Comments on: How to conditionally format dates and time in Excel with formulas and inbuilt rules

See how to apply Excel conditional formatting to dates. Learn how to use formulas to highlight weekends and holidays, format cells when a value is changed to a date, shade upcoming dates and delays, conditionally format dates based on the current date, and more. Continue reading →

Comments page 24. Total comments: 1245

  1. hello. I am trying to update a number 2.5 every 30 days starting on the 1st of the month. I would also like that number to change colors from green 0-44 to yellow at 45-59 and red at 70+

    so if my number starts out at 10 in 30 days starting on the 1st the number updates to 12.5 and then in 30 more days 15 etc.

  2. Mam, I need to highlight the date which will exceed 900 days or 30 days from the mentioned date. Kindly help me.

  3. Hi,

    Please help me if you can.

    A1 contains a date
    A2 contains number of days (Colour 1)
    A3 contains number of days (Colour 2)
    A4 contains a date
    Column B contains date (Jan 1 to Dec 31)

    I am looking to highlight "A2" number of days in red and "A3" number of days in blue starting on the date "A1". This alternating red and green pattern must continue until the date "A4"

  4. Hi,

    I am producing a sheet at work, and need some help. I have two columns with dates. Column A is date request received, column B is date request dealt with. I want to conditionally format column B cells to take account of the following. If date if column B is greater than 10 working days after the date in column A to highlight the cell red.

    It is intended to highlight those dates where we have missed our 10 working day target.

    I have tried various formulas to no avail.

    Thanks in advance

  5. I am trying to build a training database and simply want the Date of Training to be compared to TODAY. If it's over 365 days then condition format the text to red.

    Can anyone help with the formulae to add as a rule. I can adjust for each cell manually.

  6. Hi,

    I have a query with Date.
    If a Checkbox in B2 is ticked then C2 gets today's date else "Pending".

    Note: Checkbox has been added with the help of Developer tab from the Ribbon.
    I have linked them with cell F2 also to have True or False value.

  7. Re my post - it's solved -

    Conditional format is

    Cell Value = Cell of that the date you need

    i.e.

    Cell value = $B$22 < this is where I have the date 1/1/2016 < I will then be making this cell a dynamic year so that whenever I change the year in B1 the calendars will automatically populate the conditional format based on year :)

  8. Hello,

    If I have two columns of dates (column I and column J) and I want to highlight in red cells in column J only if the date in column J is past the date of the corresponding cell in column I. Other than that I want it to be white.

    Please help.

    Thanks!

  9. Ok - have spent several hours now trying to conditional formatting of a date with no luck perhaps you can help :)

    I'm using a dynamic calendar - you'll probably know where I'm going with this but posting for others who don't know.

    The year input

    Cell - B2=year # - manually input a year i.e. 2016
    Cell - B3=Month # - manually input a month i.e. 1
    Cell - B4=1st day of month in the first row (i.e.. Friday is Jan 1st)i.e. 6

    The Calendar Grid

    Top - the month and year
    Cell - B5 =month(c5)
    Cell - C5 =EDATE($B$3,0) < cell is merged C5 to H5 to give is uniformed look

    The Days of the Week
    B6 =B8 < this is copied over to column H ie.=b8,c8,d8 ending up at H8

    The calendar numbers

    Starting Row
    -Cell-B7: =IF(WEEKDAY(C5)=1,C5,"")
    -Cell-C7: =IF(B7"",B7+1,IF(WEEKDAY(C5)=2,C5,"")) < this formula copies over to H7(changing column heading as you go)

    2nd row
    -Cell-B8: =H8+1< this formula copies over to H7(changing column heading as you go)
    3rd row - same as 2nd
    4th row - same as 2nd

    5th row
    -Cell-B11: =IF(H10<EOMONTH(C5,0),H10+1,"")
    -Cell-Cll: =IF(B11<EOMONTH(C5,0),B11+1,"") < this formula copies over to H7(changing column heading as you go)

    Row 6 (last row of calendar Grid)
    -Cell-B12: =IF(H11<EOMONTH(C5,0),H11+1,"")
    -Cell-C12: =IF(B12<EOMONTH(C5,0),B12+1,"") Cells D to H are empty

    I need to conditional format holidays i.e. Jan 1st, Dec 25th or a range of dates(1 week vacation), etc but nothing I've tried thus far works - countif, match, if, and, etc. I think the issue is that I'm using a dynamic formula to create a date (the variable) and the holiday date is a date item fixed (i.e. Jan 1, 2016 is day 42370 in excel).

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks

  10. Hello,

    If I have two columns of dates (column A and column B) and I want to highlight column B only if the date in column A falls within the same week of column B.

    Please help.

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Audra,

      You can create a conditional formatting rule with this formula (where 2 is the topmost row with dates):
      =WEEKNUM($A2)=WEEKNUM($B2)

  11. Dear Madam,

    My office grants 3% increment on salary every year July. I want to program in such a way that on July 1st the increment and salary should get changed to new proportion.

    Please guide me

    Regards
    R Dharma

  12. Please can you help me out on this.. i have many policies but the due date is my problem i can't remember all of them so plz help that i get the due at at least 10 day before.

    Thanks

  13. Please can you help me out on this..I have a conditioning formatting with colour on employees date of assumption of duty. the colours helps me to know those who are up for confirmation depending on when each assumed duty. wat formula can help me stop the colours from appearing if the date of confirmation is due and past. Please any solution

  14. Hello,

    I'm maintaining an attendance table in the following format.

    01 Wed IN 01 Wed OUT
    08:27 17:16
    08:36 14:31
    08:38 17:07
    08:32 17:05
    08:47 17:05
    08:31 17:04
    08:16 17:13
    08:31 17:13
    08:29 17:05
    08:40 17:06
    08:32 17:02
    08:52 17:05
    08:36 17:08
    08:30 18:37

    I want to apply conditional formatting for "IN" column and "OUT" column. If IN time > 8:45, the font in that cell should be RED. If OUT time < 17:00, the font in that cell should be RED.

    The data in IN and OUT columns is a result of LEFT(cell, 5) and RIGHT(cell,5) from another column that records every IN and OUT entry of the staff.

    I have tried conditional formatting options but I'm obviously doing something wrong. Tried formatting the cells as Time, Custom, etc.

    Appreciate your help.

    Thanks.
    Sunny

  15. Hi I'm trying to produce a spreadsheet that high-lights a whole line in grey when I add a date into one cell on the line to show that the info no longer needs any action. The cell is empty until I add the date after which I want the line to go grey.
    Thanks

  16. If I have an inspection date and it comes due again in 6 months,
    How do I create the formula to reflect this and have the cell turn red with 30 days before the due date?
    Can someone provide Me a formula? I've tried several and still get a 'False' for the answer.

  17. I have a Weekly calendar that start on Last Wednesday the previous month; the cell 2 has dates with formulas and change each month and is merge the cell 3 has 10 box example B3,c3,d3,e3,f3,g3,h3,i3,j3,k3 with the information. I need to transfer to the daily calendar and the daily calendar start on the first of the month and the weekly calendar change every month.

    Do you know what formula I can use? Thank you for you help.

  18. Can anyone help me with this? I have an excel file with 2 worksheets(A and B). On worksheet A, i have a weekly guide for activities. On worksheet B, i have the activities and the percentage as which are completed (0% to 100% completion). On A, i want a certain cell to be colored, say gray, if the certain cell in B between 0% and 99% completed for the week, and another color if it will be 100% completed for the week or next. Thank you so much.

  19. Hi, how do I format dates of the month to say this week, next week of this month?

    1. Or this month i mean.. Thanks!

  20. Does anyone know if it is possible to create a conditional formatting rule based on time?
    I am creating an action tracker type tool and would like to have the cells formatted to reflect if is it coming due or overdue. I know it can be done for Dates - but in this instance it is going to be based on time.
    e.g. Assigned at 1000, due at 1230 - once is past due time flag red, coming due change orange etc.

  21. is it possible to start the colouring of the conditional formatting of the cell from the beggining

  22. Hello,

    I am hoping you could help me with a little conditional formatting problem I am having.

    I have a sheet full of dates particular employees have completed training on.

    I am trying to get the cells to turn green if the date is less than two years from today and red when the date entered into the sheet is older than 2 years (730 days)from today.

    eg. If the date in the cell reads 01/06/2015 it would be green and if the date in the cell reads 01/06/2013 it would be red.

    NOTE: Example above assumes today's date is 01/06/2016

  23. Hi, I need your help with color coding cells within a column that contains a vlookup formula to bring in that date, I need to color code those dates that fall within a range a certain color, 0 to 6 months, 6 months to 11 months and 11 months and older. Since some of the cells have #N/A from no data found from the vlookup, these would be left non-colored. Is this something you can help me with.

    Thank you,
    Jacqueline

  24. Hi
    How to I create a table that when the date from the drop down list is approaching the next cell will change colour. eg, next month will make the cell turn red as it is a closer date and 3 months time will be orange and any dates further away will be green

  25. Hello,

    I am trying to figure out a way of showing if an item has been ordered more than once in a 6 month period.

    I have the list of product codes in one column and the date they were ordered in an adjacent column. Is there a way of highlighting repeated product numbers within a 6 month period?

    Thank you

  26. Hello!

    I have a column of different dates that appear in this format (12-Aug-15) and I would like to format these dates based on their age.

    For example, I would like the cell to be green if the date in the cell is less than 180 days old, orange if the date is greater than 180 days but less than 270 days, and red if the cell date is 365 days or more.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  27. Hello I have a spreadsheet where I have columns C,F,I,L,O, and R with dates. I used the this month and next month rule but want to add a rule for 60 to 90 days and 91 to 120 days. I used the following formula but it did not seem to work: In 30 to 15 days, inclusive: =AND($A2-TODAY()>=15, $A2-TODAY()<=30). I switched out the 15 for 60 and the 30 for 90. I am not sure how the $A2 applies and that is where I am getting lost. I assume it is the start of the spreadsheet date but have played out with this with no results. Can you please assist.

    Thank you

  28. For my work's tracking sheet, we highlight the cells yellow for attempts with the date listed as mm/dd/yy and no highlight when we have made contact with the date of contact as mm/dd/yyyy. I am trying to get the cells to automatically highlight when entered as mm/dd/yy. I tried the =CELL("format",$A2)="D4" formula and it did not work. Any suggestions?

  29. Hi
    I have this scenario where in column A I have the date (04/25/2016) and in column B I have the time (12:46 PM)
    I am trying to find a formula where I can change the date and time when the time mentioned in the column B is 3:00 Pm or above and it should reflect the next day in the date column with 7:00 AM as the time in Column B.

    Example : column A - Column B
    04/25/2016 - 3:00 PM
    It should change to
    04/26/2017 - 7:00 AM

    Is there any way I could do that ?

  30. in conditional formatting how to highlight dates greater than 10th of every month ?

    1. Hi Suresh,

      You can create a rule with this formula, where A1 is the topmost cell with date.
      =DAY($A1)>10

  31. Hi,

    I have two dates in my Excel sheet:

    1. Booking date
    2. Departure date

    How can I highlight Departure day Red with a comment popping out if the difference between booking day and departure day is less then 7 days?

    Thanks for your help in advance,

    G.

  32. So I set a cell to search for the oldest date with no issues. I am using this as a re-certification tracker for 1, 3, and 5 year and need to see how to sort and then add to the date in 1,3,and 5 year increments.

  33. Hope someone can help with this. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

    I am trying to have Excel return the word Active or Expired in a cell based on a support contract end date.

    I have the end date of the contract in cell I11

    In cell I13 I have used the following formula =I11<TODAY()

    This returns either a TRUE or a FALSE, depending on the current date and the date that is in cell I11.

    I want cell I13 to convert the TRUE or FALSE to either Expired or Active.

    So if value is TRUE then I want to see the word Expired in cell I13.

    If the value is FALSE then I want to see the word Active in cell I13.

    Thanks again.

    1. Never mind, got it worked out. You have a great site here. Thanks for having it available.

  34. Hi! I use spreadsheets for work and I am trying to figure out a formula that has to do with dates.I would like to know if there is a formula i can use that can change the cell color a couple of days before the expiration date in the cell.

    Thanks,

  35. Hi Dear,
    Need your help
    I want col S(Fee defaulter) to be
    1) Red fill
    if col E(Ending date) is over and Col Q(remaining Fee is greater than zero).
    2)and want light red fill
    if Col E(Ending date) is today and Q(remaining Fee is greater than zero)
    3)and if both the conditions are not met then want green fill
    Thanks in advance

  36. Hello! I have dates in columns A and B, and I want to highlight the cells in column B that are past dates in A. I know I can use =$B2>$A2, but is there a way to condition the whole column rather than each individual cell?

    Thank you!!

    1. Hi Jenna,

      Just apply the rule to all the cells you want to highlight, e.g. A2:A100000.

  37. Help Please! I'm trying to find a formula that work for what I'm needing. I have two due dates 10/1 & 4/1 (Column B contains 1st pmt due date), (Column C contains 2nd pmt due date). I'm trying to find a formula for Column A that will show which pmt either 1st or 2nd pmt is due next.

  38. Hello,

    I am highlighting a calendar table in excel With this calendar table, i want to highlight the dates according to our staff type of leave.
    Staff has taken LL leave from lets say 29/02/2016 to 10/03/2016, SL Leave from 01/02/2016 to 28/02/2016 and taken HOL leave from 01/25/2016 - 31/01/2016. How do you highlight the calendar table according to this dates? by colouring them according to the type of there leaves.
    Yellow for LL leave
    Green for HOL leave
    Pink for SL leave

    Hope someone can help me here. Thanks

  39. Hi, need your help badly. I work in payroll and we have to calculate the due date based on the pay end date. The rule for CRA is that if the pay end date falls within the range of:

    from the 1st through the 7th day of the month;
    from the 8th through the 14th day of the month;
    from the 15th through the 21st day of the month;
    from the 22nd through the last day of the month.

    Therefore, payment due date is on the 3rd working day EXCLUDING Sat, Sun and statutory holiday dates below:
    1-Jan-2016
    8-Feb-2016
    25-Mar-2016
    28-Mar-2016
    23-May-2016
    1-Jul-2016
    1-Aug-2016
    5-Sep-2016
    10-Oct-2016
    11-Nov-2016
    26-Dec-2016
    27-Dec-2016

    I will be so grateful if you can create this condition formula for us. Thank yo.

  40. I have created a spreadsheet where I have one cell that has a date populated for ex: B4. I have another cel J4 that I want to use to confirm if I met or exceeded that deadline date. So I am trying to use conditional formatting to set it where if I had a date less than the inputted date in B4 it goes green representing that I was on time. If I was late and input a date later than B4 it goes red. And when there is no date added the cel stays white.
    I also would like to have these rules apply to the entire row of J as well.

  41. Hello,

    I can't figure out how to apply conditional formatting for one cell that highlights red when a date that is entered is greater than five days from another cell. Can anyone please break a formula down for this purpose?

    Thank you.

    1. Okay, from reading other comments and answers I found that this is an appropriate formula: =AND(ABS(INT(D4-C4))>5,NOT(ISBLANK(D4))). However, is there anyway to take it a step further and have Excel ignore weekends and holidays in the calculation of the 5 days?

  42. Hi,

    I am wanting to add some formulas to my spreadsheet.

    I have column L (which has a date inserted into it) and column M which will also have a date inserted manually once work is completed, BUT I want Column M to turn red if it has been 15 days after the date inserted into column L, only if a date hasn't been entered into column M.

    TIA.

  43. Hello,

    I hope you can help me with this:

    I have one column of data starting in H2 I need formatting to cover:

    1. Dates over a year old from todays date to be Red

    2. Dates from today one year in to the future to be Green

    3. Dates that are less than a year old and less than a year in the future (everything between the top 2 conditions) to be Yellow.

  44. Hi,

    I need help: I'm trying to create a conditional formatting for due dates that would give color alerts. I want the colours to fill the rows. I have a column for the dates that I want to be altered to but I want the color to fill not just the due dates column cells but the rows as well.

    I also want to know if it's possible to have the color removed after I've entered the required data for the row. Thank you very much for your assistance. I look forward to your response.

  45. Hi there,
    I have a problem I'm trying to solve at work- we have a spreadsheet with dates when a form is due in, and a date when the form was submitted. I want to colour code the dates of forms that missed the deadline. How can I use conditional formatting to tell me which forms were submitted late?
    I hope you can help!
    Thanks

    1. Hi Elliot,

      You can create a conditional formatting rule with a simple formula:
      =$B2>$A2

      Here B is the column with the dates when the forms are submitted, and A is the column with due dates.

      1. Hi!
        What if the due dates and start dates are different every time, will that formula do it?
        Thanks!

  46. Hello,
    I have a spreadsheet with a column contained an expiration date. I would like to conditionally format this column for dates as follows: If the date entered is before the current date, then I would like the text to be red. If the date entered is more than 30 days in the future, I would like the date to be green. If the date entered is equal to or greater than today's date, but less than 30 days out, I would like the text to be orange.

    Thank you for your help!

    1. Hello Becky,

      You need to create a conditional formatting rule for each color:
      1) Use the following formula to make the dates that are before the current one red:
      =AND($D2<TODAY(),NOT(ISBLANK($D2)))
      Here D is the column with dates; the formula ignores blank cells.
      2) The following formula will help you find the dates that are over 30 days in the future to change their background color to green:
      =$D2-TODAY()>30
      3) If the date is the same as the current date, or if it is up to 30 days in the future, you can change its background to orange with this formula:
      =AND($D2-TODAY()>=0,$D2-TODAY()<=30)

  47. HELP! I read about conditionally formatting A2 if the date = x BUT not if an entry has been entered into B2 for example. Could someone help me with a formula? I want cells shaded red in column E if the date occurs in less than 7 days from today BUT I don't want them shaded if an entry has been entered into column F in the same row.

    1. Hello Jesamine,

      You can use the following formula in your conditional formatting rule:
      =AND(TODAY() - INT(E1) < 7,INT(E1)<>INT(F1))

  48. Hi, I have a training spreadsheet which shows a date in cells to show when training was completed. I would like a formula which changes these cells to a colour when they are due for renewal in 3 years time. Some cells are blank which shows training hasn't been completed, so these cells will need to be the same colour as above. Thank you for your help.

  49. Can you help me? I want to use conditional formatting where the cell is to be green if that date (from another cell) is under 14 days and will input the 14th day. Then the cell is colored red if over 14 days.

    Example: 1/7/16 IN ANOTHER CELL(in green) 1/21/16
    12/15/16 (in red) (blank)

    1. Hello Beve,

      You can create two rules with the following formulas:
      1) Apply green color if the date in cell B2 is not more than 14 days away from the date in cell A2:
      =AND(ABS(INT(B2-A2))<=14,NOT(ISBLANK(B2)))
      2) Apply red if the date in cell C2 is over 14 days away from the date in A2:
      =AND(ABS(INT(C2-A2))>14,NOT(ISBLANK(C2)))
      These rules ignore blanks.

  50. Is it possible to condition a single cell to change colors based on its entered date vs. the current date? As an example using a cell with a Due Date, I want the cell to stay "green" up to 3-days before it is due. At the 3-day mark turn "yellow". After the 3rd day and it passes its original due date it turns "red".

    Any assistance would be much appreciated-JM

    1. Hello James,

      You can create three separate conditional formatting rules using the formulas below:
      - One rule will apply green color when there are more than 3 days left:
      =C2-B2>3

      One rule is for turning cells yellow if there are 3 days left to the due date:
      =C2-B2=3

      The third rule will highlight the cells red when there are fewer than 3 days to the due date and 3 days after it:
      =AND(C2-B2<3,C2-B2>-3)

      Here C2 is the due date, and B2 is the cell with the current date.

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