Applies to

Smartsheet
  • Pro
  • Business
  • Enterprise

Format your data

Formatting data in Smartsheet allows you to visually enhance your information, making it easier to interpret and analyze.

PLANS

  • Smartsheet
  • Pro
  • Business
  • Enterprise

To apply formatting to numbers and text in your sheet, use the buttons on the toolbar at the top of the Smartsheet window.

For certain views or screen sizes, not all buttons will be visible on the toolbar. If you don't see a button that you need, click More .

You can complete formatting tasks with keyboard shortcuts. For a list of keyboard shortcuts, see the Keyboard Shortcuts article.

Conditional formatting

You can set rules to change the format of a cell when the conditions you define are met, for example, highlight a row in red when a deadline is past due and a task is not marked as complete.

Select Conditional Formatting and follow the instructions on your screen.

Format groups of data

You can format groups of data all at once. Follow the guidance below to help with this.

To apply formatting to Take this action before you click a formatting icon
An entire row Select the row number to apply row formatting to existing and newly added cells in the row.
An entire column Select the column header to apply column formatting to existing and newly added cells in the column.
An entire sheet Highlight all columns in the sheet by clicking the left-most column's header, scrolling to the right, then Shift+click the right-most column's header. When you release your click, all  columns and rows in the sheet should be highlighted and you can then set formatting for the entire sheet.

Format options

Date formatting

You can apply different date formats (for example, long form dates) with the steps in Apply a Standardized Date Format in Your Sheet

Indent and outdent

Indent rows to create an organized structure to your sheet, with child rows that fall under a parent row. You can use these hierarchical relationships along with formulas, for example, to automatically calculate a weighted percent complete on a parent task based on data in the child tasks. Details about how to do this on this are included in the Parent Rollup article.

For more information on creating hierarchical relationships, check out the article on using hierarchy.

Font and cell format

Draw attention to certain elements of your sheet by setting various font and cell background formats. For example, you can set bold font for parent rows to make them stand out more.

After selecting an area of the sheet, you can change font type and size, background color, as well as alignment and text wrapping in cells. You can not apply borders to cells or rows. 

You will see all available font and cell format in the top navigation bar under your sheet's name.


Image showing the font and cell format bar

Wrap text

Select the cell in which you want to wrap text and click Wrap Text .

Clear formatting

Use Clear Formats 
 to return your selection back to the default font and cell background. This is useful for quickly removing formatting from a section of your sheet without removing the data in the cells.

    Format painter

    To quickly copy an existing format on your sheet to other cells, use the Format Painter tool:

    1. Select the cells that contain your desired format.
    2. Select Format Painter  .
    3. To instantly copy that formatting to a new destination, select the desired new cell.
      Double-click the Format Painter icon to lock the format. You can then continuously apply the locked format to cells. Click the Format Painter button again, or press Esc to release the locked format.

    Highlight changes

    Enable Highlight Changes  to gain visibility on recent edits made to your sheet. Details on this are available in the Highlight Changes article.

    Numeric formatting

    Buttons for formatting numbers are grouped together in the top navigation bar under your sheet's name.

    If you don't see these buttons on the toolbar, you may need to click More .

    Select Currency Format  to automatically format numeric values with the appropriate currency symbol and decimal position.

    Use Percentage Format  to treat numbers as a percentage. If you format a cell this way, the value 0.95, for example, will be is displayed as 95%. The value 95 will be displayed as 9,500%.

    You can enable Thousands Format  to include the thousands separator and decimal. 

    Selec Increase Decimal or Decrease Decimal to move the decimal point.


    Things to know about when you format data:

    • Smartsheet treats numbers combined with other characters (letters, punctuation) as text. You can’t use the numbers tools with text values.
    • The symbols used for decimal and thousands separators for currency and number format are controlled by the Regional Preferences specified for your account. For more information, see the Change the Language and Date Notation article.
    • Column headers are always formatted in white, bold text with a grey background. You cannot change this style.
    • Formatting will be automatically applied to a cell if it's directly above, below, or between two cells that contain the same formatting and are on the same indent level. 
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