Basic table reformatting with Copilot

- [Narrator] Excel tables offer a wealth of benefits, not the least of which is their aesthetic appeal. With a couple of clicks, you can transform your data set into a beautifully formatted table, complete with banded rows, filter buttons, and more. Copilot elevates this experience, making it incredibly easy to alter your table's appearance once created. To follow along, open the exercise file named 01_03_table_formatting, where you'll find the NYC boroughs table we've been using. You can also go ahead and open Copilot. The first thing that stands out about this table is that the population column lacks a comma as a thousand separator, making it challenging to read. I'll fix this by asking Copilot to format the population column with a thousands comma separator, no decimals. Hit Enter, or click the message icon to send. And now this column is much easier to read. Let's see what else we can tweak. Given that this is New York City data, I'll format the text using the Broadway font. While I wouldn't typically recommend this font for data display, it's okay to have a little fun with fonts while learning. Generally, a simpler Sans Serif font like Segoe UI or Roboto works best for clear, readable tables. For now, I can undo this change for readability with Ctrl+Z or click Undo in Copilot. Next, I'll make some changes to the appearance of the table's headers and footers. While filter buttons are useful, they can be obtrusive, so I'll request Copilot to remove them. And presto, they disappear. By default, Excel tables don't include totals. However, adding them in with Copilot is straightforward. When a total does get incorporated into an Excel table, it starts by summing up the last column. Unfortunately, Copilot isn't proving to be especially helpful in modifying the total row at the moment. The most effective method remains utilizing the dropdown menu available in each total cell. There are numerous other formatting options you might consider, such as changing colors, adding borders, and more. While Copilot excels in some of these areas, others might require manual intervention. For experienced Excel users, these tips might seem basic. You probably already know how to apply formatting changes using keyboard shortcuts or menu options, which might even be quicker than using Copilot. However, the real beauty of Copilot lies in its ability to intuitively understand and execute your commands, regardless of their complexity. The idea is to simplify your workflow by merely typing out your requirements. Starting with formatting might seem elementary, but considering its significance in data analysis, it's an excellent place to start.