Comments on: Excel conditional formatting formulas based on another cell

This tutorial explains how to use Excel formulas to format cells and entire rows based on the values you specify or based on another cell's value, and provides a handful of formula examples. Continue reading →

Comments page 10. Total comments: 1709

  1. A1='Sheet2'!H9
    when applying conditional formula in A1 as
    Cell value>=$W$12+$Y$12+$AA$12+$AC$12 fill red colour
    not working why?

    2. Resolved
      'Sheet2'!H9 stored as text

  2. I have a spread sheet where I need column (AM) to turn red if any of the information in Columns (Q), (X) or (AD) have turned red. Columns Q, X and AD are all formatted differently.

    Q - Cell value is equal to NO (turns red)

    X - Cell value greater than 3 (turns red)

    AD - Cell value is less than -3 (turns red)

    A colleague of mine had worked it out, but in his example all of the cells were formatted the same and his formula was:

    =OR(A2="No",B2="No")

    I'm not sure how to change it to make it work.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

      1. Thank you Alexander. I appreciate your help. The solution you provided, worked, kind of. It ended up turning cells red which should not have turned red.

        But thank you for your help!

  3. HI Have applied conditional formatting to excel spreadsheet to highlight dates of overdue , due and coming due - however even though the range is set to the entire data collection only half is working correctly - if i insert a line above the part that is not working then it will work and another line does not - it seems like only part of data will work

    1. Hi!
      I don't see your data and I don't know your conditional formatting formula. So I can't give you any advice.

  4. Hello,
    I have a list of numbers (List A) that I want to have highlighted in another list (List B), that contains even more numbers.
    I've tried to conditionally format the cells of list B by using this formula:

    =COUNTIF('List A'!$A$2:$A$737,'List B'!$A$2:$A$1163)>0

    on the range $A$2:$A$1163 but nothing happens.

    Do you know what could be the problem?

      1. Thank you very much!!

  5. Hello.
    I'm having trouble understanding conditional formatting.
    If the length of a string in column Q exceeds the integer in its corresponding (same row) H column cell, I want the column Q cell in red.

    The following formula works:
    =LEN(Q1)>$H1

    but the following doesn't:
    =LEN(Q4)>$H4

    Could you help me understand why one works while the other does not?
    I feel that both should work the same, since the only difference is the row both cells are in.
    Thank you for your time.

    1. Hello!
      Pay attention to the first paragraph of this article. Select the range of cells you want to format (ex. Q1:Q4) and then apply the rule with the first formula

  6. I'm trying to use conditional formatting to highlight rows based on the contents of the first data column, i.e., if A6="Coating", then A6:J7 get formatted accordingly. In columns A:C and F:J, row 6 and 7 are merged and format properly, but D:E are not merged and only row 6 follows the rule, not 7. I have been searching for two days, but have not found the answer. I know there's a smart person out there who already knows the solution, it's just not me...

    1. Hi!
      Based on cell A6, you can apply conditional formatting to only one row. You need to create a separate rule for the second row.

      1. I tried that to no avail. I'm not expert by any means, but I've always been able to figure it out or find the answer I've needed. I'm seriously stuck on this.

        1. Hi!
          Create two conditional formatting rules separately for 6 and 7 lines. Apply both these rules to this formula: A6="Coating"
          I hope this will help

  7. Hi there, hoping you can help - i am wondering if its possible to conditionally format based on whether a cell value is present in a cell or not? I have a calculation running down column D - =((C1-$H$1)-B1)
    but sometimes the $H$1 is not present and i want to hilight cells which dont use that reference. is this possible?

    1. Hi!
      If you want to highlight cells that correspond to an empty cell in column H, then you can use the conditional formatting formula

      =ISBLANK(H1)

      If you want to highlight cells where there is a reference to $H$1 in the formula, you can use the conditional formatting formula

      =ISNUMBER(SEARCH("$H$1",FORMULATEXT(D1)))

      I hope it’ll be helpful.

      1. Second forumla worked perfectly,

        Fabulous, thank you so much for your help!

  8. Hi :)

    I have a spreadsheet with the delivery status of my goods, and I'm trying to highlight the products that are delayed. So I have a column A with the week limit a good can depart and a column B with the actual date of departure of said goods.

    I’m currently working with the formula ISOWEEKNUM(BF76)>BE76, but I don’t want to manually input this formula to every line of my excel sheet, but I need it to be successive, so for the next line I need it to be ISOWEEKNUM(BF77)>BE77, ISOWEEKNUM(BF78)>BE78 and so on and so forth.

    Can you help ?
    Thank you !!

  9. Hi,

    I have a spreadsheet for stores with less hours with transactions than approved.

    I have Column B with the hours the store should be open. With Dates from Column D to Column AE for 3 weeks worth of data.

    I want to conditional format to highlight any variance to the hours in Column B that are 3 or more hours difference to the budgeted hours in Column B. So would apply to a whole table of data, but could be conditioned across so the condition stays even when I change Store #s and Dates on the sheet.

  10. Hi there, I have a spreadsheet where I only want to highlight the numbers greater than 0 (across 50 columns) for specific rows only (these rows have the same title "MISS"). Could you please assist with the correct formula? Thank you!

      1. Thank you so much!

  11. I have a sheet with data in column F (formatted to number) & G (Formatted to currency) - I'm trying to highlight cells in column G that are blank or $0.00 where there is a number in F. Anything I've tried is highlighting random cells in G.

  12. Hi
    I have a main sheet that automatically updates from 3 other sheets.
    I would like the cells (on main sheet) that are blank to be filled green.
    For some reason it's not working, can you help?

  13. Hi!
    I am trying to use the following:
    C1 - C100 contains valued nr (quantity)
    D1 - D100 contains the requested quantity
    each time C# is smaller than D# i want C# to be red.
    i can make it for each cell, but cant make it on all of the cells (1-100) at once instead of using the formula 100 times.
    how can i make the formula work on a range of cells? (C# < D#)

    1. Hello!
      When creating a conditional formatting rule, apply it directly to a range of cells. Or copy the conditional formatting, as described in this guide.
      This should solve your task.

  14. Hello,
    I have a Query,
    Can i Auto Fill the Column B, based on Column A Details.

    Exampls: if i mention Product 1 in Column A, It has to fill the details in column B

  15. Hello Team,

    I have formulas that do calculations and display the result in that cell. (basic stuff)
    I would like to highlight the cells depending on the results of these calculations.

    When I create a rule in Conditionnal formatting, it uses the content of the cell, which is a formula. instead of using the value/result from it. Is there a way around this ?

    Thanks.

    1. Hello!
      Conditional formatting formulas use cell values that are obtained using calculations. You may have disabled the automatic calculation of formulas.

  16. Hello,
    Lets say I created an index of part locations and I named the sheet Index. It has two columns, parts and location. I created a new sheet and I want the location of the part to automatically fill when I'm looking it up. For example, I type in Part1 and in the second column Location1 is automatically filled with the correct location. I appreciate the time!

  17. I want to know if it is possible to highlight a cell when it is one or more days before the date in another cell.
    M2 = 01/02/2022
    R2 = 01/04/2022

    So can I highlight M2 based on it being more than one day before R2?

  18. I have a data. In which I want to know if A1 has 1 then D1 should be yes. If it is updated as no then the D1 cell should highlight in red. I tried many ways but was not successful. Could you please help me on this.

  19. I have a list of names in cells C5:C14. For each name there is data that goes till Column G. I want the name to turn Green indicating all the data is done for that name.

    Example:

    C5 says Jane Doe. I want C5 to turn green if D5:G5 all individually contain "Yes."

    Thanks in advance.

    1. Hello!
      Use the conditional formatting formula:

      =AND(C5="Jane Doe",SUM(--(D5:G5="Yes"))=4)

      Hope this is what you need.

  20. Hi there,

    I have a spreadsheet with 2 columns which contain start dates, and each row is a different contract. Column A I've used a vlookup to pull the date from a different worksheet. Column B has just the date in the cell (ie no formula). I've changed the cell type to be 'short date' on both columns.

    I would like to use conditional formatting to highlight when these dates are not the same as each other on each row.

    I've tried using conditional formatting - new rule - formula : =$A1=$B1 but it highlights all of the cells, I think this is because it is comparing the formula in column A to the value in column B and saying it is different, even if the date value in column A and B are the same.

    I also tried using a formula =IF(EXACT(A2,B2),"Match","Mismatch") but again it pulls everything as a mismatch, I think because it's reading the formula rather than the value.

    Is it possible to use conditional formatting based on the cell value rather than cell formula?

    Thank you very much in advance for any advice you can give

    1. Hello!
      If you want to highlight cells where dates don't match, use the formula

      =$A1<>$B1

      Please note that dates do not include time as well. It doesn't matter what format they are in.

  21. Hello,

    I am trying to highlight a row if a column (J) says finished. I used =$J2=Finished and changed the formating to standard green. For some reason this doesn't work. Why?

  22. Hello,
    I am hoping someone can help me ... I have been looking for hours on how to solve this issue but cannot find the answer. I have tried using the examples given but I still cannot get the conditional formatting to work.
    My spreadsheet has column A with an issue date and column B with a contractual date. The contractual date is 35 days out in the future from the issue date. I want the contractual date cell to turn blue when the contractual date is (issue date +30) and stay blue until date 35 when I would like it to change to red.
    eg. Issue date is Jan 1/22 (Column A) and the contractual date is Feb 4/22 (Column B). I would like Column B to turn blue on Jan 31st and stay blue until Feb 4th and then turn red from Feb 4th going forward. I hope that makes sense. I have tried what I think should work but it turns the cell red right away. Not sure what to do to get this spreadsheet looking like I want to. I am hoping you can give me direction. Thank you

    1. Hello!
      Create two conditional formatting rules with the desired colors for these conditions

      =((B1-A1) > 29)*((B1-A1) < 35)
      =(B1-A1) > 34

      This should solve your task.

  23. Hello,

    I'm trying to set 3 scale colors to highlight how much money from the budget has been spent until now.
    I want cell K2 to change color (K2 is corresponding to the remaining balance).
    I want it to be based on the percentage or percentile of cell D3 (D3 is corresponding to the total assigned amount of money for the year).
    I want the color change to be divided into:
    - Green, when remaining amount is between 100% - 66%
    - Yellow, when remaining amount is between 65% - 33%
    - Red, when remaining amount is between 32% - 0%

    I do not find the correct way to add D3 as base reference amount cell.

    Thank you in advance!!
    C.

  24. Hello,

    I am trying to format the cells of a column based on different words that the cells might contain.
    The following rule works great:
    Format only cells that contain>Specific text>Containing>="text1"

    But if i try to add multiple text strings, then it does not highlight anything. I used the following condition:
    =OR("text1";"text2).

    Note that a cell can either contain "text1" or "text2" but not both.

    1. Hello!
      You can create two rules. There is a separate rule for each word. For multiple conditions, also use a conditional formatting formula. For instance,

      =OR(A1="text1",A1="text2")

      Read the second paragraph in the article above.

  25. Hello,

    Are you able to assist with a google sheets conditional formatting question?

    If so: my spreadsheet has column B, which contains the driver names for the market I am working in, and column C, which contains the starting location numbers for each driver. I would like to apply formatting to column B to change the color for the driver based on the value in column C for that driver. I have tried several formulas and they aren't working for me. Some of the formulas I've tried are C2="5859" or $C2="5859" or C$2="5859". Applied to range B1:B1032.

  26. Hello,

    I'm trying to have a conditional format that hides certain cells if a specific word is in another cell, Now the rule works for 4 of the 5 words but the word Supervisor is doesn't like, However, If I use a drop-down list even fewer words will allow the format but if I then type the same word over the top of that dropdown list word it works. I am very confused.

    The formula I am using is =$C4="Supervisor" This would then block out C4 and U4, the word is then changed to Store Manager, Barista Etc.

    Any ideas?

    Many Thanks

    Martin

    1. Hi!
      I am not sure I fully understand what you mean. Conditional formatting cannot hide cells or change their content. Are you using a filter to hide some values? What is the dropdown used for? Explain your problem more precisely.

  27. Question, I want to see if its possible to do something,

    Im doing a mileage spreadsheet for my bussiness, I want to know if this is possible. If the driver wrote that its L ( loaded) I want to add those mileages at the end of the document, and if its E (empty) then add it in another box. like weekly he is typing the mileage and then it just add up the ones that are L in a box and the ones that says E in another.

  28. Hi, compliments of the season to you, and thank you for your help in advance. My apologies if you've answered this elsewhere,

    I have a reference cell with a number value that is the average ( =AVERAGE(X:Y) ) of the same cells I wish to apply conditional formatting to. The conditional formatting rules I am trying to apply to the cells are;

    Format only cells with: Cell Value | less than | =reference cell

    Format only cells with: Cell Value | greater than or equal to | =reference cell

    The result I am trying to achieve is for cells with a value 'less than' the reference cell to fill with light green, and those 'greater than or equal to' fill with a light red. Some cells fill correctly, some don't. Those that don't fill correctly are the other (wrong) colour, or have no colour at all.

    All cells (including the reference cell) are formatted as numbers with no decimal places. All numbers in the data cells are whole numbers. If I click on any of the data cells, the number displays in the formula bar correctly. If I check the rules for any of the cells that are filled incorrectly, both rules are correct. I would love to get this working properly as it will reveal some very interesting information.

    Many thanks in advance for your help,
    Paul.

    1. Hi!
      The information you provided is not enough to understand your case and give you any advice. I can’t guess what values you have painted incorrectly, what values are written in these cells and what exact formula is used.

  29. Hi, I have a workbook where I keep record of our orders. I want to put in a conditional format to check if column F & G is empty and make Column C Red Bold. I have tried the following formulas
    =OR(ISBLANK($F2),ISBLANK($G2))
    =OR($F2=0),$G2=0))
    =OR(if($F2=0,1),($G2=0,1))
    I also used the and in front as well as changed the 0 to "", and I did your troubleshooting but the problem remain. Some calculate correctly i.e. if either cell F or G has information in it does not change the format, and some if both is empty it change the format. But for most of these it does not do the conditional formatting correctly. I have - for the empty cells - gone and select them and pressed delete as well to ensure there is nothing in the cells.

    1. Hello!
      Unfortunately, I was unable to reproduce your error in my workbook. Try this formula:

      =OR($F2="",$G2="")

      I hope it’ll be helpful.

  30. Hello, Hope you are all well. I need help in what formula to use in conditional formatting. I would like that a cell will display an N/A value if the word/text in another cell is Enrolled. I use the =IF($G6="Enrolled","N/A"). The formula works in a cell but if I apply it as a formula in the conditional formatting it does not work. Kindly help. Thank you very much.

    1. Hello!
      Unfortunately, conditional formatting can change the format of a cell, but it cannot change the value in a cell. Your task can be accomplished with a VBA macro.

  31. I want to highlight cells in a column that have repeated words in it. How do I do this?

  32. Hi I would like to:
    Search every cell in column B for the string "supplier"
    Where the string "supplier" is found, I want to format the corresponding cell in column K to be curreny and red text. Can someone help with this?
    Thanks

  33. Sir if the column A has name
    A
    shailesh singh
    column b has name
    B
    shailesh

    I want to search column B in column A and remove from A

    SO column A should have only name as singh

    Pls guide me

    1. Hello!
      Please try the following formula in column C:

      =SUBSTITUTE(A1,B1,"")

      You can change the text in column A only with a VBA macro.

      I hope my advice will help you solve your task.

  34. Qns. I have an Excel sheet containing 2 columns of various number. I would like to change the first column cell format based on second column value in such way, if first column number second column number then cell fill with Green color and with other rows I would like to apply the same format. I have tried many times and many ways but I could not do. This condition is applied only one row. If I would like to apply it on other rows it takes the value of first row's second column value. How can I apply the whole formatting on other rows(Change the color based on their containing second column's value.) If anybody have the answer please share.

  35. How do I highlight ONLY the single LOWEST number in a column? B3 to B20 has a value in each cell and if there are 2 or more numbers that match then nothing should be highlighted. I want to copy this formula to the next 17 columns beside the "B" column.

    1. Hi!
      For column A, you can use a conditional formatting formula like this:

      =(COUNTIF($A$1:$A$100,MIN($A$1:$A$100))=1)*(MIN($A$1:$A$100)=A1)

  36. How can I conditionally format for if B = Yes, then A, B, C, and D should be green fill?

    1. Hi!
      Your question is not clear. Clarify - are A, B, C, and D columns or individual cells in these columns?

      1. Thank you. If column B is Yes or Y, then I would like Columns A, B, C, and D to green fill. If column B is No or N, I would like Columns A, B, C, and D to red fill.

        1. Thank you so much for doing this.
          I would like all the individual cells in those columns to turn green.

          For instance B 2 is Y then I want A, B, C, D, 2 to be green, If B3 is N, I want A, B, C, D 3 to be red

          1. Hi!
            You can read all the recommendations you need in the article above. For range A2:D2 use the formula =B2="Y".

  37. hi
    i want D18 only to generate its specific formula if text is entered in B18?
    if not, to leave D18 blank

    any help would be apprieciated
    thanks!

  38. I there a log of errors generated by custom formatting formula? The formula below is not working but I don't see any error messages.

    =AND(MOD(ROW(),3)=1,INDIRECT(ADDRESS(ROW(),COLUMN(),TRUE,TRUE))<0)

    The intent is that if the current row number is 4,7,10,13... and the value in the current cell is less than zero, the cell should have a red fill colour. There is a specific range applied and correctly shown (moving border) during editing of the format. I have tested the "indirect" technique in a single cell and that seem to work but the conditional formatting is not. Any help very much appreciated

    1. Hello!
      The conditional formatting formula must contain cell references in the range to be formatted. For example, for the range D1:H1000, you can use the formula

      =AND(MOD(ROW(D1),3)=1,D1<0)

      This formula will be applied to every cell in the selected range.
      Hope I understood your question correctly.

      1. Bingo. Thanks a ton.

  39. Hello again Alexander!

    How do I copy formula(s) and format(s) into another sheet without copy the data. Let's say I'm making a monthly income report for August and I want to make another sheet for September, I want to copy all formulas and the cell format and whatnot. Hope you answer my question.

  40. I would love some assistance if possible. I work at a retail shop [with our logo being red circles *wink*) and we're beginning to train and hire seasonal employees. Due to the situation with COVID-19 and local guidelines, we are asking all employees to remain at home if any of the following symptoms occur.

    Due to this, we have had many sick calls and have been manually using excel to mark sick calls + coloring specific shift rotations in our training roster to note where we need coverage for specific rotations. I honestly don't have time each day to manually go through this each morning + mid-day so I would love if someone could help.

    Our spreadsheet is starts with each trainee's name (or if they call out sick, I replace it with the word "Sick Call" for our HR Department to go through and follow up later with) and then I manually go through each rotation job for that persons shift.

    For example, a trainee could be training for fulfillment so I could be rotating them around into different departments such as "Men's Apparel," "Women's Intimates," "Kids Apparel," "Sports Equipment". Some rotation jobs are longer than others however what I would love to happen is if I mark someone's name "Sick Call," for the spreadsheet to automatically or conditionally color their specific rotation jobs in a different color so that I know that I will need to put someone there. I don't want the entire row to be colored, only those specific rotation jobs if the person is a "sick call."

    I haven't been able to figure out if this is a conditional format formula or if it's something else. Would love some help to save some time and my sanity.

  41. Hope you can help. Have a column of budgeted cost figures. Want the to add new columns monthly with the actual costs. If the actual cost, say C3, is greater than the budgeted cost, B3, I want the cell to be light red with dark red numbers and appear as a negative dollar amount. But if C3 is less than B3, I want that cell to be light green with dark green numbers and appear as a positive dollar value. I am using Microsoft Excel for Mac version 16.42.

    Thank you so much!!!

  42. Thanks for your assistance.

    I have cell A1 with "yes" I want cell A2 to be red if Cell A1 is "yes" --- this I can do this no problem.

    BUT I need the same for a few 100 rows, as soon as I drag all the rows only refer to A1.

    How can I do it, without going into each formula of each row to change it as this will take forever, so that
    A1 refers to A2
    B1 refers to B2
    C1 refers to C2
    etc

    Thanks
    Ed.

      1. Hi,

        Thanks for the assist, I made a mistake in my post Sorry!

        A1 refers to B1
        A2 refers to B2 etc

        I found the answer in your link.

        I selected B1 to B100 as this is where the result must be and did the following;

        In the "New Formatting Rule" dialog window that opens, choose the option "Use a formula to determine which cells to format" and enter the following formula in the "Format values where this formula is true" field: =$A1="yes"

        Thanks once again.
        Ed

  43. Hello! I want to know if its possible to put a specific series of number (let's say 276-203-707-000) on cell C, and when I input that number a specific word will appear on cell E?

    Hoping for a reply.

    Thanks!

    1. Hello!
      This can be done using the IF function
      For example,

      =IF(C1="276-203-707-000","Hello","")

      If this is not what you wanted, please describe the problem in more detail.

  44. I want to create an 'indicator cell' that changes background color based on conditions met by other cells elsewhere in the sheet. For example:- I want C4 to have red background if K12 is less than H5, and R2 is equal to zero. Is it possible? Please give instructions.

  45. Hi,
    Thank you for this blog! Great it is!
    I wanted to know for this situation
    My column C contains a Value with Data validation and when i select the same, My column G should change according to the input in the Column C

    Appreciate your help

    1. Hi!
      I’m sorry but your task is not entirely clear to me. For me to be able to help you better, please describe your task in more detail.

  46. How can i change color of one cell using a Value from a different cell? i'm really confused i was trying all sorts of formulas in conditional format but nothing worked out for me.

  47. Hi,
    I am trying to get a Column of cells to indicate anytime a new entry has been made and for the color to be disabled once any user has seen the entries (new or updates) made? Can you help tell me the formula to use to set up this conditional formatting?

    1. Hello!
      Please check out this article to learn how to insert dates in Excel - add today's date.
      Unfortunately, Excel cannot determine the moment when the user just looked at the data.

  48. sir,

    i have a small dought in excel i want to enter a number in one cell in that particular cell only that value divide by 10. is this possible.

  49. Hai,

    If i want to highlight the separate cell if last cell number is bigger than second last, second last bigger than third last, if third last is bigger than fourth last etc...

    eg. 1 2 3 4 5 6 then highlight cell A20
    5 4 3 6 4 5 then cell shouldn't highlight

    Thanks in advance

  50. I have a concatenation formula that comines two cells into one, the result of the concatenation I want to colour the cell depending on the value, i.e. if the cell equals 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 3A etc then colour the cell green, or if its 2B, 3B etc then colour the cell yellow.

    I was using the formula within conditional formatting to say if cell value is equal to =OR("1A", "1B", "1C") but its not working...

    Any help will be appreciated.

    Thanks in advance!

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