Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. 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: Using Copy and Paste for Formatting.

Using Copy and Paste for Formatting

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 7, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365


In other issues of ExcelTips you learn how to use the Format Painter to quickly and easily copy formatting between cells. Despite how handy it is, there may be times when you don't want to use the Format Painter. For instance, the Format Painter may not be visible at the top of the screen and it would be a hassle to display it just to copy a format. In instances like this, you can use copying and pasting to copy formats to a different cell or cell range.

To copy formatting using this method, you use techniques traditionally used when editing the contents of your worksheet:

  1. Select the cell or cells whose format you wish to copy.
  2. Press Ctrl+C or press Ctrl+Insert. This copies the cell contents to the Clipboard and places a dotted, moving border around your selection.
  3. Select the cell or cell range into which you want the formats pasted.
  4. Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
  5. Click the down-arrow under the Paste tool and then select Paste Special from the resulting options. Excel displays the Paste Special dialog box.
  6. Choose the Formats radio button.
  7. Click on OK.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12469) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Using Copy and Paste for Formatting.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Turning Off Borders for Data Series

Don't want a border to appear around a data series represented in a Microsoft Graph chart? You can easily control the ...

Discover More

Deleting a Style

Excel allows you to define styles that help you display data in a consistent manner. When you no longer need a particular ...

Discover More

Reading Values from Graphs

Adding a trendline to a graph will allow you to see trends a bit easier, depending on your data. You can even utilize an ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Losing Formatting

When you save a workbook, you expect Excel to remember the formatting you applied in the worksheets in that workbook. If ...

Discover More

Shortcut Key for Format Painter

The Format Painter is great for copying formatting from one cell to another. If you don't want to grab the mouse to use ...

Discover More

Deleting Unwanted Styles

Custom styles can be a great help in formatting a worksheet. You may, at some point, want to get rid of all the custom ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 3 + 1?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.