Microsoft Excel 
ITTraining@sgul.ac.uk Page 21 St. George’s Information Services 
APPLYING A BORDER TO A RANGE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
You can apply a border to a range of cells. This 
allows you to place an outline around them to 
indicate that the cells are somehow related to 
each other, or to place borders between cells to 
indicate that they are in separate groups. Borders 
can be used in ranges of cells to create a more 
form-like appearance. The borders available for 
single cells can also be applied to ranges. 
Try This Yourself: 
Same 
File Continue using the previous 
file with this exercise, or open 
the file E730 Applying 
Borders_2.xlsx... 
 
Select the range A5:A11 
 
Click on the drop arrow for 
Borders
  and select 
Outside Borders 
 
Click away from the range to 
see the border 
An outline has been placed 
around the cells... 
 
Repeat steps 1 and 2 to apply 
an outline border to each of 
the following ranges in the 
order that they are listed: 
B5:B11, C5:C11, D5:D11, 
E5:E11, F5:F11, G5:G11, 
H5:H11, I5:I11, A5:I5, 
A11:I11 
B13:B19, C13:C19, 
D13:D19, E13:E19, F13:F19, 
G13:G19, H13:H19, I13:I19, 
A13:I13, A19:I19 
You can hold down  
and select several of these 
ranges at once before 
applying the border... 
 
Click away from the last 
selected range to see the 
result 
 
For Your Reference… 
To apply a border to a range: 
1. Select the range 
2. Click on the drop arrow for Borders
  
in the Font group on the Home tab 
3. Click on the border option of your choice 
Handy to Know… 
 You can copy a border between cells, for 
example, from one table to another, using 
Paste Special. Select the cells, click on 
Copy
 , click on the first cell of the 
second range and click on the drop arrow for 
Paste
 . Select Paste Special, click on 
Formats and then click on [OK]. 
1 
3 
5