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
by Svetlana Cheusheva, updated on
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 36. Total comments: 1726
hi,
I want to put a statement in excel and want to add a specific value reference in between the statement as "today total sale is .........( reference of cell B15) and purchase is ....( REference of cell C51). is it possible if yes how????
Hi Kawal,
You don't need the conditional formatting for this task. You can use the CONCATENATE function or the & operator as follows:
="today total sale is "&B15
=CONCATENATE("purchase is ", C51)
Hi,
I want to highlight cell which has specified value. Like if there are 1 to 10 nos. i want to highlight only 3, 2, 7. which formula do i use. Please help
Great article but can't find exactly what I'm looking for.
I want to make a formula that will look at a whole column, say the B column, in one sheet and see if there are any "No" entries. If there are ANY "No" entries, I want it to change the colour of a cell, say the A1 cell, in another sheet.
I have a crude formula here, using a "TRUE" statement instead of colouring the cell and also giving the range 1-9999 which is ugly: =ISNUMBER(SEARCH("No",Sheet2!B1:B9999))=TRUE
I hope this makes sense and would be really grateful of any response!
Hi Johnny,
I think you can create a rule with a formula similar to this:
=COUNTIF(Sheet2!B:B, "no")>0
Aha! Perfect! Thank you ever so much
I've been working on a sales target spreadsheet that has normal formulas & then also using conditional formatting.
In one part of the spreadsheet we are calculating the variance between 2 cells, ie E14-F14 this formula is in cell G14 (figures are 4-4=0). My conditional formatting for all the cells is
=AND(COUNT(B6),B6>=0) set so if the variance is positive the cell will be green
=AND(COUNT(B6),B6<0) set so if the variance is negative the cell will be red
now this conditional formatting making cell G14 red, when we want it to be green. This happening for the cells in column G that have the same formula.
However in all the other columns D, J, M etc if the cell is 1-1=0 the cell will be colored green.
I have removed all the conditional formatting from the excel and inputted again & this hasn't fixed it. I'm not sure what to do next to try & fix this.
I hope this all makes sense & look forward to a response!
Thank you so much :)
I needed conditional formatting for an excel sheet with growth chart. In this i wanna know which have growth and which have de-growth based on last year sales
Hello! Thanks for the info above.
Please can you help... I am looking for cell A to look at cell B and for cell A to change colour if the value is...
Green - less than 10 of the value of B
Amber - less than 5 of the value of B
Red - equal to or greater than the value of B.
The problem being that both B and A will change with data input and B. Hope that makes sense! Thanks in advance for your help.
Hi
I wondered if you could help me please. I am trying to create a month by month summary of our customer service scores. All i would like to do is to highlight the cell green or red based on whether the score has increased or decreased from the previous month. For exmaple:
Month Overall
Oct-14 -100
Nov-14 18
Dec-14 -50
Jan-15 -8
Feb-15 45
Mar-15 -2
Apr-15 30
May-15 20
So i would like May's score to be highlighted red because it decreased from April. But April to be highlighted green because it increased from march.
Thanks
J M K S
3 2 3 5---------k--?
76 5 75 7---------k--?
4 564 76 53--------j--?
354 34 456 24--------s--?
Hello,
i have a small dilemma and would appreciate if anyone could help out.
So i have the following arrangement
J M K S
3 2 3 5 k ?
76 5 75 7 k ?
4 564 76 53 j ?
354 34 456 24 s ?
Were I would like the letters column to be matched to the letters row, and the question marks replaced by the corresponding value under the letters row.
resulting for example in the following
k 3
k 76
j 4
s 24
does anyone know what equation I need to use to substitute the values instead of the question marks?
Thank you
I have the traffic light icon working in the cell that has the value, however I want the value to be in one cell the the traffic light to be in the next cell. Is that possible?
Hello Caren,
Because it is not possible to use relative references in conditional formatting criteria for icon sets, you cannot apply icons based on another cell's value.
As a workaround, you can copy the values to the next column, say by entering a simple formula like =$A1 in cell B1 and then copying it down to other cells in column B. Then you apply icons to column B and select the "Show Icon Only" option. So, visually you will have values in column A and corresponding icons will display in column B.
Hi svetlana,
Is there a way to colour a cell with two colours depending on a values cells in other work sheet?
ex: sheet 1 cell A1 to be colored with red, if value in sheet 2 cell A1>0 and also sheet 1 cell A1 to be colored with green, if value in sheet 2 cell B1>0
Hi Thushan,
Of course, it's possible. In conditional formatting formulas you can refer to other sheets just as you would normally do. For example, you can create 2 different rules for A1 in sheet 1:
Red: =Sheet2!$A1>0
Green: =Sheet2!$B1>0
Is there a way to conditionally format cells to match the fill color of an original cell with matching text that was manually color filled?
Hi Svetlana.
I have a conditional format running that changes a cell blue if the letters GI are entered or red if the letters AFM are entered, I also need the cell to the left of GI or AFM cell to format blue or red. I have tried many formulas but without any luck
Hi Garry,
Just apply the same rules to two columns instead of one.
Hi Svetlana!
I'm copying exact version of your formula: =AND($B2>5, $B20 but when using "AND" function and trying to make multiple criterias it just keep giving error.
Wbr
Hi Suva,
Please post the entire formula you are using and we will try to figure out the root of the problem.
I have several series of data validation dropdowns, and lets say when E5 = text_value i want G5 to be highlighted
because under specific conditions (depending on what previous choices are made) there needs to be an additional dropdown. i am not concerned with making a conditional data validation (probably not possible anyway) but i was hoping someone could help so that i could just highlight it so it sticks out when additional information is required
nevermind!! i got it! after reading other situations i realized that the rule would be specific to the selected cell and wouldnt necessarily be a general formula for the entire sheet
Hi guys, can someone help me please..
How To use conditional formatting for example... in cell A1 Sheet 1, based on the value from cell A2 in Sheet 2.
So...
If Cell A2 (Sheet2) = "DA"....then Cell A1 (Sheet1) background is RED.
Thank You
Hi Ivan,
Create a rule for cell A1 Sheet 1 with the following formula:
=Sheet2!$A2="DA"
So I have this data on a summary sheet:
#INT1 #INT1 #INT2 #INT2 #INT3 #INT3
$DAT Y $FILB Y $DAT Y
$FIL-B Y $FIL-H Y $FIL-B Y
$FIL-H Y $FIL-POS Y $FIL-H Y
$FIL-POS Y $N/A-FIL YYYYYYNN $FIL-POS Y
$N/A-FIL YYYYYYNN $SEC-M NNNYYNNN $N/A-FIL YYYYYYNN
$ORD-FIL YYYYNNNN BACF NNNYNNNN $ORD-FIL NNNYNNNN
$SEC-M NNNYYNNN BARS YYNYNNNN $SEC-M NNNYYNNN
$SEC-USR NNNYNNNN BATS NNNYNNNN $STATS Y
$STATS Y BBDS YNNYNNNN AONE NNNYNNNN
AONE YYNYNNNN BBIF NNNYNNNN AORD YYYYNNNN
AORD YYYYNNNN BCAT NNNYNNNN ASEC NNNYNNNN
And so on…
I was wondering if there was a way I could check row A and B against all other rows for pairs of data like $DAT and Y would be what to check for so $DAT and Y would be highlighted in A,B and E, F and the whole sheet.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. I can send a sample spreadsheet if you need.
Does anyone know how to make a conditional format to create a specific number based on another cells number?
Example:
Cell 1 shows the number 3
I need cell 2 to then show the number 1.
All in increments of 3, if it shows 6 then it will show 2.
9 = 3
12 = 4 etc. Also, If it is between 3 and 5 it will still show a 1, between 6 and 8 it will still show a 2 and so on.
Any help would on this conditional formatting would be appreciated.
Hi Shawn,
I believe a Lookup Formula would be your best option.
If you have your data starting in cell A2, you can add the following formula in cell B2:
=LOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_vector, [result_vector])
=LOOKUP(A2,{3,6,9,12},{"1","2","3","4"})
You can keep expanding the formula by increments of 3, but make sure you update the lookup_vector and result_vector.
I hope this helps.
Hi
If anyone can suggest a reason for the following problem i'd be grateful.
I am using conditional formatting to colour code times and distances for track and field according to a set of standards.
For example I have formatted columns A, B, C, D so that
2.5 to 3 are red
3.1 to 4.49 are yellow
4.5 and greater are green.
I want to format other columns to use the same colour system but for different parameters as they are to represent different events.
I have tried copy and paste as well as format painter to save time and then edit the rules only, removing the need to select the formatting each time.
However, when I highlight a selection and edit the rule (checking that current selection is correct) it applies the rule change to the entire sheet!!
Why does this happen?
Yours
Matt
I want to count payments: 1 of 30, 2 of 30 by writing 1/30, 2/30 and so on. I want to write two cells and drag to create the rest (as I do with dates or numgers).
Can you suggest a way to do this? Thank you in advance
Hi,
i am working on shift roster excel and i want to highlight only shift person name cell who is today.
e.g.
row A1 has Date
column A2 has shift person name
and B2-z2 has shift name(Day,Night)
formula has to first check today's date then search in that column the shift name(day,night) if match Day the highlight the shift person name which is in column A2.
Hi,
Great forum, hopefully what i'm trying to do is possible. Is it possible to inherit the color from referenced cells. For example, if I had a formula: =concatenate("This is a test ",B2). I need to inherit the existing value and color in cell B2.
Hi there,
I got set of data and I need to color the cell based on value row before it.
Ex.
A B C D
a 2 1 3 4
b 3 0 4 5
c 1 3 5 7
d 8 9 3 3
I need to color the Ab red (>Aa) and Bb green (<Ba). I want to apply the rules to all row and column. Is there anyway i can do it?
Hi,
I have been trying to do cell formatting for following condition:
=$Q3$AS3
I want to highlight the cells of column Q3 if the value doesn't match with values in column AS.
I used above mentioned condition but somehow it's highlighting all the rows and columns from Q until AS. I tried to select following ranges "Q3:Q100" as well as "Q3:AS3, Q100:AS100", but no use.
Please suggest.
Thanks,
Shipra
Hi Shipra,
I have just created a rule for Q3:Q100 with the following formula and it highlighted only cells in column Q that are not equal to values in column AS in the same row:
=$Q3<>$AS3
Please double check the applied range via Conditional Formatting > Manage Rules.
Hey there,
I'm trying to set a conditional format where I want to change the colour of column A if the column width does not equal "10.29".
Would you be able to help out?
Thanks,
Jon
Hey Jon,
I have been trying to attempt the same thing with cell formulas. I have put in =cell("WIDTH") but it does not show the exact amount. Let me know if you have any luck with finding a formula.
Matt
Hi Svetlana,
First of all Congratulations for your blog! I find it 'state of the art' and a precious on-line resource. Of course I will spread the word about it...!
As I wasn't able to find a solution that works among the tutorials and examples you posted above, please allow to present my question:
How to apply conditional formatting to columns F, G, H and I (by instance change font colour to 'red'...) when it met a given criteria (comprised of the word string IMP) in the same line in column A (in Microsoft Excel 2007)...? Or in another way, which formula to use...?
I deeply appreciate your help. Thank you.
Kind regards,
Carlos
Hello Carlos,
Thank you very much for your kind words.
You can select the entire columns $F:$I and create a rule with the following formula:
=$A1="IMP"
The above formula works for the exact match. In case you are looking for a partial match formula, i.e. highlight columns F:I if column A contains values like "IMP 2" or "xIMP", then use the SEARCH function as follows:
=SEARCH("IMP", $A1)>0
Hi Tom,
Assuming that row 2 is your first row with data, select all the cells in column B you want to color beginning with cell B2 and create a rule with the following formula:
=AND($A2="requested",TODAY()-$B2>14)
I'm having a problem with changing a cell colour based on multiple cell values.
Example
Column A has 3 values using a data validation list "requested, booked and delivered"
Column B has the date of request.
I would like the cell in column B to change colour if Column a value is "requested" and if date in column B is over 14 days old.
Any help would be really appreciated
Im doing a data bar formatting for a cell, and I would like the color of the data bar to change relative to the value of another cell.
Hi Luis,
Select the cells where you want data bars to appear, click Conditional formatting > Data bars > More rules. In the "New Formatting Rule" window, select Formula in the "Type" box and enter your formula in the "Value" box. Just keep in mind that relative cell references are not allowed in Data bar formulas.
Hey, guys.
I would like to conditionally format cells which are contained in a formula.
Ex: If A11 equals the Sum of A1:A10, I would like A1 through A10 highlighted a certain color.
This would allow me to quickly see what cells are in the summation without putting the cursor in the formula bar up top.
Thanks.
Hi Ben,
Select cells A1:A10 and create a rule with the following formula:
=$A$11=SUM($A$1:$A$10)
Hi,
I have data's in 1st four column on the excel sheet. In those four columns i have common / similar data in column A and C. Column B and D consists of values which has to be reconcilied by matching the datas of A and C. For example
Example 1
Column A = 1
Column C = 1
Column B = 0.002
Column D = 0.002
The column E should show it is matching.
Exapmle 2
Column A = 1
Column C = 1
Column B = 0.02
Column D = 0.002
The column E should show it is not matching.
The main constraint over here is we can have datas in column A is missing in Column C.on those scenario it should show as NA in column E.
Kindly help me at the earliest.
Thanks is advance.
Jeetesh Jain.
Hi All,
Can any one help me on my request?
Thanks in advance
Best Regards
Jeetesh Jain
Hi,
I received quotation from different supplier and I need to compare the received prices. Can you please advise how to use conditioning function for comparing prices from different supplier. I want to get all best lowest prices in Green and highest price in Red.
Hi Svetlana,
I am trying to fill one cell based on the value of another previously given.
The problem is shwon in the example, number from 01 to 20 will appear in the first 4 columns (C1-C4). I want to take these values and put them into a respective contiguous set of columns (C6-C26). Is it something feasible in excel?
I have this situation:
C01 C02 C03 C04 C05 C06 C07 C08 C09 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19
01 05 09 14 01 05 09 14
02 07 11 12 02 07 11 12
08 09 10 12 08 09 10 12
04 05 13 14 04 05 13 14
and so on
Thanks and Regards,
Ed
I have this table, it show like this:
Given no. USL LSL Measured value Deviation Out of Scope
(GN) + - (MV) (GN - MV) (This I want to get the answer) /
42 42.3 41.7 42.38 .38 .08 (to get this, must choose / which is more nearer, to the
/ Given no. the USL or / LSL
Hello, Chona,
I am sorry, it is not very clear what result you want to get. Please send a small sample workbook with your source data and the expected result to support@ablebits.com.
We’ll look into your task and try to help.
Hi Alexxander , can you please advice me something in comment # 269
I am trying to conditional format formulas that contain an adjustment to the formula. For example We will have A1+A2. I want to identify formulas that have A1+A2+1000 or A1+A2*2 etc. Formulas that have a component of the formula that is not a reference to another cell.
I already can conditional format cells containing formulas ve values. I just can't see formulas that are adjusted and not overwritten completely.
Thank you for the help.
Helllo Chris,
It is an interesting task. You need to add User Defined Function (UDF) to your workbook. Here is the code:
Function GetFormula(rng As range) As String
getFormula = rng.Formula
End Function
For more details how to insert and run VBA code in Excel, please see here:
https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/add-run-vba-macro-excel/
Then select all the cells with formulas that you want to check, e.g. from F2 till E20, and create a conditional formatting rule using the formula below:
=NOT(ISERR(FIND(RIGHT(GetFormula($B$3),LEN(GetFormula($B$3))-1),GetFormula(F2),1)))
Where $B$3 is the cell with a sample formula that you want to search, e.g. =A1+A2.
If you know for sure what “text” you are looking for, then replace this part of the formula RIGHT(GetFormula($B$3),LEN(GetFormula($B$3))-1) with the “text” you want to search, e. g.:
=NOT(ISERR(FIND("A1+A2",GetFormula(F2),1)))
Hello-- Using Excel 2007---2 questions--
1st --I have a column of cells (column B) containing text and two digit numbers in the same cell. I want the column next to it (column A) to have a conditional format based on whether that 2nd column has a number within a specific range. Meaning if it has a number between 10 and 19 the first column will be green, if between 20 and 29 it will be red, if it has a value between 30 and 40 it is a blue.
2nd--Is it is possible to have is rule skip a number if it is followed by the word "egg" and only read the 2nd number for the conditional formatting rule?
Here are some examples of the text and number in the second column.
3 Split 15 Blast-(Column A Should be Green)
4 Right 16 Blast-(Column A Should be Green)
5 Split 23 Egg 16 Dive-(Column A Should be Green)
6 Split 38 Egg Fly 23 Dive-(Column A Should be Red)
7 Split 22 Dive 37 Egg-(Column A Should be Red)
8 Split 33 Dive 28 Egg-(Column A Should be Blue)
9 Split 33 Egg 28 Around-(Column A Should be Red)
10 Twins R 37 Egg Fly 24 Dive-(Column A Should be Red)
11 Split 23 Egg 30-R Flat-(Column A Should be Blue)
Is this possible
Hello Marty,
Thank you for the detailed description! Yes, it is possible, but you need the UDF function on VBA (to use regular expressions during the search).
I am sorry, we can’t help you with a macro. Please ask for it in specialized sections on http://www.mrexcel or http://www.excelforum.com
I'm using the "between" rule to color code some thickness data, but it is not being inclusive like it should. If the value is exactly the value of one of the bounds, then the cell stays white. I can fix it by having the values range to the value I want plus 0.001, but this is annoying and will take awhile to fix for all twenty tabs of data. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Hi
I have a rule
=IF(OR(DH1=8471702000,DH1=8471609000,DH1=9013901000,DH1=9031499090, DH1=8544422900,DH1=8541409000,DH1=8205400000,DH1=8504401990, DH1=8471703090,DH1=8443321200,DH1=9030311000),AND(BR1="CN", DD1="EXCH NEW"))
If it find these numbers in DH column and same for BR and DD column than it will color a column green,
Now i want to change the rule like color my required column if BR is "CN" and DD is "EXCH NEW" but only where there these no. are not coming in Column DH,
Means same formula just to ignore these no.
I tried in place of = but it does not work. It work if we right as a formula in cell but if i tried to add as a new rule in conditional formatting for color than it does not work.
Can you provide me any help or suggestion on this.
hi
i want to highlight values in a column based on the following condition:-
column to highlight is AC which has % figures in few rows.
CONDITION -if the dates in the cells range(J8:O8>8TH MAY'15)THEN HIGHLIGHT THE %VALUES IN COLUMN AC. rows
kindly suggest solution.
I have a Excel sheet where attendance of various students are marked.Now I would like to highlight the cells in which "present" occurs more than 7 times consecutively (i.e a student is present continuously for 7 days excluding sundays) for each student...?
Hi, I am referencing cells in a data entry worksheet to create coordinating filled cells in a separate sheet. However, when I use Format Painter to copy the conditional formats I created into 6 additional cells, and then edit the cell references to the coordinating cells in the data entry sheet, it changes all the cell references in all the "painted" formats. Is there a way to turn this off, or do I just have to write each conditional format independently?
Thanks for your help!
Hi, I have a question.
I have an excel spreadsheet that I am trying to compare pricing on.
So I have all the information of the vendor, product description, etc. In column L I have the price that the vendor charged us for that product. Each product description has a different contract price. However, the vendor does not always charge us the correct contract price. Is there anyway to apply this type of conditional formatting to a spreadsheet like this? Below is close to what my columns show.
Invoice # Number/SUPC Item Desc Purchase(cs) Vendor Price
5011210 157048861 PIE 2 cases $49.38
So the vendor charged us $49.38 per case, but we should have only been charged $49.11 per case.
Does this make sense as to what I am asking? I am having to go through this manually over 10,000 line items. Every lime item could be different though. I know excel has the tools and technique to help me with this, I am just not sure what formula to use.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
HI,
I just need to get an formula if week cover is higher than 3 how I can block the cell in CTN,so that others cant input anything in that cell.
Dept Article UPC Description Pac WHS CTN IN CTN IN SINGLES STR STK Incl Tst Avg Sale Week Cover
F02 20001578 62886 CRINKLE CUT CHIPS 12 600 50.00 0 31 31 4.15 7.46
F02 20002307 343121 CHUNKY COD FISH FINGERS 12 2076 173.00 0 28 28 5.76 4.87
F02 20002345 323796 STRAIGHT CUT CHIPS 12 1128 94.00 0 8 8 3.03 2.64
kindly covert all this in excel and let me know the fromula
I forgot to mention that the number 34 is the raw value I am using as a divisor. This value can change. For example it can be a 12 or 15 or whatever number.
I have a question.
I have this formula.
(ROUND(MROUND((RAND()*(99-75)+75), (100/34)),0) which correctly returns a random value between 75 and 100. However, I want it to return a value that does not equal 100. I am a bit stuck on this one. So for example, it will return a whole number but it will round the value up to 100 on some trials. That is not good. How can I reconfigure this forumla to react properly? Thanks.
Hi Svetlana,
I have a table with some name positions and values for them in 3 currencyes ($, Euro, GPB)
Have already made a function that whenever I select one of the currency to bring the value just for the respective currency that I have selected. The problem is that it will bring just the value.
Is there any format function that when I select the currency type to format the cell in (either $, E, or GPB - what I selected), so that it will not birng only the value that I need, but to be formated and contain the currency?
Many thanks
Hi Vladimir,
It's difficult to advise anything without seeing your formula. In most cases, you can use the concatenation operator, like this:
=IF(A1="$", B1&"$", "")
or
=IF(A1="$", B1&A1, "")
Dear Svetlana
Looking at all of these posts you certainly do know your stuff!
I need to use duplicate conditional formatting to identify duplicates within a single column, however, I want this to apply to certain cells within the column, so E1-E3, then to start again at E4-E11 etc. I have ~1500 rows of data. The range of cells I want it to perform this on is dependent upon values in another column, which always start at 1 and increase in ones i.e.1,2,3 etc. I want the conditional formatting to start again every time it comes across a 1 for the second time within the other column:
Presentation Chosen box
1 4
2 10
1 4
2 6
3 8
Here, Excel should not highlight the two cells containing '4', as these are within separate ranges (range 1: 1,2; range 2: 1,2,3). I only want it to identify duplicates within the range of cells depending on the values in column 'presentation'.
I am not sure if this can be done. I have searched for a few hours and read various posts but it is looking bleak.
Many thanks in advance, Claire
Hi... I have to perform conditional formatting on a particular column, which should display the numbers entered into it, in 3 decimal format.
My Condition is such that, a cell say example : E5, has some product name "ABCD", based on this text, column of say for example 50cells, has to display the data entered into it in decimal format, for example : 5 decimal places....If the product name differs, the decimal format has to change as per the product.. Product is an electronic product, each product provides output in decimal format of different decimal places(5, 4, 3, 2, etc,.).
Hello,
I am hoping you can help me with a question I have in regards to conditional formatting a cell.
I am try to conditional format cell D3 so that it is green if it is more than 50%>B3*20, red if it is <B3*20, and yellow in between.
Is this possible?
Thanks,
Jackie
Hi Jackie,
Here are the green and red formulas as per your conditions:
Green (if D3 is more than 50% greater than B3*20): =D3-(B3*20)/B3*20>50%
Red (if D3 is less than B3*20): =D3<B3*20
And exactly what "in between" means? :)
Thank you so much! :)
There is no in between.