Table styles control the look and feel of an Excel Table. Tables styles allow you to format an entire table with a single click, and the style is applied continuously to a table as new rows and columns are added. You can find table styles listed on the Design tab of the Table Tools ribbon, whenever you have at least one cell in a table selected. You’ll see a large number of pre-built styles organized in several categories. Notice, when I hover the cursor over a style thumbnail, Excel builds a preview of that style applied to the table in the background. Table styles are grouped in three categories: light, medium, and dark. When you find a style you like, just click to apply the style to the table. Notice the currently applied style will be highlighted in the list. You can use Undo to revert to a previous style. When your table contains local formatting, you have the option to preserve the formatting or override it when you apply the style. By default, local formatting is preserved. For example, if I highlight some rows with a yellow fill, and then apply a style, Excel keeps the formatting. However, if I right-click the thumbnail, I get a menu with two options. If I choose the option to apply and clear formatting, the yellow highlighting is removed when the style is applied. If you have a favorite style that you use frequently, you can set the style as the default style for new tables. Just right-click the style, and choose Set as Default. New tables in the same workbook will now use the style. If you want to remove all the formatting applied by a style from a table, apply the first style in the upper left of the list, which is called “None”.
Dave Bruns
Hi - I’m Dave Bruns, and I run Exceljet with my wife, Lisa. Our goal is to help you work faster in Excel. We create short videos, and clear examples of formulas, functions, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and charts.
