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Excel - Setting Shape Defaults in Excel - Episode 404

2,703 views · Published 5 October 2009 · 2:26 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: MrExcel.com · 2009 · Education

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Microsoft Excel Tutorial: Setting Defaults for Shapes in Excel.

Welcome back to another MrExcel netcast! In this video, we're going to dive into some lesser-known tricks for working with AutoShapes in Excel. These tips will help you save time and create professional-looking shapes in your spreadsheets.

To access the AutoShapes, you'll need to have the Drawing toolbar visible. If it's not already showing at the bottom of your screen, you can go to View, Toolbars, and select Drawing. For this netcast, I've moved the toolbar to the top of the screen for easier viewing.

Once you have the Drawing toolbar open, you'll see a few basic shapes like the Rectangle and Oval. Did you know that you can easily create a perfect circle or square by holding down the Shift key while drawing? This is a handy trick for creating symmetrical shapes quickly.

After you've drawn your shape, you can use the Fill Color icon to change the color or even add a gradient using Fill Effects. But what if you want to make this formatting the default for all future shapes? Simply go to the Draw drop-down and select Set AutoShape Defaults. Now, every new shape you draw will automatically have the same formatting.

If you need to create multiple shapes, there's a shortcut for that too. Instead of clicking and dragging for each shape, double-click on the Oval icon. This will put you in Draw Oval mode, and every time you click and drag, a new shape will be created. Just remember to click the icon one last time to exit Draw Oval mode when you're finished.

These tips work for all shapes in the AutoShapes drop-down, so feel free to experiment and create unique designs for your spreadsheets. Thanks for watching, and be sure to check out our other netcasts for more Excel tips and tricks from MrExcel!

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Table of Contents:
(00:00) Introduction to Shapes in Excel
(00:22) Accessing the Drawing toolbar
(00:33) Creating shapes and using the Shift key for perfect circles/squares
(00:50) Formatting shapes with color and gradients
(01:04) Setting AutoShape defaults
(01:14) Creating multiple shapes quickly
(01:45) Exiting Draw Oval mode
(01:55) Applying these concepts to all AutoShapes
(02:05) Clicking Like really helps the algorithm

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Have you ever needed to create many similar autoshapes? You can set the default color, line style, etc and then use an autoshape mode to crank out numerous autoshapes. Episode 404 shows you how.

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