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: Changing the Color of a Cell Border.

Changing the Color of a Cell Border

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 1, 2022)

You probably already know that Excel allows you to add borders to your cells. This is handy for separating different pieces of information within the same data table and for, well, just making your data look better.

You are not limited to black borders, however. You can specify different colors for your borders by following these steps:

  1. Select the cells whose border colors you want to change.
  2. Choose Cells from the Format menu. Word displays the Format Cells dialog box.
  3. Make sure the Border tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

    4. Figure 1. The Borders tab of the Format Cells dialog box.

  4. Using the Color drop-down list, specify a color you want to use for borders.
  5. Using the controls in the dialog box, specify the borders for the cell as you normally would.
  6. Click on OK.

Just as you can specify a different border type for each side of a cell, you can also specify a different border color for each side of the cell. Just make sure you pick the color you want used before you click on the side of the cell where you want that color used.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2977) 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: Changing the Color of a Cell Border.

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. ...

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