Locate the "Format Painter," which is located in the Clipboard group in the ribbon's Home tab. Single-click the "Format Painter" if you want to apply the copied formatting only once.

Now to answer your question—how can you use the Format Painter on multiple sections of your document or spreadsheet without going back each time to copy the format source? After you highlight the ...

From the Home tab, select Format Painter in the Clipboard group. The cursor changes to a paintbrush icon.

Click the "Home" tab at the top of the Excel 2007 window. Click "Format Painter" in the Clipboard section at the top and the cursor changes to a paintbrush.