Cutting and Pasting Formats Only

Whenever you move or copy formatted cells from one part of the worksheet to another, Excel automatically copies the formatting along with the cell contents. What you may not be aware of is that you can copy just the formatting applied to a cell or cell range and - leaving behind the contents - paste that formatting into a new range.

The range into which you copy the formatting can be blank or can contain cell entries. If the range is blank, all cell entries that you make there take on the copied formatting. If the range already contains cell entries, the copied formatting is immediately applied to them, replacing any existing formatting. To copy just the formatting from a cell or cell range to a new place in the worksheet, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell or range that contains the formatting you want to copy.
2. Choose Edit → Copy or press Ctrl+C to copy the cells to the Clipboard.
   Excel copies both the cell contents and the formatting in the selected cell(s) to the Windows Clipboard.
3. Select the cell or cell range into which you want to copy the formatting now residing on the Windows Clipboard.
4. Choose Edit → Paste Special to open the Paste Special dialog box.
   Be sure you don't choose Edit → Paste instead of Edit → Paste Special. Otherwise, Excel will plunk down not only the formatting but the contents of the cells as well. And if you're pasting into a cell range with entries, these entries will be replaced. If you mess up, press Ctrl+Z until you put everything right in the range.
5. Click the Formats option button in the Paste area of the Paste Special dialog box and then click OK button.

Excel closes the Paste Special dialog box and immediately applies all the formatting applied to the original cell or cell range and copied to the Clipboard to the cell range that's currently selected in the worksheet.