Subscript in Excel

Subscripts are usually the numbers or texts which normally smaller in font size from the rest of the text, subscript in excel is a formatting option in our data where we can make text and numbers look smaller and to do this we need to right-click on the cell and from the format cells tab in the font section check the subscript option, subscripts appear below the rest of the text.

Subscript on Excel (Table of Contents)

• Subscript in Excel
• How to Subscript in Excel?
• Subscript in Excel VBA

Subscript in Excel

A subscript is a character (number, character or symbol) that is (respectively) set slightly below the normal line of type. It is generally smaller in size than the rest of the text. Subscript formatting makes a character or number appear smaller and slightly below the rest of the text.  A subscript is usually visible at the below of the baseline.

It is very easy to format a character as subscript a little below the baseline of characters in Excel. The excel subscript shortcut is used to format expressions such as “CH4” in your Excel spreadsheet. It requires the use of subscripts to convert it in the proper format “CH₄”.

The only way to use excel subscript shortcut has been going through the Format Cells dialog each time you needed to change the style of the cell. Subscripts are perhaps most commonly used in mathematical formulas, equations, expressions, and specifications of chemical compounds and isotopes.

How to Subscript in Excel?

Let’s understand the working of Subscript with the below examples. The subscript is very simple and easy to use. Subscript can be used in excel worksheet on any character/number and can be used in VBA.

The subscript in Excel Worksheet

Example #1

You can apply the subscript by using the below two methods in any cell of excel sheet

Method 1:

• Double click on cell A2 and select the value “2”

• Then right-click, and Select Format cells

• The Format Cells dialog box appears

• On the Font tab, under the Effect Checkmark on subscript then click on Ok

• Then it will convert the H2O to H­₂O

Method 2:

The second method is to select a cell and the work directly in the formula bar. As before, carefully select the text you’d like to format. Then use Format Cells to apply subscript as you like.

You can reverse or remove the subscript formatting by selecting the cell, the access Format Cells and clear the appropriate checkbox.

Example #2

In this example, we are applying the subscript to CH4.

This time we are using the second method just select the “4” from formula bar then right click and then click on Format cells

(Format Cells dialog box appears) then checkmark on Subscript that’s it.

Now the output will be CH­_4.

Example #3

A subscript is also used to distinguish between different types of a subatomic particle. Thus electron, muon, and tau neutrinos are denoted ν_e, ν_μ and ν_τ.

Let’s convert ve, Vu, and vτ to νe, νμ, and ντ in excel.

• Open the Format Cells dialog by pressing Ctrl + 1 or right-click the selection and choose Format Cells.

• In the Format Cells dialog box, go to the Font tab, and select Subscript under Effects.

• Click OK to save the change and close the dialog

Example #4

You can also convert the whole cell text to subscript.

Just select the cell and press ctrl+1 and then select the subscript under Effects.

How to use a keyboard shortcut to convert the selected cell text to subscript at once.

Press Ctrl + Shift + F to open the format cell

Press ALT + B it will automatically select the subscript option under the Effects and hit enter then text for the selected cell will automatically be converted to the subscript.

this will result

The subscript in Excel VBA

Suppose we have the text in the Sheet1 and in the D2 cell then apply the subscript by using the below VBA code.

Step 1: Go to the Developer tab and select Visual Basic Option

Create a function with any name and apply the below code then run this macro to convert the D2 cell value to subscript.

Sub Subscripts ()

Range(“D2”).Characters(2, 1).Font.Subscript = True

MsgBox “D2 cell value in now in subscripts.”

End Sub

The result will be:

Things to Remember About the Subscript in Excel

• Adding subscripts to Excel is usually a simple matter of a font setting, but you may run into limitations when adding subscripts to cells containing numbers or excel formulas. You can work around this limitation by converting your data to text before adding the subscripts.

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