How to Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android

This wikiHow teaches you how to use Google Sheets’ cell formatting tools on an Android phone or tablet.

Steps

  1. Image titled Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android Step 1
    1
    Open Google Sheets on your Android. It’s the green icon with a white table outline. You’ll usually find it in the app drawer.
  2. Image titled Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android Step 2
    2
    Tap the file you want to edit. For the purpose of this example, open a file that has at least one column of data.
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  3. Image titled Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android Step 3
    3
    Tap the letter above the column you want to format. This highlights the column.
  4. Image titled Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android Step 4
    4
    Tap the formatting icon. It’s a capital A with 4 horizontal lines at the top of the screen. A list of formatting options will appear at the screen’s bottom.
  5. Image titled Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android Step 5
    5
    Tap the CELL tab. It’s next to the “TEXT” tab.
  6. Image titled Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android Step 6
    6
    Tap Fill color to select a background color. The color you select from the palette will become the background color of all presently-selected cells.
  7. Image titled Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android Step 7
    7
    Tap Alternating colors to color every other row. You can select any of the listed color schemes to make the column data more readable. See Highlight Every Other Row on Google Sheets on Android for more information.
  8. Image titled Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android Step 8
    8
    Tap Border style to select an outline. This lets you change the lines that surround the cells.
  9. Image titled Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android Step 9
    9
    Tap Conditional formatting to automatically format cells based on their values. To do this:
    • Select a rule from the “Format cells if…” drop-down menu. This is the criteria that must be met for the automated formatting to happen. For example, selecting “If cells are not empty” means the rule will run if the cell contains any value at all.
    • Tap the desired look under “Formatting style.”
    • Make sure the correct range appears under “Apply to range.”
    • Tap Save.
  10. Image titled Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android Step 10
    10
    Select an option for “Wrap text.” To enable sentence-wrapping within the selected cells, slide this switch to
    Android 7 Switch On
    .
  11. Image titled Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android Step 11
    11
    Select whether to merge multiple cells. If you want all of the selected cells to be merged into one single cell, slide the “Merge cells” switch to
    Android 7 Switch On
    .
  12. Image titled Format Cells on Google Sheets on Android Step 12
    12
    Select a number format. If the cells contain numerical values, you can change the way they appear by tapping Number format and selecting an option. If you choose an option with decimals, you can use the arrows next to the “Decimal places” switch to change where the decimal appears.
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About This Article

Nicole Levine, MFA
Written by:
Nicole Levine, MFA
wikiHow Technology Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. This article has been viewed 16,071 times.
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Co-authors: 3
Updated: December 18, 2017
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Categories: Spreadsheets
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