Part I: Getting Started with Excel
- Enter a new style name in the Style Name field. The check boxes display the current
formats for the cell. By default, all check boxes are selected.
- (Optional) If you don’t want the style to include one or more format categories, remove
the check(s) from the appropriate check box(es).
- Click OK to create the style and to close the dialog box.
After you perform these steps, the new custom style is available when you choose Home ➪
Styles ➪ Cell Styles. Custom styles are available only in the workbook in which they were
created. To copy your custom styles to another workbook, see the section that follows.
The Protection option in the Style dialog box controls whether users will be able to modify cells for the selected style.
This option is effective only if you’ve also turned on worksheet protection by choosing Review ➪ Protect ➪ Protect
Sheet.
Merging styles from other workbooks
Custom styles are stored with the workbook in which they were created. If you’ve created
some custom styles, you probably don’t want to go through all of the work required to cre-
ate copies of those styles in each new Excel workbook. A better approach is to merge the
styles from a workbook in which you previously created them.
To merge styles from another workbook, open both the workbook that contains the styles
that you want to merge and the workbook that will contain the merged styles. Activate
the second workbook, choose Home ➪ Styles ➪ Cell Styles, and then choose Merge Styles.
Excel displays the Merge Styles dialog box that shows a list of all open workbooks. Select
the workbook that contains the styles you want to merge and click OK. Excel copies custom
styles from the workbook that you selected into the active workbook.
Controlling styles with templates
When you start Excel, it loads with several default settings, including the settings for stylistic
formatting. If you spend a lot of time changing the default elements for every new workbook,
you should know about templates.
Here’s an example. You may prefer that gridlines aren’t displayed in worksheets. And maybe
you prefer Wrap Text to be the default setting for alignment. Templates provide an easy
way to change defaults.
The trick is to create a workbook with the Normal style modified in the way you want it. Then
save the workbook as a template (with an .xltx extension). After doing so, you can choose
this template as the basis for a new workbook.
Refer to Chapter 6, “Understanding Excel Files and Templates,” for more information about templates.
