• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Technipages

Smart phone, gadget and computer tutorials

  • Topics
    • Android
    • Gaming
    • Hardware
    • Internet
    • iOS
    • MacOS
    • Office
    • Software
    • Windows
    • Definitions
  • Product Reviews
  • Downloads
  • About
How to Highlight Text in Google Sheets

How to Highlight Text in Google Sheets

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Kat Armstrong 3 Comments

Have you ever wanted or needed to create a spreadsheet? You could use them to track your home or business expenses, make a budget or compile data and create charts. Even if you have never touched a spreadsheet before, Google Sheets makes it easy and I highly recommend you try it out. If you have a Google account already, you can just head over to the Google Docs site and start creating!

Once you have created a Sheet (or two – or ten!), you may realize you want to highlight some of the data you have entered by adding a “fill color” to the cell. There are tons of colors to choose from, even! NOTE! This is extremely helpful if you choose to use Sheets to study for tests in college. You can enter an unlimited amount of data, create graphs and so forth and then color-code everything to help you get that A!

If you are not already super familiar with how to do this, it can be a bit confusing, so here are the steps you need to follow:

Highlighting Text From Desktop

Highlighting things in a spreadsheet is a bit different. Instead of highlighting words (or numbers,) you are going to use the Fill feature to highlight the entire cell, column or row. First, obviously, you are going to need to select whatever you wish to have highlighted.

  1. To select a row, click on the row number all the way to the left.
  2. To select a column, click on the column letter at the top of it.
  3. To select a single cell, click anywhere within that cell.
  4. To select several cells in different rows or columns, click within one cell. It will be outlined in blue. Hold down your Control button and click on the other cells.
  5. With your selection made, look up top to the toolbar and find the little icon that looks like a bucket of paint tipping to the right with a drop of paint coming out of it. This is your Fill Color selector.
  6. Click there and choose your color. Once again, click outside the selected area and your color has now been applied!

Congrats! You have successfully highlighted text within your Sheets!


Highlighting Text Using iOS or Android

Completing this task using your mobile device is just a bit different than how you do it on a computer. It still is not difficult, but also is not super intuitive. You will need to download the Google Sheets app from your respective app store first. Then, open up your desired spreadsheet. Here is the quick rundown on how to then highlight your cells:

  1. Click on any cell you wish to highlight and then drag to select all of the ones you need.
  2. Tap on the ”Format” button, which looks like a capital letter A with small lines to the right of it.
  3. Look for the ”Cell” tab and then scroll to choose ”Cell Fill Color” and click your desired color. Voila!
  4. You will notice that you can also quickly add a cell border from here and change its style and color.

What other questions about Sheets do you have? Let me know in the comments, and I will do my best to either answer them there or perhaps end up creating a new post to help you – and others.

Happy creating!

You Might Also Like

  • How to Highlight Text in Google DocsHow to Highlight Text in Google Docs
  • How to Highlight Text in Google SlidesHow to Highlight Text in Google Slides
  • Google Sheets: Add Multiple Lines of Text in Single CellGoogle Sheets: Add Multiple Lines of Text in Single Cell
  • Google Sheets: Add Multiple Lines of Text in Single CellGoogle Sheets: Add Multiple Lines of Text in Single Cell
  • Kindle Fire: How to Add Notes and Highlight Text in a BookKindle Fire: How to Add Notes and Highlight Text in a Book
  • How to Add Highlight Tool to Google DocsHow to Add Highlight Tool to Google Docs
  • How to Convert Google Sheets to PDFHow to Convert Google Sheets to PDF
  • Google Sheets: How to Shade Every Other RowGoogle Sheets: How to Shade Every Other Row
  • Troubleshooting Google Sheets Goes BlankTroubleshooting Google Sheets Goes Blank

Filed Under: Internet Tagged With: google

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. PG says

    January 14, 2021 at 1:46 pm

    Cell fill color is NOT the same thing as highlighting.

  2. Melody says

    January 7, 2021 at 4:01 pm

    I don’t know if anyone will see this, since this article was posted a while ago, but I have a Sheets document where I daily record what I do with my students, and I’ve noticed that sometimes some of the lines have a
    color on them that I didn’t put there. When I look at the highlight colors, it doesn’t show that anything is highlighted. If I choose a color, it puts it over the color that I didn’t choose, but I can’t see anyway to turn off the highlight color that I don’t want there. If anyone has any insight into this, I’d love to hear it.

  3. Dennis Daniels says

    October 6, 2019 at 2:35 am

    I want to do this programmatically e.g. with a google script. Do you have code for this function?

Did this help? Let us know! Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Slack: How To Change Your Time Zone
  • Slack: How To Change Your Profile Picture
  • Troubleshooting Zoom Rooms Error 13003
  • Fix Microsoft Sudoku Not Saving Progress
  • Microsoft Teams Not Compatible with This iPad
  • Slack: How to Change the Description of Your Role
  • Google Duo: How to Prevent People from Being Able to Use Your Email Address to Contact You
  • How to Fix Microsoft Teams Error caa70004

Who’s Behind Technipages?

Baby and Daddy My name is Mitch Bartlett. I've been working in technology for over 20 years in a wide range of tech jobs from Tech Support to Software Testing. I started this site as a technical guide for myself and it has grown into what I hope is a useful reference for all.

Follow me on Twitter, or visit my personal blog.

You May Also Like

  • Top 10 Google Chrome Alternatives to Surf Better

© Copyright 2021 Technipages · All Rights Reserved · Privacy