A Better Idea

In the March column a reader asked for an easy way to custom-format 24 worksheets. I suggested two ways: Use the Group command on all the worksheets, so any format action done to one will automatically affect the others, too, or create a template.

Marsha Troy, a CPA from Shawnee, Kan., suggests a third way—with Format Painter (

). Here are the steps: Highlight the entire worksheet whose formatting you want to copy by clicking on the white cell to the left of column A and above row 1 (see screenshot) and then on the Format Painter .

Open a new worksheet and click on the cell to the left of A and above 1, and all the formatting will be duplicated.