Format your data

Format your data in Smartsheet to enhance how it looks, making it easier to interpret and analyze. 

Who can use this?

Plans:

  • Pro
  • Business
  • Enterprise

Permissions:

  • Owner
  • Admin
  • Editor

Find out if this capability is included in Smartsheet Regions or Smartsheet Gov.

You can format numbers and text in your sheet using the icons on the top toolbar.

Some toolbar icons may not be available for particular views or screen sizes. In some cases, you can select the More icon if you don't see the option you need. 

Format

You can also complete formatting tasks with keyboard shortcuts.

Conditional formatting

If you have Admin permissions, you can set rules to change a cell's format when the conditions you define are met. 

For example, you can highlight a row in red when a deadline is past due, and a task isn’t marked as complete.

Select the Conditional Formatting icon  Conditional formatting.  and follow the instructions on your screen. For detailed instructions, refer to the conditional formatting article.

Highlight changes

Enable Highlight Changes  Highlight changes.  to make new sheet edits stand out (grid view only).

Select data to format

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

To apply formatting toTake this action before you click a formatting icon
An entire rowSelect the row number to apply row formatting to existing and newly added cells in the row.
An entire columnSelect the column header to apply column formatting to existing and newly added cells in the column.
An entire sheetHighlight all columns in the sheet. Start by selecting the header of the left-most column. Then, scroll to the right, and hold down the Shift key while clicking the header of the right-most column. When you release your click, all columns and rows in the sheet should be highlighted, allowing you to set formatting for the entire sheet.

Indent and outdent rows

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

The image below highlights the outdent and indent buttons in grid view and shows a hierarchy of rows.

Format

Learn how to use hierarchy in table view in the Set up your sheet in table view article.

Format text and cells

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

After selecting data to format, you can set these formatting characteristics:

  • font type
  • font size
  • background color
  • alignment
  • text wrapping

You can't apply borders to cells or rows.


All available fonts and cell formats are under your sheet's name in the top toolbar.
Format

Wrap text

Select Wrap Text  Wrap text.  to wrap text in your selected cells and show all values within them. 

Format painter

Use the Format Painter  Format. tool to quickly copy the formatting from one cell to other cells on your sheet. 

To do so: 

  1. Select the cells that contain your desired format.
  2. Select Format Painter  Format. .

  3. Select the desired cell to copy that formatting to.
     

    Double-click the Format Painter icon to lock the format. You can then continuously apply the locked format to cells. Select the Format Painter icon again, or press Esc to release the locked format.

Clear formatting

Use Clear Format  Erase formatting.  to return your selection to the default font and cell background. This is useful for quickly removing formatting without removing cell data.

Format numbers

Smartsheet's numeric display options make data clear, consistent, and easy to interpret.  

Numeric formatting is for Text/Number-type cells that contain numeric, non-alphabetic characters. 

The numeric formatting buttons appear grouped at the end of the top toolbar. You may need to select the More icon  More kebab menu.  in your toolbar to see these buttons.

Here are the numeric formatting options:

  • Currency Format  Dollar sign. formats numeric values to use the right currency symbol and decimal position.
  • Percentage Format Percentage format.  formats numbers as a percentage. If you format a cell this way, the value 0.95, for example, appears as 95%. The value 95 is shown as 9,500%.
  • Thousands Format  Select thousands format.  integrates the thousands separator and the decimal separator.
  • Increase Decimal  Increase decimal.  and Decrease Decimal  Decrease decimal.  move the decimal point.

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.

Format dates

Select the Date Format  Date.  menu icon to apply standard formats to date cell values. For detailed instructions, refer to the date formatting article. 

Keep in mind

  • Column headers always appear in white, bold text with a grey background. You cannot change this style.
  • Formatting automatically applies 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.