Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Changing How Arrows Look.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 23, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
The Insert tab of the ribbon (click Shapes in the Illustrations group) allows you to place arrows within your workbook. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Shapes tool on the Insert tab of the ribbon.
Once an arrow is placed where you want it, you can easily change the way the arrow looks by following these steps:

Figure 2. The Arrows option within the Shape Outline tool.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9456) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Changing How Arrows Look.
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