Drawing Borders

The normal way to add borders around a cell or range of cells is to select the cell or range, and then choose Format | Cells and use the Border tab. There is a quick shortcut you can use to actually "draw" borders around cells.

Take a look at the Borders tool on the Formatting toolbar (in versions of Excel prior to Excel 2007). Click the down-arrow at the right of the tool and you'll see a number of different borders you can apply. At the bottom of the selections is a choice named "Draw Borders." Choose this, and the mouse pointer becomes a small pencil and the Borders toolbar appears.

If you are using Excel 2007 you can turn on this tool by displaying the Home tab of the ribbon. In the Font group, click the down-arrow at the right of the Border tool. Excel displays a whole range of options; you want to choose Draw Borders.

Now you can just click and draw borders where ever you want them. The controls in the Borders toolbar allow you to specify what type of line you want, along with the line color. The pencil tool (which is selected by default when you choose to Draw Borders) is used for drawing borders, and the eraser tool is used to clear borders.

When you are done creating your borders, just dismiss the Borders toolbar. The mouse pointer returns to normal, and you can use Excel like you normally do.