Excel Training: Basic Manipulations (3/5)
Horizontal Alignment
Enter the number "1000" in cell B14 and copy this cell up to C16:
![excel 1000 manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-1000.png)
You may notice that numbers are aligned to the right by default.
Now select cells B11 to C15:
![excel range manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-range.png)
To align the cell text to the left, click on the "Align Left" button:
![excel align left manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-align-left.png)
To center the text, click on the "Center" button:
![excel align center manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-align-center.png)
And to align right, choose "Align Right":
![excel align right manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-align-right.png)
Vertical Alignment
Now increase the height of row 5:
![excel expand row manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-expand-row.png)
You may notice that the text is aligned to the bottom by default.
To vertically center the text of cell B5, select it and click on "Align Center":
![excel vertical alignment center manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-vertical-alignment-center.png)
Then select cell C5 and align its text vertically to the top by choosing "Align Top":
![excel vertical alignment top manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-vertical-alignment-top.png)
Cell Merging
Merging allows you to group several cells into one.
Select cells from A6 to C7 then click on "Merge & Center":
![excel merge manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-merge.png)
Since several cells among the selection contain data, a warning will remind you that in case of merging only the value of the top left cell is preserved:
![excel merge cells manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-merge-cells.png)
You then obtain:
![excel merged cells manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-merged-cells.png)
Background Color
To change the background color of a cell click on "Fill Color" then on the desired color.
Select cell B5 and apply a dark color of your choice:
![excel cell background color manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-cell-background-color.png)
Text Color
To change the text color of this same cell, click on "Font Color" and choose a light color:
![excel cell text color manipulations 3](https://www.excel-pratique.com/view/en/excel-training/img/manipulations-3/excel-cell-text-color.png)