Google Sheets is one of the top spreadsheet programs for data visualization. It boasts hundreds of powerful features and functions. When it comes to formatting, there are various tools to help users enhance the readability and aesthetics of the sheet.
You can change the text style, format cell background, insert professional-looking charts and graphs, etc.
Adjusting the text styles is a breeze with the following popular options:
- Bold
- Italic
- Underline
Strikethrough
Presenting data in an easy-to-understand format is crucial to make informed decisions.
Underlining the entire content of the cell or a portion of the cell’s content is pretty straightforward in Google Sheets.
In this quick guide, let us learn the different ways to underline text in Google Sheets. There are various methods to underline entire cell or portion of cell’s content, read this article till the end and make sure you don’t miss any step.
Benefits of using the Text Style feature in Google Sheets
Text Styles lets users highlight essential parts of the content.
In contrast to other Google Suite software, Google Sheets boasts a handful of text formatting options, as mentioned at the beginning of this article.
Let’s discuss how underlined text is beneficial to users:
- Emphasis: Underlining helps emphasize a particular cell or text, highlighting the vital part.
- Attention Grabbing: It helps draw the readers’ attention by shifting the focus to the underlined part.
- Readability: Underlining headings, titles, the final result, important information, etc, can increase the overall readability of the audience.
- Visual Clarity: It helps you spot the critical part quickly by giving you a visual hint.
- Presentation: Even while presenting data or generating reports, underlining the vital stuff can make the spreadsheet look more organized and visually appealing.
How to Underline Text in Google Sheets
This section will discuss the steps to underline text in Google Sheets. There are four methods to underline the text in Google Sheets.
Let’s discuss them one by one in detail.
Method #1 – Using the Main Menu
Google Sheets offers an easy-to-use and intuitive user interface. You will find that all of the essential tools and functions are accessible right from the main menu.
Here are the steps to underline the text using the main menu:
- Select the desired cell
(You can also select the cell range by dragging your mouse pointer from the first cell to the last cell of the range) - Hover to the main menu
- Click on the “Format” tab
- Choose “Text” from the popup
- Now, select the third option name “Underline“
Boom! It’s that easy!
Here’s how the results will look.
Method #2 – Using the Keyboard Shortcut
This is the second and quickest method on this list. All you need to do is select the cell and use the following keyboard shortcut.
- For Windows – “CTRL + U“
- For Mac – “CMD + U“
Users can also instantly highlight a portion of the cell’s content using keyboard shortcuts.
All you need to do is select the text you want to highlight from the cell and press the “CTRL + U” on your keyboard.
Method #3 – Using the Conditional Formatting
In contrast to the previous two methods, this requires an extra workaround.
We will use the Conditional Formatting tool in Google Sheets to highlight the content of a single cell or range of cells.
Here are the steps:
- Select the desired cell or cell range
- Hover to the main menu
- Click on the “Format” tab
- Choose “Conditional formatting” from the popup
- A new dialog box will appear on the right-hand side of the screen
- Click the “Add another rule” button
- Next, click the dropdown below the “Format cells if…” option. Refer to the following image,
- Scroll down and choose the “Custom formula is” option
- Now, click in the empty box as shown in the following image
- Type “=TRUE”
- Go to the “Formatting style” options and click on the “U” icon as shown below
- Press the “Done” button in the green
This method highlights the cell’s content even after the user erases the existing content and types in the new set of words or sentences.
Method #4 – Using App Scripts
You can underline a particular cell using the Google Sheets App Scripts.
Also, do not worry if you are not familiar with coding. I have mentioned the code below for your reference.
- Select the target cell
- Hover to the main menu and click on the “Extensions” tab
- Select “App Script” from the popup
- A new tab will open on your browser
- Erase the existing code in the editor window
- Paste the following code,
function underlineCell() { var sheet=SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet(); var cell = sheet.getActiveCell(); cell.setBorder(true, true, true, false, false, false, "underline", SpreadsheetApp.BorderStyle.SOLID); }- Here’s how it should look,
- Click on the Save icon from the toolbar section
- Once the Apps Script is saved, run the code using the Run button from the toolbar section
- The following dialog box will appear, asking for the permissions
(It is due to the fact that you are running the project for the first time. So, you need to authorize the code to make changes to your Google Sheets) - Click on the “Review Permissions” button
- A new window will appear where you have to select the Google account you want to use
- Another page will be loaded, reminding you that Google hasn’t verified the app
- Now click the “Advanced” button as shown in the above image
- A link named “Go to Untitled project(unsafe)” will appear. Click on it
- Finally, press the “Allow” button as shown below
- You will be taken back to the Apps Script tab
Once the code is executed successfully, you will see the log at the bottom of the Apps Script screen.
Now, you can go back to the spreadsheet and see that the content of the selected cell has been underlined successfully.
How to Underline Entire Cell in Google Sheets
Did you know you can underline the entire cell using the Borders tool in Google Sheets?
Follow me through the steps below to understand how to achieve it.
- Select a single cell or the range of cells you want to underline
- Hover to the toolbar section that sits right below the main menu
- Click on the All Borders icon as shown in the above image
- Select the Bottom border option from the popup
That’s it! All the selected cells will be underlined, as shown in the following image.
The great thing about the borders is that you can adjust the thickness by clicking on the icon as shown below.
How to Double Underline Text in Google Sheets
There is one advanced formatting option related to Underlining, which is Double Underlining. Below are the steps to obtain a double underline to the entire cell.
- Select a single cell or the entire cell range you want to double underline
- Hover to the toolbar section
- Click on the “All Borders” icon
- Select the “Bottom Border” option from the popup
- The selected cells will be underlined as shown in the following image
- Now, click the “All borders” icon again
- Click on the “Border style” dropdown from the popup
- Select the “Double Underline” option at the end of the list. Refer to the following image
How to Insert Underscore in Google Sheets using the CHAR function
The CHAR function in Google Sheets returns a specific character based on the Unicode value.
Simply put, the CHAR function inserts a character into the target cell.
Here’s the general syntax for the function,
=CHAR(table_number)The “table_number” argument needs to be replaced with the number associated with one of the decimal unicodes.
Consider the following formula,
=CHAR(65)It will return you the Character “A” because the Unicode value for ‘A’ is 65.
Here are the steps to insert underscore in the target cell,
- Open a Google Sheet
- Click on the desired cell
- Type “=char”
- Select the first option from the popup or press the “Tab” key
- Replace the “table_number” argument with the “95“
(Here, the 95 is the Unicode value for the underscore (_) in Google Sheets) - Complete the bracket for the CHAR function using “)” on your keyboard
- Now, type “&” and put your desired text in double-quotes. Refer to the following image,
- Press “Enter” key
The formula should look as follows,
=CHAR(95)&”Your Text Here”It will insert the underscore before the desired text. Refer to the following image.
Note that this method will not give you the same visual appearance as the regular underline, but it is a creative way to obtain a similar effect.
To Summarize: How to Underline Text in Google Sheets
From highlighting main points to drawing the attention of the audience, Underlining has been a versatile tool in Google Sheets.
It is a pretty straightforward yet powerful feature to enhance the clarity of your data.
In this article, we have discussed easy to advanced techniques of underlining the text, including various scenarios. They will surely help you make your data more appealing.
Check out our blog page to learn excellent tips and tricks for becoming a pro at Google Sheets.