Changing an Existing Style

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 12, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

One of the great things about styles is that you can change them to suit the needs of the workbook you are developing. You can easily change an existing style in Excel by following these steps:

  1. Choose Style from the Format menu. You will see the Style dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    2. Figure 1. The Style dialog box.

  2. Use the Style Name pull-down list to select the style you want to modify.
  3. Click on the Modify button. This displays the Format Cells dialog box. (See Figure 2.)

    4. Figure 2. The Format Cells dialog box.

  4. Using the controls in the dialog box, make any changes to the cell formatting desired.
  5. Click on OK to close the Format Cells dialog box. The Style dialog box remains displayed.
  6. Adjust the check box selections in the balance of the dialog box to indicate which specific attributes should be saved with your style.
  7. Click on Add to actually save your changes to the style.
  8. Repeat steps 2 through 7 to change any additional styles.
  9. Click on OK to close the Style dialog box.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2682) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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

Upside-Down Printing

Putting words on the printed page is easy in Word. Rotating those words in different manners can be a bit trickier. This ...

Discover More

Saving an Envelope for Future Use

It can take a while to get an envelope to appear just the way you need. Why throw your work away when you are done with ...

Discover More

Two Printed Copies to Different Paper Trays

Many modern printers include multiple paper trays that can be used for different types or colors of paper. Word allows ...

Discover More

Best-Selling VBA Tutorial for Beginners Take your Excel knowledge to the next level. With a little background in VBA programming, you can go well beyond basic spreadsheets and functions. Use macros to reduce errors, save time, and integrate with other Microsoft applications. Fully updated for the latest version of Office 365. Check out Microsoft 365 Excel VBA Programming For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Deleting Unwanted Styles

Custom styles can be a great help in formatting a worksheet. You may, at some point, want to get rid of all the custom ...

Discover More

Applying a Style

Styles can be a great help in making sure that the cells in a worksheet are formatted consistently. Here's how to apply ...

Discover More

Creating Styles

Standardize the formatting in your Excel workbooks quickly and easily with the Style feature. Here's how to use it.

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 8 - 2?

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 © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.