Understanding Underlines

Summary: Need to underline your data? Excel provides five different underline settings you can apply right away. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

There are several different types of underlines you can use in Excel. Underlining of information within cells is handled by choosing Cells from the Format menu or, within Excel 2007, by displaying the Home tab of the ribbon and, within the Cells group, clicking the down-arrow under Format and choosing Format Cells. (Click here to see a related figure.)

Regardless of the version of Excel you are using, you should see the Cells or Format Cells dialog box (the only difference is the name) where you should make sure the Font tab is visible. In the Underline box, in the lower-left corner, you can select any of five different underline types.

Underline Type		Meaning
None		Removes any underlining from the cell contents.
Single		Adds a single underline, the entire width of the cell contents.
Double		Adds a double-line underline, the entire width of the cell contents.
Single Accounting		Same as the Single underline, except it is moved downward just a bit.
Double Accounting		Same as the Double underline, except it is moved downward just a bit.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2508) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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Understanding Underlines