Word Processing and Spreadsheet
Primary 6 · Science and Elementary Technology
Word Processing and Spreadsheet
Lesson 5 of 6
14 min
Let's begin
Mugisha typed the price list for the school cooperative shop. It was correct, but it looked like a jumble: the headings looked like the prices, the numbers were hard to read, and nothing was lined up.
Ten minutes of formatting later, the list had bold headings, neat borders and coloured title cells, and everyone could read it at a glance. Not one number had changed.
Formatting a cell means changing how its content, or the cell itself, looks. It never changes the value inside the cell. Always select the cells first, then choose the format.
The same buttons you used in the word processor work here too: font name, font size, bold (Ctrl + B), italic (Ctrl + I), underline (Ctrl + U) and font colour.
You can show numbers with a thousands separator (1,500 instead of 1500), with a fixed number of decimal places, as a percentage (%) or as a date, without changing the number itself.
For all the choices in one place, select the cells, right-click and choose Format Cells. Its tabs include Numbers, Font, Alignment, Borders and Background (or Fill).
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Item | Price (Frw) |
| 2 | Exercise book | 300 |
| 3 | Pen | 150 |
| 4 | Mathematical set | 1500 |
Click cell B4 and look at the formula bar: it still says 1500. Formatting changed only the look.
Tip
Select first, then format. And remember: formatting changes the LOOK of a cell, never the NUMBER inside it.
Do these on a computer if you can, or answer in your book.
Which tool puts lines around cells?
Answer: Borders.
You typed 25 in a cell and 25 kg in another. Which one lines up on the left by default? Why?
Answer: 25 kg lines up on the left, because the letters make it text. The number 25 lines up on the right.
You want the title "Class Savings" to sit in the middle, across columns A to D. Which tool do you use?
Answer: Select A1:D1 and use Merge and Center.
Does making a number bold change its value?
Answer: No. Formatting only changes how it looks.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
After a thousands separator makes 1500 show as 1,500, the formula bar still shows 1500.
