Excel removing all formatting

Clear / Remove All Formatting in Excel & Google Sheets

In this article, you will learn how to clear and remove all formatting in Excel and Google Sheets.

Clear Formats

In Excel, we can remove all formatting from a cell or range of cells with one command. This means that all formatting will be set to default and any bolding, colors, number formats, etc. will be removed. Let’s say that we have a range of cells formatted as shown in the picture below.

As you can see, we have different formatting here. The font color for the headings is white, cell D2 is center aligned, every other row is light blue, Column D values are formatted as dates, etc. Now, we want to remove all these formats and have plain data with default font size and a general format.

In order to achieve this, (1) select the range (B2:D9). Then in the Ribbon, (2) go to the Home tab, (3) choose the Clear option in the Editing tab, and (4) click on Clear Formats.

As a result, all data formats are cleared from range B2:D9. All cells are left bottom aligned, there is no background color, and all data have a general format.

Clear Formats in Google Sheets

In the same way as in Excel, formats can be cleared in Google Sheets with a single command. We’ll use the same example as above. So to clear formats in Google Sheets, (1) select the range. Then in the Ribbon, (2) go to Format, and (3) choose Clear Formatting. We can also use a shortcut (CTRL+/).

As a result, all data formats are cleared in the range B2:D9.

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Undo automatic formatting in Excel

Sometimes when you’re entering information into a worksheet, Excel automatically formats it in a way you didn’t intend. For example, if you type a web address, Excel will turn it into a hyperlink. This can be really helpful, but there might be times when that’s not what you want. In that case, you can turn off automatic formatting for one cell or your whole workbook.

Move your mouse pointer over the text that was just automatically formatted, and then click the AutoCorrect Options button that appears. This button is tiny, so look closely as you move the mouse pointer.

To remove the formatting for just the text you’ve selected, click Undo. For example, if Excel automatically created a hyperlink and you want to remove it, click Undo Hyperlink.

To tell Excel to stop applying this particular type of formatting to your workbook, click Stop. For example, if Excel automatically created a hyperlink and you want to prevent Excel from doing that for the rest of the worksheet, click Stop Automatically Creating Hyperlinks.

Set all automatic formatting options at once

If you want to review and change automatic formatting options all at once, you can do that in the AutoCorrect dialog box.

Click File > Options.

In the Excel Options box, click Proofing > AutoCorrect Options.

On the AutoFormat As You Type tab, check the boxes for the auto formatting you want to use.

Internet and network paths with hyperlinks : Replaces typed URLs, network paths, and email addresses with hyperlinks.

Include new rows and columns in table : When you enter data below or next to an Excel table, it expands the table to include the new data. For example, if you have a table in columns A and B, and you enter data in column C, Excel will automatically format column C as part of your table.

Fill formulas in tables to create calculated columns : Applies one formula to all cells in an Excel table column.

Note: If you want to set how numbers and dates appear, you do that on the Home tab in the Number group. It isn’t part of automatic formatting.

This feature is not available in Excel for the web.

If you have the Excel desktop application, you can use the Open in Excel button to open the workbook and undo automatic formatting.

Need more help?

You can always ask an expert in the Excel Tech Community or get support in the Answers community.

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Clear cells of contents or formats

You can clear cells to remove the cell contents (formulas and data), formats (including number formats, conditional formats, and borders), and any attached comments. The cleared cells remain as blank or unformatted cells on the worksheet.

Tip: To cancel a selection of cells, click any cell on the worksheet.

On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click the arrow next to the Clear button , and then do one of the following:

To clear all contents, formats, and comments that are contained in the selected cells, click Clear All.

To clear only the formats that are applied to the selected cells, click Clear Formats.

To clear only the contents in the selected cells, leaving any formats and comments in place, click Clear Contents.

To clear any comments or notes that are attached to the selected cells, click Clear Comments and Notes.

To clear any hyperlinks that are attached to the selected cells, select Clear Hyperlinks.

If you click a cell and then press DELETE or BACKSPACE, you clear the cell contents without removing any cell formats or cell comments.

If you clear a cell by using Clear All or Clear Contents, the cell no longer contains a value, and a formula that refers to that cell receives a value of 0 (zero).

If you want to remove cells from the worksheet and shift the surrounding cells to fill the space, you can select the cells and delete them. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click the arrow next to Delete, and then click Delete Cells.

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How to remove table formatting in Excel

by Svetlana Cheusheva, updated on March 13, 2023

Want to leverage awesome features of an Excel table but do not want any formatting in it? This tutorial will teach you how to quickly clear a table format in Excel.

By default, Excel tables are equipped with many great features including predefined styles. In some situations, however, you may want to remove formatting keeping all other functionality of a table. This tutorial will teach you how to quickly do that.

How to remove table formatting in Excel

To remove formatting but retain all other features of an Excel table, this is what you need to do:

1. Select any cell in your table.
2. On the Table Design tab, in the Table Styles group, pick the very first style in Light group, which is called None.
   

Or click the More button in the Table Styles group, and then click Clear underneath the table styles.

As the result, you will still have a fully functional Excel table but with no formatting:

• Both these options remove only predefined formatting included with a table style, but not custom formatting that you’ve applied manually.
• This method comes in handy when you want to get the functionality of a table but keep the existing cell formatting. Simply, convert your data to Excel table, and then perform the above steps to clear the table style formatting. All your original fonts, colors, filling, borders, etc. will be preserved.
• To change a table style, just pick any style you want from the gallery.

How to clear all formatting in a table

If the above-mentioned approach has not removed all the formatting in your table, that means the remaining part is your custom format that was done manually.

To clear absolutely all formatting (both predefined and your own one), carry out these steps:

1. Click any cell within a table, and then press Ctrl + A twice to select the whole table including the headers.
2. On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Clear >Clear Formats.
   

As the result, all formatting in a table is removed:

Note. Please keep in mind that this method clears all formatting entirely, including number formats, alignment, etc.

How to remove format as table in Excel (convert table to range)

In case you no longer need data formatted as a table, here’s how you can remove a table format and turn it into a regular range of cells:

1. Right-click any cell in your table.
2. In the context menu, click Table >Convert to Range.
   

A prompt will show up asking if you really want to convert the table to a normal range, and you click Yes.

In the result, your data will still look very much like a table because the table style formatting is preserved. From the functional viewpoint, however, it is a usual range — all features of Excel table such as structured references, automatic expansion, inbuilt filters, etc. are gone.

That’s how to clear table formatting in Excel. Hopefully, you’ve found these small tips helpful. I thank you for reading and look forward to seeing you on our blog next week!

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Clean excess cell formatting on a worksheet

Formatting cells on your worksheet can make the right information easy to see at a glance, but formatting cells that aren’t being used (especially entire rows and columns) can cause your workbook’s file size to grow quickly. This can slow down not just Excel, but the overall performance of your computer when you have an excessively formatted worksheet open. Excessive formatting can also cause printing problems in Excel.

Use the Clean Excess Cell Formatting command, available on Excel’s Inquire tab in Microsoft Office 365 and Office Professional Plus 2013. If you don’t see the Inquire tab in Excel, do the following to enable the Inquire add-in:

Click File > Options > Add-Ins.

Make sure COM Add-ins is selected in the Manage box, and click Go.

In the COM Add-Ins box, check Inquire, and then click OK.
The Inquire tab should now be visible in the ribbon.

Important: You may want to make a backup copy of your file before cleaning the excess cell formatting, because there are certain cases where this process may make your file increase in size, and there is no way to undo the change.

To remove the excess formatting in the current worksheet, do the following:

On the Inquire tab, click Clean Excess Cell Formatting.

Choose whether to clean only the active worksheet or all worksheets. After excess formatting has been cleared, click Yes to save changes to the sheets or No to cancel.

How cleaning affects conditional formatting

Cleaning excess formatting works by removing cells from the worksheet that are beyond the last cell that isn’t blank For example, if you apply conditional formatting to an entire row, but your data goes out only to column V, the conditional formatting may be removed from columns beyond column V.

To learn more about how to fix other problems caused by excessive formatting , see the Microsoft Support article How to reset the last cell in Excel.

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