How to Remove Underline from a Cell in Excel

To remove an underline from a cell in Excel, the most common method is to select the cell and click the underline formatting button in the 'Font' group on the 'Home' tab.

When you have data in your Excel workbook with some text that is underlined, as seen in many workbooks, you can easily remove this formatting. The essential first step is to select the cell or range of cells containing the underline you wish to remove.

Steps to Remove Standard Underline Formatting

Follow these simple steps to remove standard underline formatting applied directly to a cell:

1. Open your Excel workbook containing the underlined cells.
2. Select the cell(s) that have the underline you want to remove. As highlighted in the reference, selecting the specific cell is the starting point after opening your workbook.
3. Navigate to the Home tab in the Excel ribbon.
4. Look for the Font group.
5. Click the U button (which represents underline). If the button is currently highlighted (indicating the selected cell has underline formatting), clicking it will turn the underline off for the selected cell(s).

Alternative Method: Using Format Cells

Another way to remove the underline is via the Format Cells dialog box:

1. Select the cell(s) from which you want to remove the underline.
2. Right-click on the selected cell(s).
3. Choose Format Cells... from the context menu.
4. In the Format Cells dialog box, go to the Font tab.
5. Locate the Underline dropdown menu.
6. Click the dropdown and select None.
7. Click OK to apply the change.

Quick Comparison of Methods

Method	Steps	Best For
Ribbon Button	Select Cell(s) -> Home Tab -> Font Group -> Click 'U'	Quickly toggling underline on/off for selected cells
Format Cells	Select Cell(s) -> Right-click -> Format Cells -> Font Tab -> Underline: None -> OK	Accessing various font options, precise control

Removing All Formatting (Including Underline)

If you want to strip away all formatting from a cell, including underlines, bolding, italics, font color, etc., you can use the Clear Formats option:

1. Select the cell(s).
2. Go to the Home tab.
3. In the Editing group, click the Clear button (it often looks like an eraser).
4. Select Clear Formats from the dropdown menu.

Be cautious with this method as it removes all formatting, not just the underline.

Underlines from Conditional Formatting

Sometimes, an underline might be applied because of a conditional formatting rule. If the standard methods don't permanently remove the underline, check your conditional formatting rules:

1. Select the cell(s).
2. Go to the Home tab.
3. In the Styles group, click Conditional Formatting.
4. Select Manage Rules.
5. Review the rules applied to the current selection or the entire worksheet and edit or delete the rule causing the underline.

By selecting the cell and using one of the formatting removal options, you can effectively get rid of unwanted underlines in your Excel data.