Tip # 16 Double-click your way to fast formatting

By default, when you copy text from a different program (such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint®, or even Microsoft Internet Explorer) and paste it into an Excel cell, the original formatting comes along for the ride. Sometimes this leaves you with a tiny little cell with GIGANTIC FORMATTING that you need to fix by hand.

The Paste Options button that looks like this:

pops up, and you can use it to keep the original formatting or to match the destination formatting (that is, the formatting you've chosen for your cell). However, if you're like me (or want to be like me — aren't you sweet), that is just too many steps if you know that you want to match the formatting of the cell. This is especially true if you have a lot of cutting and pasting to do.

To paste text from another program and keep your cell's formatting

Select the text you want to pop into your Excel worksheet.

Press CTRL+C.

Switch back to Excel.

Double-click in the cell, and press CTRL+V.

It's like magic in a click (or two).