How to Align Colons in Excel (4 Easy Methods)

To demonstrate how to align colons in Excel, suppose we have an Age List of Students, which includes the Name and Age in Years, separated by a colon.

Let’s align those colons using various methods.

Method 1 – Applying REPT and FIND Functions

Steps

Create a new column in Column C.

Select cell C5.
Enter the following formula:

=REPT(" ",16-FIND(":",B5))&B5

⚙ Formula Breakdown

Here, the FIND function locates the position of the colon ( : ) in the text string in cell B5. It returns the number of the starting position of the colon from the first character of the text string.
We used 16 as the maximum number of characters before the colon plus 1. In our dataset, Emily Pattinson has the highest number of characters (15) before the colon. Hence 16 (15+1).
Then, we used the REPT function, which repeats text a specified number of times. Here, we give a blank space as our Text to repeat. And the Number_times is the output of the FIND function subtracted from 16.
Lastly, we concatenated cell B5 at the end of those blank spaces.

Press ENTER.

Apply a monotype font. In this case, we used Courier New.

Drag the Fill Handle tool to copy the formula to the remaining cells of Column C.

Select the cells in the C5:C14 range.
In the Home tab, select All Borders.

Colons are aligned as follows:

Method 2 – Using Custom Format Cells Option

The most popular and common method to align colons is to use the Custom Format Cells option.

Here, we have the Names and Ages in different columns.

Let’s add and align colons at the end of each name.

Steps

Select the cells in the B5:B14 range.
In the Home tab. click on the Number group.
Click on the dialog box launcher arrow at the bottom right corner of the dialog box that opens.
Alternatively, simply press Ctrl + 1 to open the Custom Format Cells dialog box.