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 29. Total comments: 1243

  1. I want cells to turn red if date is within 30 days of maturity date, turn green if within 15 days and turn yellow if within 3 days.

    For Ex if Maturity date is 07-Apr-2016, I need that cell to be red if date(current) is 07-Mar-2016 and so on.

    Please advise formulae to be used for above.

    1. Hi Nick,

      Assuming that the Maturity date is in cell A1, you can create 3 rules based on the following formulas:

      Red: =AND($A$1-TODAY()<=30, $A$1-TODAY()>15)
      Green: =AND($A$1-TODAY()<=15, $A$1-TODAY()>3)
      Yellow: =AND($A$1-TODAY()<=3, $A$1-TODAY()>0)

  2. Hi,

    I'm trying to build a gantt chart and I'm stuck with conditional formatting. I'm trying to fill up the total number of working days excluding the weekend.

    Basically I have,

    [dur][start][end=(start)+(dur)-1][completion-%]

    My current formula,
    This is to highlight the date
    =AND(AND(J$4>=$F8,J$4<=$G8),$A8"")
    This is to highlight the completion percentage
    =AND($A8"",$H8>0,J$4>=$F8,J$4<=($F8+$H8*($G8-$F8)))

    Is there a way to use skip the weekend?

  3. Hi,

    I have a large spreadsheet with a column containing dates, and need to have a column next to this one which names which year the date falls into.

    Eg, if a date is between 01/08/12 and 31/07/13 the 2nd column needs to say "year 1", 01/08/13 - 31/07/14 is "year 2" and so on.

    I'm sure this should be fairly simple I just cant work it out!!

    1. Hi Roy,

      You don't need conditional formatting in this case. Use a nested IF function similar to this:
      =IF(AND(A1>=DATEVALUE("1-Aug-2012"), A1<=DATEVALUE("31-Jul-2013")), "year1", IF(A1<=DATEVALUE("31-Jul-2014"), "year2", ""))

      1. Hi Svetlana,

        That's brilliant, I suspected I was doing something fundamentally wrong!

        Thanks for your help!
        Roy

  4. Hi,

    I'm creating a table for Targeted Dates and Targeted Times, based on Initial Dates and Initial Start Time. How do I format a cell, if using 24hr clock, if a time (midnight) falls into the next day? I need the cell to calculate to the following day, based on the time, but it should also remain the current date if time falls within the current time frame. Hope this makes sense.

  5. Hi,

    I'm creating a resource plan in which I would like to highlight that a resource is available for project work only 3 days a week.
    E.g.:
    Mr. A works every Thursday on A task (full year)
    Mr. A works every Friday on B task (full year)
    Mr. A is available for a project from Monday - Wednesday for project/sprint work

    I have hard coded formatting for initial 2 logic but not able to apply conditional formatting on 3 days a week. Based upon inputted dates, the formatting is coloring the whole duration however I don't want to apply formatting on Thursdays and Fridays.

  6. Hi -
    I am trying to create a visit schedule. I have formatted all of the cells to be in the date format. The initial cell is blank; however, when I insert formulas below to calculate other visit dates that are based on the initial cell a random date will populate. I would like all cells to remain blank until the initial cell is populated with a start date of my choosing. Please advise.
    Study Visit Visit Date
    Day 1
    Day 15 15-Jan-00
    Day 30 30-Jan-00
    Day 45 14-Feb-00

  7. and that is using todays date as the expire date.

    1. Hi Stacey,

      Select the cells in column C that you want to color, begining in C3, and create a rule with the formula =$C3<=TODAY()

  8. I am trying to find a formula to have the cell go red when it hits expiration date, but keeping all others that aren't expired to remain white. there will be only one date entered in c row 3.

  9. hello i wanna learn how overdue date move another sheet automatic and deleted current sheet

  10. Each time a worksheet is amended (each morning)it calculates labour time for the previous day, I want this labour time to occupy other cells on another worksheet for Monday through to Friday. I can get this to happen but I loose the previous days figures.The formula i have used is below, what should the false statement be to keep the whole weeks data in their respective cells.
    =IF(WEEKDAY(TODAY(),2)=5,'Cap Plan Data '!O8)

  11. I am trying to do the following:

    Track dates and identify if the date in the cell is

    Less than 14 days ago
    More than 14 days ago
    More than 30 days ago

    I have tried all possible combinations I can find, but cannot come up with an exact formula.

    Thank you

    1. Hello Leslie,

      Try the following formulas where A2 is your first row with data.

      Less than 14 days ago: =AND(TODAY()-$A2>0, TODAY()-$A2<14)
      From 30 to 14 days ago, inclusive: =AND(TODAY()-$A2>=14, TODAY()-$A2<=30)
      More than 30 days ago: =TODAY()-$A2>30

  12. Thank you for this post. I have a starting date for clients and need to call at one month after the start, 3 months, and six months. I would like the column to show a color if the call hasn't been completed and it has hit the 1 month, 3 month, and six month marks. I would also like it to not show a color if the call has been completed. Do you know how I can accomplish this?

    Column A would be the start date
    Column B would be the 1st month with the option to select completed or not completed
    Colmun C would be the 3rd month with the option to select completed or not completed
    Column D would be the 6th month with the option to select completed or not completed

  13. :) Thanks a Ton. have bookmarked your site. :)
    1 Facebook like from me in return. thanks again.
    2 removed ad filtering addons from the site.
    Best wishes.

  14. another question:

    how to know if two dates fall in the same month?
    thanks again :)

    1. Using the MONTH function :)

      For example, =MONTH(A1)=MONTH(B1) will display TRUE if the dates fall in the same month, FALSE otherwise.

  15. Thanks for such a quick reply. btw: what should be the format of the cell in which i want the results. i am also now looking into the link being suggested.
    thanks again

  16. i meant
    11/01/2013
    11/02/2013

    sorry for the double post..

  17. hi
    11/1/2013 0:00 is present in cell C3
    11/2/2013 0:00 is present in cell C2

    formatting of both is "mm/dd/yyyy h:mm"

    how can i find the difference/number of days between these two dates.

    Thanks in advance.
    eagerly waiting.

  18. I am trying to figure a formula for when how long it is taking cars to go through detail process from when they arrive. What I need is something that would turn the row
    Green for today plus 5 day
    yellow for 6-10
    red for 11+

    I have tried several and cannot get it to change the right color.

    Please and Thank you

    1. Hi Megan,

      Supposing that your dates are in column A beginning in row 2, you can use the following formulas:

      Green: =AND($A2-TODAY()>=0, $A2-TODAY()<=5)

      Yellow: =AND($A2-TODAY()>=6, $A2-TODAY()<=10)

      Red: =$A2-TODAY()>=11

  19. You may have answered this already, and I did not understand it. I am looking to format a spreadsheet so that when a date is entered in column B, three days later the cell in Column D highlights in red. In the days between, the cell should be highlighted in a lighter color.
    Thanks for your help!

  20. Good day, Svetlana,

    I've glanced through your forum to see if I could find a place where you've already answered, but saw one similar still blank. So I'll ask again for both of us!

    I have dated certifications that are due every year. However, for inspection, I can't put in the due date and use the common TODAY function that most people use to get 90/60/30 days out from being due. Mine has to incorporate the last completion date counting down to when it is due again next year. I'm looking for a formula that will use today's date, reference the column with last completion dates, and tell me when they are 90-61/60-31/30-1/0-past due. If you could help me and suggest which one of the new rule choices to select and enter it into, I would much appreciate it!

    Have a Great Evening!
    ~HLA

    1. Good time of day! :)

      Supposing the last completion dates are in column A, you can create rules with the following formulas:

      90-61: =AND($A2-TODAY()>60, $A2-TODAY()<=90)

      60-31: =AND($A2-TODAY()>30, $A2-TODAY()<=60)

      30-1: =AND($A2-TODAY()>0, $A2-TODAY()<=30)

      0-past due: =TODAY()-$A2>=0

      1. Svetlana, hello!

        I must thank you, Lady. I very much appreciate your expertise, and wish you a wonderful day!

  21. Hi!

    I've got to create a spreadsheet and I'm totally overwhelmed!

    I need to have future dates assigned to particular cells and I need to have those cells become highlighted a month before this date. Does that make sense and what would be the best way to do that?
    Best,
    M

    1. Hi Margarita,

      Supposing that your future dates are in column A and begin in cell A2, you can use the following formula:

      =AND($A2-TODAY()>0, $A2-TODAY()<=30)

  22. Hello,
    I am having issues with a date formula. I have a spreadsheet with an end date of 5/1/2015 in C3. I then have dates in column B which need to be conditionally formatted to turn green, yellow, or red depending on how far they are from 5/1/15. For example, my date of 4/30/15 needs to be green (one business day prior), 4/29/15 needs to be yellow (2-3 business days prior), and 4/27/15 or before (more than 3 business days prior to date in C3) needs to be red. I hope this makes sense. Please let me know if you need more information - I have tried everything I can think of!

  23. Hi,

    One of the best and most clear examples i have come across. LOVE IT! straight forward and clear!

    I do however struggle with the following.

    *Start Date*
    Confitional format for 3 - 6 months from start
    Confitional format for 6 - 9 months from start
    Confitional format for 9 - 12 months from start
    Confitional format for 12 - 18 months from start
    Confitional format for 18 - 24 months from start
    Confitional format for 24 months from start

    I have looked at your method for days but im unsure if this works the same for months.

    would it make sense to calculate days separately to then use that (hidden colomn) to do conditional formatting??

    Any advise appreciated.

    Keep up the great work

    1. Hi Alex,

      Thank you so much for your kind words.

      As for your task, you can use the Excel DATEDIF function to calculate the difference between the start date and other dates in months.

      For example, a rule with the following formula will format dates that are 3 - 6 whole months after the start date, inclusive:

      =AND(DATEDIF($A$1, $B2, "m")>=3, DATEDIF($A$1, $B2, "m")<=6)

      Where A1 is the start date and B2 is the top-most cell in the column of dates you want to format.

      1. Thank you soo much for the fast response and a solution.
        been wrecking my brain for 3 days with this.

        will respond back with the outcome.

  24. I am trying to set up a task tracker with forecast and actual dates. A date that is forecasted and is past due should turn red. a date that is forecasted and only 7 days away should turn yellow and any actual dates should remain standard font. Please help!

  25. Hi,

    I can't get the different colours to work, but highlighting in one colour is still a massive help. Thank you so much!

  26. Hi, Could you please help me!!

    I am trying to make a spreadsheet to show the first contact with a company (in the C cells), the F cells show the date 42 days which is the first follow up appointment due (which is where I need the colour coding highlighting system to increase awareness of the date) and the third column (G3, etc) will be the date the follow up appointment is completed (which will mean I no longer need the highlighting assistance).

    I currently have cells F3-F200 with the formula =IF(C3="","",C3+42) etc, to calculate the date 42 days on from the date in the C cells. I would like to put a conditional formatting formula on the F cells which tells me if the date is approaching. I would like it to be highlighted red if due within a week of the current date (and stay red if it goes past the date) and orange if it is due within 2 weeks of the current date. However, I would also like the highlighting to go away once the new date has been put in the column next to it (which will be G3-G200 - these cells have no formulas or data in them until).

    Please help, I'm so stuck!!

    Thanks :)

    1. Hi Nicole,

      Try the following rormulas:

      Red: =AND($G3="", TODAY()-$F3<=7)

      Orange: =AND($G3="", AND(TODAY()-$F3<=14, TODAY()-$F3>7))

  27. Good afternoon,

    I have a checklist spreadsheet that i am working on and need some assistance with conditional formatting. I have one column which has dates in it. I want to use an icon set for the following:
    When the date is today or any future date I want the green icon.
    When the date is within 14 days of today's date I want the icon to be orange - this needs to change and each day passes (a date 3 weeks from today would be green but as soon as it reaches the 14 days to go mark, I want it to turn to orange.
    Any date that is before today's date would be red.

    I can get the red and green to work but not the orange. Please help.

    Thanks
    Marc

    1. Hi Marc,

      The green and red icons are easy, please see the settings below. As for the orange one, sorry I cannot figure out a proper formula because relative cell references are not allowed for icon sets.

      Icon set

  28. Hi, im stuck, just learning excel. How do you create a formula that shows how many days left til the end of the month. Am assuming I use a NOW function, just not sure how to do it.
    Thankyou in advance. =)

    1. Hi Karen,

      You can use either formula:
      =EOMONTH(TODAY(), 0)-TODAY()
      or
      =DATEDIF(TODAY(), EOMONTH(TODAY(), 0), "d")

      To display the number of days, a cell with the formula should be in the General format.

      You can find more about calculating dates in Excel in our Excel Date tutorial. For example, the following article explains the details of the EOMONTH function that returns the last day of the month:
      https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/excel-month-eomonth-functions/#get-month-last-day

      1. Hi
        How to highlight all dates rows above a specific date.
        e.g all rows above 1 January, 2019.

        thanks

  29. Hello Svetlana,

    Can you please advise on my last question to you in post 116? Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. And I can explain further if needs be.

    Thanks in advance,
    Leon

    1. Hi Leon,

      I am sorry I have very little experience with Google sheets. In Microsoft Excel, you could probably do this by using the VLOOKUP function (https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/excel-vlookup-tutorial/)

      Though, I cannot state anything with confidence without seeing your data structure. If you could post this question on our forum and attach a sample Excel workbook for better understanding, our support team will do their best to help.

  30. HI,
    How can we highlight the data upto current month in conditional formats ..

    Thank you in advance.

    1. Hi Sai,

      Assuming that your dates are in column A and row 2 is the first row with data, you can create a rule with the following formula:

      =$A2<DATE(YEAR(TODAY()),MONTH(TODAY()),1)

  31. Hello Svetlana,
    Really hope you can help me.
    I manage a spreadsheet (on Google Sheets), that lists booked on adverts that have specific copy deadlines for each ad. Each ad copy deadline is dependant on the section of the paper in which it appears. So, for example, for an ad appearing in Sport/Main News section deadline is always the day before. For an ad appearing in Weekend magazine, copy deadline is 10 days before, Review section, 4 days before and so on.I have separate columns for Section name, Publication Date, Copy deadline.

    Is there a method or formula I could use that could automatically tell me the copy deadline of the ad, based on the section in which it appears and publication date? So if I enter the section name, and the publication date, the copy deadline will appear with the correct deadline date.

    Thanks in advance.

  32. i have a spreadsheet which i import data from a .csv file daily and run a report to show missed telephone calls. I want to highlight those times when the office is open but can't seem to get conditional formating to just look at the times. The format the date/time info is in is 15/05/2015 12:33, i just want to highlight the time if between certain times and not the date as this changes daily with each import. can onlt get the formatting if i include the date and time. Any suggestons? Thanks

    1. Hello Mark,

      Please select the Timestamp column and create a rule using this formula:

      =AND( TIMEVALUE("10:10")<=(D2-INT(D2)),(D2-INT(D2))<=TIMEVALUE("17:00"))

      Where D2 is the first cell in your selection
      "10:10" – "17:00" is the time range that you want to highlight.

  33. I am looking for a function that will tell me when my invoice dated 1/1/2015
    is over 30, 60 or 90 days..

    1. Hi Becky,

      Assuming that your invoice date is in cell A2, you can use the following formulas:

      Over 30 days: =TODAY()-$A2>30

      Over 60 days: =TODAY()-$A2>60

      Over 90 days: =TODAY()-$A2>90

  34. Hi Svetlana Cheusheva ,

    Could you pleas tell me how to highlight a cell (Say A1) if the cell value (Say B1) is of the last month date.

    Thanks in advance.

    1. Hi Abhishek,

      Here's the formula:

      =MONTH($B1)=MONTH(TODAY())-1

  35. I have an excel sheet where I am highlighting completion dates with respect to current date. The formula am using is =AND($P6-TODAY()>=0,$P6-TODAY()<=7). Here P6 stores the cut-off date. However am also trying to match it with another criteria in column L6 which stores whether the job has been completed or is in-progress. All am looking to do here is if job completionYes and the completion date<=7 days from current date then such completion dates should be marked in RED.Pls help, thank you

  36. I have tryed some of the above examples with no luck. I have a spread sheet with names in colum A and dates in colum C if the dates are more than 3 months old I want to highlight the names orange, and if the dates are 6 months or greater I want the names to be red. any help?

    Thanks

    1. Hi Chris,

      Select the cells in column A you want to highlight (not including the column headers) and create the following rules:

      Orange: =AND(TODAY()-$C2>90, TODAY()-$C2<180)
      Red: =TODAY()-$C2>=180

      Assuming that row 2 is your first row with data.

      Please note, the formula operate on days, not months, because the number of days differ from month to month.

  37. Hi Svetlana

    Please can you help me, I make use of a spread sheet to monitor and track all certificates expiry’s for all of my employees, I would like the cells to automatically change colour if the date has expired + going to expire in 0-30 days, 0-60 days, 0-90 days.

    Thanks so much.

    1. Hi Etienne,

      Assuming that your dates are in column A, you can use the following formulas:

      Expired:=$A2<TODAY()

      Expire in 0-30 days: =AND($A2-TODAY()>=0, $A2-TODAY()<=30)

      Expire in 31-60 days: =AND($A2-TODAY()>30, $A2-TODAY()<=60)

      Expire in 61-90 days: =AND($A2-TODAY()>60, $A2-TODAY()<=90)

  38. we can calculate the no of day like =datedif(c11,d1"d")
    now how we can calculated the number of months between 31/10/2012 to 31/03/2015

  39. I have a large file that is used to track leased property. Out Leases run for 10 years with 2 10 year extensions. How can I highlight an entire row in red when the lease inception date is coming up on renewal? That is: inception date 1996, renewal is 2016. I don't need exact dates, years will work fine.

    I have looked thru your article, but didn't see how to handle a ten year gap.

    Thank you for your article and help.
    Joe

  40. I need a rule for column C that highlights the cell if the date is 6 months or more in the past.

    1. Hi Dan,

      In this case, you can operate on days, not months, because months have a different number on days.

      For example the following formula highlights dates that are 180 days or more in the past:
      =TODAY()-$C2>180

  41. Hi,

    I have an excel spreadsheet (2010) that I would like the date entered in a set cell to turn yellow within that cell three months before it's anniversary. Then to turn red on it's anniversary date.

    Any help much apprecaited.

    Thanks

  42. Hi,

    I need to check the Datetimestamp in an cell and condition format it with different color.

    Eg:
    Cell content will be in the below format ("22-MAR-15 23:15") ("DD-MON-RR hh:mm") format

    Scenario:

    o Green when process is complete by 3:00 CST/4:00 EST
    o Yellow when process is complete after 3:00 CST/4:00 EST and before 4:00 CST/5:00 EST
    o Red when process is complete after 4:00 CST/5:00 EST

    Applies to the current date.

    Can someone please help me on this.

    Thanks

  43. Hi Svetlana! Posted a comment previously, here are some changes to the question.

    Here are some details of the matrix:

    F1: Data Received Date
    G1: Duration (Days excluding weekends)
    H1:End Date (Days excluding weekends)
    I1: Data Reviewed Date

    G2: 3
    H2: 4

    What needs to be done is that: The date on F ( Data received) has to be added to the end date to calculate the deadline.

    If the deadline is met and completed, the cells at I(Data Reveiwed Date) should turn green.
    However, if the deadline is not met but it is still completed, it should turn yellow.

    I am unable to get the appropriate formulas. Do help, thank you so much.

  44. Hello, I have a .CSV file, which opens in Excel. In the spread sheet, column A is Subject and Column B is the Date. I want to use different colours in Column A (Subject), based on the value in column B (Date). What should be the formula. Thanks for understanding and cooperation.

  45. Hi Svetlana,
    I am creating a to do list to coordinate with the various items I have to complete by certain dates but I don't have the knowlege to make up the formula to return what I need.

    For instance;
    I will get a date or confirmation for a document to be filed and place that Date in A2.
    What I need to be able to do is have some cells return a value of 'due within the 15 days prior' and some cells to return a value of 'due within the 15 days after'

  46. I have a spread sheet with employee names and available certifications. The cells are marked with a check if the employee has the certificate. some certificates have expiration dates. I need a formula, for conditionally formatting the individual cells, that changes the color of the check mark when the certificate has expired.

  47. Hi Svetlana,

    I have a spreadsheet with date entry in range column (B10:B54) and I want that whenever Christmas date (24 Dec) and New year Date (31 Dec) comes irrespective of the year, both the date cells should get highlight.

    Thanks in advance

    1. Hi Navneet,

      Try creating a rule for cells B10:B54 with this formula:
      =AND(MONTH($B10)=12, OR(DAY($B10)=24, DAY($B10)=31))

      1. You are genius. It worked. Thanks a lot.

  48. I have task list with start and end dates. I'm trying to get Excel to be able to color fill the cells to the right of the dates based on the duration of the tasks.

    For example, Task 1 starts 3/16/15 and ends 4/3/15. The columns to the right are the Fridays of each week (3/20, 3/27 etc). For task 1, how can I get Excel to color fill the cells for 3/20, 3/27 and 4/3 and then stop.

    I tried Excel bar chart, but that didn't produce the intended results and requires a lot of reformatting. Thanks for any help you can provide.

    1. Hi Tom,

      You can do this by creating a rule based on the following formula:

      =AND(C2>=$A2, C2<=$B2)

      It assumes that row 2 is your first row with data, column A is the start date, B is the end date, and C is the left-most column with Fridays.

      You need to apply this rule to all "Fridays columns", not including the column headers.

  49. Hi! Okay so I've been given a matrix to complete and I AM STUCKED BECAUSE IM NEW WITH EXCEL.
    So, What i have is a planned date (D5), Duration (G5) and End Date (H5) and what i need is the Reviewed date which is on (J5) Is there formula if i want the values at J5-J100 containing the date to turn red when it is completed but over due
    And green is completed on time.

    1. Hi Estelle,

      If my understanding is correct, an item is considered over due if the Reviewed date (J5) is greater than End Date (H5). And you want to highlight only those cells that have a Reviewed date set (empty cells in column J are not highlighted).

      If so, then all you need is create a rule for cells J5-J100 with the following formula:

      =AND($J5<>"", $J5>$H5)

  50. I have a spreadsheet with titles from A1:G1, and data from A2:G283

    In column G i have drop downs with Yes or No options.

    I would like a conditional format which will highlight the rows (e.g from a2:g2) in red which have "no" in the G cell at the end of that row, and Green if "yes".

    What can I use for this?
    Thanks!

    1. Hi Tomocon,

      Simply select all the rows you want to highlight (without the titles) and create 2 rules with the following formulas:

      Red: =G2="no"
      Green: =G2="yes"

      1. Hi Svetlana,

        This seems to only highlight the first cell of the row. not the whole row.

        1. There seems to be a problem with cell references. Try this formula:
          =COUNTIF($C4:$G4, 0)>=4

          And make sure the rules applies to B4:H4 (you can actually include more than one row if needed).

          The row will be highlighted in there are 4 or more zeros in C4:G4, in any cells, don't know how to limit it to consecutive cells only :(

          1. Thanks Svetlana for the quick reply!

            In relation to my first question, the formula you suggested, will only highlight the first cell in the selected row.
            even though i have selected the whole row and made the conditional format on this?

            Any ideas on why?
            Thanks Tom

            1. Hi Tom,

              Oops, my bad. I mentioned incorrect cell references in my formulas but forgot to fix them. Sorry!

              In the formulas, please fix the column using the absolute reference (with the $ sign):

              Red: =$G2="no"
              Green: =$G2="yes"

              1. Hi Svetlana, Back again!

                I have a sheet, which has a data validation in Column I.
                I want to hide a row, If i select "Fully Sent" in this validation on that row.

                Any VBA codes i have found have hidden the entire range when I select "Fully Sent" in one row. I need this to only hide the row where "Fully Sent" is selected.

                Any ideas?

                Data validation in Column I
                Rows 4:92
                Other validation options "complete" "Pending"

                Thanks :)

              2. Thanks Svetlana!

                No worries at all! ... if you ever figure out the consecutive number issue please email me! thanks!

      2. Thanks Svetlana!

        So simple! I feel stupid!

        I have another one, I'm drawing a blank on how to do!

        I have a basic attendance sheet, for a weekly meeting.
        I would like to highlight a row of people who have not been present for 4 or more consecutive weeks.

        So highlight B4:H4 if "0" shows 4 or more consecutive times in C4:G4

        Thanks ! :)

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