The Format Painter, in Microsoft Office programs will save you lots of time when it comes to copying formats of text, cells, or objects to other text, cells, or objects.
For example, you have text that is already formatted with one or more formatting options, like font size, color or style and you have other text that is not currently formatted, but you'd like to format the text exactly like the other.
Your document contains this: example text 1 and this: example text 2. You want example text 2 to look like example text 1.
- First select the text of the format you want to keep: example text 1
- Double-click on the format painter (on the HOME tab of the ribbon). If you single click on the format painter you will only be able to paint one selection.
- The paint brush is now attached to your mouse pointer. Drag the paintbrush across all the text, cells, or objects that you want to format exactly like the originally selected text.
- When you have "painted" all the text, cells, or objects that you want to have the same format, turn off the Format Painter by clicking the Format Painter again.
ADVANCED: For those of you who use Conditional Formatting in Excel, the Format Painter will also copy existing Conditional Formats onto the cells you paint.
