Where is conditional formatting in Excel?įor a start, let's see where you can find the conditional formatting feature in different Excel versions. You do this by creating rules (conditions) where you define when and how the selected cells should be formatted. You can apply conditional formatting to one or several cells, rows, columns or the entire table based on the cell contents or based on another cell's value. The difference is that conditional formatting is more flexible, it allows you to format only the data that meets certain criteria, or conditions.
The same as usual cell formats, you use conditional formatting in Excel to format your data in different ways by changing cells' fill color, font color and border styles. The basics of Excel conditional formatting
How to create conditional formatting rules.Where is conditional formatting in Excel?.If you feel intimidated by this feature too, please don't! In fact, conditional formatting in Excel is very straightforward and easy to use, and you will make sure of this in just 5 minutes when you have finished reading this short tutorial. It can help you highlight the most important information in your spreadsheets and identify variances of cells' values with a quick glance.Īt the same time, Conditional Formatting is often deemed as one of the most intricate and obscure Excel functions, especially by beginners. You will learn how to create different formatting rules, how to do conditional formatting based on another cell, how to edit and copy your formatting rules in any version of Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010 and earlier.Įxcel conditional formatting is a really powerful feature when it comes to applying different formats to data that meets certain conditions. Caution! Just like any other formula, you will need to pay attention to your absolute and relative cell values so that your conditional formatting rules are applied correctly.The tutorial explains the basics of Excel conditional formatting feature. This means you can copy/paste the rule (along with its contents!) and even use the copy handle to drag and copy the rule.
Once a conditional formatting rule has been applied to a cell, the rule will also apply to any cell that is copied from the original. When the Applies to field reflects the correct new range, click OK.
Highlight all of the cells in the sheet to which you’ll apply the formatting rules.To highlight every cell with a value below twenty in our example, your steps would look like this: Do I have to repeat the above for every cell in the column? Of course, the answer is “no” and Excel gives you a few quick ways to apply conditional formatting to multiple cells.īy far the easiest way to apply conditional formatting to an entire column or row of cells, is to select the entire range to which the formatting will apply, before you define your rule. I’m sure you have already spotted a problem! There are many rows in our worksheet.
To follow using our example, download 03-Conditional Formatting Across Multiple Cells.xls In Our example, we want the cell to change to red background and red text when the cell value is less than 20. Select Highlight Cells Rules, then choose the rule that applies to your needs.Highlight the cell in the row that indicates inventory, our “Units in Stock” column.Here’s how to use conditional formatting to show us that an item in our store is getting low on inventory and we will need to re-order soon: Often, you will use conditional formatting to call attention to cells that represent an outlying condition – such as too many days until delivery or too few items in inventory. Images were taken using Excel 2016.Ĭonditional formatting is a useful Excel feature that can help you quickly scan your data without resorting to complicated filtering or fussy charts. Steps in this article will apply to Excel 2007-2016. By Tepring Crocker Categories: Conditional Formatting, Excel® Tags: Conditional formatting multiple cells