Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Making a Cell's Contents Bold within a Macro.

Making a Cell's Contents Bold within a Macro

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 5, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you are writing macros using VBA, it is not uncommon to process data and place the results of your processing into cells in a worksheet. If desired, you can also make the results in a bold typeface so that they stand out. You do this by setting the Bold property of the Font object for a selection.

For instance, if you wanted to make the contents of cell A1 bold, you could use the following in your macro:

Cells(1, 1).Font.Bold = True

Likewise, if you wanted to make the currently selected cell bold, you could use the following code:

Selection.Font.Bold = True

If you wanted to explicitly turn off the bold attribute of a particular cell, all you need to do is change True to False in the foregoing examples.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2485) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Making a Cell's Contents Bold within a Macro.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Keyboard Shortcut to Access Header and Footer

Some folks like to avoid using the mouse whenever possible, preferring to leave their hands on the keyboard. If you are ...

Discover More

Conditionally Deleting Rows

Want to delete a bunch of rows in a worksheet based on the value in a certain cell of each row? There are a couple of ...

Discover More

Finding Positions of Formatted Characters in a Cell

With a little bit of work, Excel allows you to format individual characters of the text you place in a cell. If you want ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Running a Macro when a Workbook is Closed

One of the automatic macros you can set up in Excel is one that is triggered when a workbook is closed. This tip explains ...

Discover More

Sheets for Months

One common type of workbook used in offices is one that contains a single worksheet for each month of the year. If you ...

Discover More

Displaying the Selected Cell's Address

Need to know the address of the cell that is currently selected? There is no worksheet function to return this ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is seven more than 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.