One way to make your data legible is to apply cell shading to every other row in a range. In Excel 97 or later, select the range and choose Format-Conditional Formatting. In the Conditional Formatting dialogue box, select Formula Is from the drop-down list, and enter this formula: =MOD(ROW(),2)=0. Click Format, select the Patterns tab, and specify a colour for the shaded rows. Click OK twice and you're done! You'll find that the row shading persists even if you insert or delete rows within the original range.