Select the section of the XLS file that you want to format. For example, if you want the heading line to look different from the main data, select that section of the spreadsheet first. Select the entire sheet, if you wish.
Right-click the selection in your worksheet and select "Format Cells ..." from the drop-down list.
Choose the number style on the first tab of the "Format Cells ..." dialog box. This section allows you to format the way the numbers or text appear within each cell. For instance, if your column contains a listing of money figures for a budget, select the "Currency" formatting option to add a dollar sign to the front of each number in the column.
Press the "Alignment" tab to modify the position of the text or numbers inside of each cell in the selection. You can change the horizontal alignment to left, right, center, filled or justified, and the vertical alignment to top, center or bottom, among other options. Here you can also decide to either allow text to wrap to the next line within the same cell, or shrink it to fit on one line. Finally, adjust the orientation of the text in your selection by entering your desired angle in degrees.
Change the look and feel of the text in your XLS file by selecting the "Font" tab. Adjust the font face, style (italic, bold or regular), size and color, or add an underline, strike-through or other effect.
Add a border to your sheet or individual cells using the "Border" tab. Select a line style (dots, broken lines, or a solid line) and a color for the border. Also choose from preset options for outlining the area around each cell.
Fill the background of each cell using the "Fill" tab of the "Format Cells ..." dialog box. This formatting feature allows you to make the worksheet simpler to follow because you can select different background colors for different sections of the worksheet. Choose between solid color fills, special fill effects or patterns.