Guides

Cell Alignment and Orientation

Cell alignment

By default all cell contents are aligned to the bottom of the cell. Labels are aligned to the left of a cell and values are aligned to the right of a cell.

To change the horizontal alignment of the contents of a cell:

Select the cell(s) to be aligned
Click the relevant horizontal alignment button on the Formatting toolbar

Alignment buttons

You can also format the vertical alignment of cell content:

Select the cell(s) to be vertically aligned
Click Format > Cells and then click the Alignment tab
Select the vertical alignment from the drop down list

Applying vertical alignment

Merge cells

Cells content can be merged across multiple columns or rows making one large cell.

To merge and centre cell content:

Select the cells you wish to merge and center
Click the Merge and Center button on the Formatting toolbar

To unmerge and centre cell content, click the Merge and Center button again.

It is advisable to leave a gap between cells that have been merged and other spreadsheet content, as merging cells breaks up a spreadsheets structure potentially causing problems with other Excel features.

You can also merge cells without centering:

Select the cell(s) to merge
Click Format > Cells and then click the Alignment tab
Check the Merge cells box and click Ok

Merging cells using Format Cells dialogue box

Cell Orientation

Cell content can be orientated to be read vertically or at an angle. This can then be combined with features mentioned earlier like merge cells and cell alignment to create effects like the below.

Example of merged, aligned and orientated cells

Select the cell(s) to orientate
Click Format > Cells and then click the Alignment tab
Specify the degrees of orientation in the degrees field or click and drag the red diamond up or down as required

Applying text orientation