Mastering Excel: Techniques for Disabling or Erasing Pre-Set Table Formatting Effects

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• Clear a Table’s Formatting in Excel

When you insert a table in your spreadsheet , Microsoft Excel automatically applies certain formatting to your table. If you’d rather keep your table plain and simple, you can remove its formatting. We’ll show you how.

You can use this method even if you have applied your own custom formatting to your table.

Related: How to Create and Use a Table in Microsoft Excel

Clear a Table’s Formatting in Excel

To begin the table format removal process, open your spreadsheet with Microsoft Excel.

In your spreadsheet, click any cell of your table.

At the top, in Excel’s ribbon , click the “Table Design” tab.

On the “Table Design” tab, in the “Table Styles” section, click the “More” option (a down-arrow icon with a line at the top of it).

In the “More” menu that opens, click “Clear.”

You’ve successfully removed your table’s formatting.

To quickly restore your table’s formatting, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac).

And that’s how you turn your stylized tables into plain regular tables in Microsoft Excel!

Similarly, you can also clear formatting in your Microsoft Word documents.

Related: How to Clear Formatting in a Microsoft Word Document

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