In Excel: click a cell that already looks right, click the paintbrush on the Home tab, then drag across the target range — double-click the brush first to keep it active for several ranges.
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Select one cell whose appearance is correct — one cell is enough unless you want to repeat a pattern.
On the Home tab click the paintbrush once for a single use, or double-click it to lock it on.
Drag across the destination cells; the brush applies as soon as you release.
Press Esc, or click the brush again, to switch it off after a double-click.
Without the mouse, press Alt, H, F, P to pick the brush up, then select the target with the arrow keys.
What this does
Format Painter lifts the entire visual layer of a cell — font, size, colour, fill, borders, alignment, indent, number format and any conditional-formatting rules attached to it — and stamps it onto another range without touching values or formulas. Column widths and row heights are the notable exceptions: those belong to the sheet, not the cell, and need Paste Special ▸ Column Widths. The same idea underpins a lot of everyday Excel work, so the few minutes spent getting it right here pay back across every sheet you build afterwards. Treat it as a pattern, not a one-off, and it stops being something you look up and starts being something you reach for. The difference between a quick fix and a sheet you can trust is the extra minute you spend validating “where is format painter in excel”. Start on a copy or a tiny sample, keep the affected cells visible, and compare the result with the tool above before you touch the real workbook. When this is a ribbon command, the selection matters more than the button: confirm the range, apply the command, then spot-check the output before saving. The point is a workflow that saves repeating the same clicks every week, but the practical win is that someone else can open the file and understand what happened without asking you.
A worked example
B2 is bold white text on dark blue with a 0.0% number format. Click B2, double-click the Format Painter, drag over D2:D40 and then F2:F40, and press Esc to release the brush. Both ranges now display as percentages in the same style while their formulas stay exactly as they were. A report that was styled once and then copied stays consistent; one restyled by hand per column drifts within two revisions. When the result is not what you expected, undo straight away rather than repairing it by hand — undo restores the sheet exactly, while manual fixes tend to leave small inconsistencies behind that surface later.
In Google Sheets
This is a command rather than a formula, so there is no syntax to carry over. Google Sheets arranges its commands in menus across the top instead of a ribbon, names some of them differently and does not have every Excel command — look for the equivalent in the Sheets menus or its help before assuming the steps match. Nothing on this page is behind a login or a download: the exact answer is at the top, and the detail below it is there for when you need it. That is the whole promise here — the answer first, and just enough context to make it stick. If you take one thing from this page on “where is format painter in excel”, make it the order of checks rather than the individual clicks: confirm what is selected, apply the step, and look at the result before moving on. That small routine is what keeps Excel work predictable when the same task comes back in a slightly different workbook.
Common mistakes
- Single-clicking the brush and wondering why it stopped after the first range — one click means one use.
- Expecting column widths to come along; they do not, use Paste Special ▸ Column Widths for that.
- Painting over cells that carry their own conditional-formatting rules — the source rules are added and the two sets can now both fire.
- Assuming data validation travels with the format: it does not, and needs Paste Special ▸ Validation.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Format Painter shortcut?
Alt, H, F, P on Windows. Ctrl+Shift+C does not copy formatting in Excel — that chord belongs to Word.
How do I apply the same formatting to several separate ranges?
Double-click the brush instead of single-clicking. It stays active until you press Esc.
Does it copy conditional formatting?
Yes. The rules attached to the source range are copied to the target, which is a common way to duplicate a rule without reopening Manage Rules.
What is the alternative across workbooks?
Copy the source cell, then in the target use Paste Special ▸ Formats (Ctrl+Alt+V, then T). It works between open workbooks where the brush can be awkward.