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: Saving Custom Formats.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 3, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
Excel provides quite a bit of flexibility in creating custom formats for cells in a workbook. In fact, depending on the needs of your data, you can spend quite a bit of time formatting cells so they look the way you want them to.
At some point you may get tired of doing the same formatting over and over again, and begin to wonder if there is a way to save your custom formats so you don't have to redefine them all the time. Unfortunately, there is not a full-featured way to save formats within Excel. You can get around this shortcoming quite easily, however. The trick is to define the cell formats as you want them, and then save the workbook as a template that you can later use as a basis for your future workbooks. All you need to do is use the Save As command and make sure the File Type drop-down list (at the bottom of the Save As dialog box) is set to either Excel Template or Excel Macro-Enabled Template.
As has been described in other issues of ExcelTips, you could replace your default workbook template with the new template you create, and then it becomes the basis for all new workbooks. All you need to do is give the template the name Book.xltx (if it has no macros) or Book.xltm (if it contains macros) and save it in the XLSTART folder. (The XLSTART folder is in different places on different systems; use the Find feature of Windows to locate where it is on yours.)
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10561) 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: Saving Custom Formats.
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2020-12-09 07:05:11
Paul
I use Styles on the Home tab to save cell formats - click in a cell which has the required formatting, click the More button at the bottom right of the Styles gallery and choose New Style. You can then name the style, choose which types of formatting to save in the style and tweak as necessary.
Styles only appear in the workbook where they are created, but you can use the Merge Styles option on the menu to import styles from any open workbook.
2020-12-05 10:40:35
J. Woolley
My Excel Toolbox has macros to backup and restore a worksheet's conditional formatting using named ranges, which auto-adjust to worksheet changes. It also includes the ListFormatConditions array function. See https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/
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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:
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