier eight appearance traits and retains font families, directions, borders and number formats. Clear cell formats removes the explicit cell formatting, including number formats; row or column defaults can still apply. Auto-fit examines every cell in each selected column. A wrapped heading may measure differently from an unwrapped one.
Copy cell formatting from Copy cell formats to selection
Clear selected cell formats Auto-fit selected columns
Actual operation snapshots Each record compares captured values, formulas and typed errors before and after the command. A later edit can make a record an earlier snapshot. Records reset with the dataset; no worksheet contents are sent to an account.
No format operation applied yet.
These controls operate on bounded unmerged cells in this worksheet. Painting copies actual whole-cell formats, not rich-text runs or column widths. Existing downloads retain supported fonts, cell borders, directions, fills, alignment, wrap and number formats; rich-text and native edit/save certification remain separate.
Finish with fonts, text direction and borders Give the report a clear frame Keep the same formulas and number formats. Use the selection and literal-entry controls above. These are editable worksheet formats; browser font availability can affect how a chosen family looks.
Enter literal text ID in F8 and Invoice check in G8. Select F8, use Courier New with stacked text and apply. Select G8, use Georgia, turn stacked text off, set the angle to -45 and apply. Select A1:E5. Apply All borders with thin lines in #9AA4AF, then Outside with medium lines in #22577A. Select A5:E5 and apply Bottom with double lines in #163D32. Use the earlier width/height controls: set F to 80 pixels, G to 180 pixels and row 8 to 100 pixels. Select E2:E5 and check the report below. A border marks cell edges; it does not merge cells. Outside affects only the perimeter; Inside affects internal edges. None removes borders. A later edge command can replace an existing edge. A zero angle restores horizontal text.
Font family Angle in degrees
Apply font and direction
Border positionall outside inside horizontal vertical top bottom left right none Border linenone thin hair dotted dashed dashDot dashDotDot double medium mediumDashed mediumDashDot mediumDashDotDot slantDashDot thick Border color
Apply borders to selected cells
Actual selected fonts, text direction and cell borders Cell Family / direction Cell edges
Check numeric report, fonts and borders
Formula and frozen downloads retain these whole-cell font families, signed angles, stacked text and four-sided borders, including styled blanks. Use Clear cell formats to remove them, or copy a live cell’s formats with the format painter. Plain resets the earlier eight appearance traits and retains these separate details. Rich-text runs, diagonal borders and merged-cell teaching remain separate.
Add a merged heading and fit a wrapped note Keep a heading together and a note readable Complete the numeric report above. Enter literal Purchase review in A7. Keep B7:E7 empty. Select A7:E7 and merge. Use the appearance controls to center the heading. Unmerge the complete rectangle to inspect A7, then merge it again. Unmerge retains the top-left contents; it does not repeat them across the other cells. Enter this literal note in the separate, unmerged A10: Keep the original unit prices and discounts. Displayed amounts are rounded; the report calculates from the full stored numbers. Select A10. In the appearance controls, use the Plain profile, turn wrap on and apply. Set column A to 140 pixels, then fit the selected row with the button below. The whole row is measured, including cells outside your selection. Try a longer note or a narrower column and fit again. Restore the supplied note and 140px width, fit row 10, then select E2:E5 and check this stage. Merge selected rectangle Unmerge complete rectangles Fit selected rows automatically Check heading and note report
Merging combines cell space, not contents. This exercise refuses a merge if any other cell contains a value or formula. Select the entire merged rectangle before unmerging. Automatic height uses unmerged rows; choose a fixed height separately for merged headings.
Actual merged rectangles: none
Row 10: waiting, no explicit measured automatic height. Note:
A fixed height can clip wrapped text. Fitting measures the current full row. Fonts and browser metrics affect the measured height; an identical number across machines is not required.
Microsoft: merge and unmerge · Microsoft: wrapping and row height
Format part of a cell’s text Mark the report status and currency Complete the numeric report. Enter literal Draft totals in USD in A12, then keep that one cell selected. Choose characters 1 through 19, select the Plain character profile and apply. Profiles fill the controls; they change the worksheet only after Apply. Choose characters 1 through 5. Select Draft and apply to strike through that word in red. Choose characters 17 through 19, select Currency and apply to make USD blue, bold and singly underlined. Inspect the actual fragments below. The words and spaces between them should stay normal and black. Select E2:E5 and check the report. Character styles affect the selected text inside one literal cell. They differ from whole-cell fonts, number formats and borders. Positions count visible characters, including complete emoji and combined letters. Numbers, logical values, formula results and actual errors retain their original types.
First character Last character Character profileCustom Draft Currency Plain Character font Character size Character color Character underlinenone single double Character baselinenormal subscript superscript Apply to selected characters Remove all character styles Check character-formatted report
Draft fragment: choose a valid fragment of one text cell (0 visible characters in this cell).
Actual literal text: select one text cell. Captured fragments: 0.
Removing character styles keeps whole-cell formats. Clear cell formats removes both whole-cell and character overrides. Applying a literal value or formula replaces the text and its old character styles. Downloads retain the supported fragments; a character underline is separate from a bottom cell border.
Microsoft: underlining selected text Whole-cell font commands and the format painter can replace character styles across the text. Reapply specific character styles afterward.
These original sources stay in browser memory. Controls operate on the actual worksheet within A1:H20. Downloads keep current formulas, values, number formats and supported appearance/dimensions; they do not certify every Excel format or native edit/save behavior. Microsoft: number formats and stored values .
