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 4. Total comments: 1709

  1. I work a lot with conditional formatting, sometime up to 100's at a time.
    Since the excel is more and more used in the cloud, and VBA is not possible anymore, I stumble across this, which maybe, very maybe, can be resolved by conditional formatting:

    I change a value in a matrix, let's keep it simple $A$2:$E$2
    By a formula I can change the date in $F$2 to today

    Is it possible to do the following with conditional formatting (it is NOT possible with a formula):
    I want $G$3 to display the date of the last change in the matrix.

    Since everything is always updated, I think it must be impossible however, there is a menu 'review/show latest changes', is there way to access those values, then we are saved.

    thanks for any response
    Johan

  2. Compare 2 columns for duplicates
    for this part I used this formula
    for column A:=COUNTIFS($B1$:$B$5,A1)>=1
    for column B:=COUNTIFS($A1$:$A$5,B1)>=1

  3. Hi!
    This is very helpful. I do have a question, though: I'm trying to set up a formula for a material list in Excel at work. The material list tab has a column for Quantities, Materials, and Unit Prices. The Unit Prices for each material item are auto-generated into each cell on Column I based on a material cost database located on a separate tab in the workbook. The material cost database is pretty comprehensive, but it does not provide a unit cost for all material items, so if an item is selected on the Material List tab that does not have a unit price in the database, Column I will show pricing for that item as $0.00 on the Material List tab. I would like to set up a formula that highlights that cell so that it flags attention to the missing cost.

    Example: Let's say I want to price a quantity of five pieces of wood that are 2x4x16'. I first enter a quantity of "5" in cell A5. I then select "2x4x16'" in the drop-down menu in cell D5. The unit price for this item will automatically appear in cell I5 and the extended price for the total cost of five pieces will appear in cell J5. Now, let's say I want to change the length of the boards from 16' to 14'. So I use the drop-down menu to select "2x4x14'". However, let's say that a price does not yet exist for the 14' boards in the cost database, so the unit price in cell I5 shows $0.00 instead of a unit cost. In this scenario, since I'm asking it for a price on a quantity (five boards), I want cell I5 to highlight itself so that it shows a missing unit cost for this item. At the same time, I also don't want the cell to turn red if the quantity listed in A5 is set to zero. Does this make sense? I've tried using the formula =AND(A5>0, I5>=0), but it did not work as I was hoping because it is now turning cell I5 red whenever a quantity greater than zero is entered into A5. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

  4. can you please help in manage the following formatting:
    They should be conditionally formatted so X days to 20 days have a no background, 30-15 days are in a yellow background, and 15-0 days are in Red. Once it goes into active status, +1 days, the conditional formatting background should become green.

    As for the end date time delta:
    The conditional formatting should be green until 4 months from contract end, at three months the background should be conditionally formatted to be shaded yellow, and then at 1 month, the background should be red.

    Also, please use the start date, end date or extension dates in the tracker and not ones that are two weeks out. We need real countdown to when the call order goes live.

  5. This is all beyond me however, I am trying to learn. I want to change the colour of the font in a cell when 2 other cells have text in the cell. i.e. B2=when C2 and D2 have text. Is this something that is possible? Any help would be greatly received.

  6. Hi,

    Fascinating examples and too complicated for me. I have only used conditional formatting for finding duplicates in different columns. It works fine for most item but some items that appear to be identical are not marked in red. My case is addresses. I am very carful about spacing, spelling, and punctuation all of which if not identical will fail to fail two items as identical. Any idea why Excel refuses to recognize visually identical items in isolated instances? After copying one oveer the other they do turn red (obviously). This is frustrating in trying to elimiate duplicate addresses. Any? idea what is going on.

    Charles

  7. Hi,
    I wonder if you can help me as I am tearing my hair out. I am trying to highlight a cell when the date becomes overdue but then change say from red overdue to green done. My column with the wording overdue and done does not show in the formula. The cell I want to highlight (J4) has the formula

    =IF(AND([@[Status ]]="Complete",[@Complete]=1),1,IF(ISBLANK([@[Due Date ]]),-1,IF(AND([@[Status ]]"Complete",TODAY()>[@[Due Date ]]),0,-1)))

    I cannot see where these words are fetched from unless they are hidden somewhere.

    1. Hi! It is very difficult to understand a formula that contains unique references to your workbook worksheets. Hence, I cannot check its work. However, the conditional formatting formula must return TRUE or FALSE (1 or 0), not -1. For conditional formatting, your formula cannot work.

  8. I am trying to replicate a conditional format. For each new cell the conditional value changes. So for example the result in A2 is /= to A1 but the result in B2 is /= B1. So far I can only get the results for A2-F2 to be conditional on A1 and not change for each new cell. I hope I'm explaining this right! Apart from just doing over 100 cells individually is there a way to easily replicate. Thanks

  9. I am trying to highlight duplicated if column A and column B are the same. I am creating a spreadsheet with book and page Column A is the Book and Column B is the page I want the duplicates of the same book and page. So if book 135 and page 2 repeats I want that highlighted. Is there a way to do this?

  10. Hi, I am trying to highlight a cell if the value of one cell id not equal to AND the value of a cell is equal to.

    I tried this but is not working

    =IF(AND($C44"#N/A",$D44="#N/A"),TRUE,FALSE)

  11. Hi, I have a list of dates for deliverables and want to highlight those that are due today; due this week; due next week; etc. I used the 'Date Occurring' prebuilt criteria which is great for highlighting the date (in column C), BUT I want to also highlight the task description (in column A) the same colour as the date. I can use the formula, but I cannot see a formula that has the concept of "This week" (I can do 'between TODAY() and TODAY()+7' but this is not the same concept as 'This week' which is the Sun-Sat week (or Mon-Sun).

    Do you have any suggestions? Otherwise I will just have to rebuild it using the 'between' formula which doesn't quite do what I wanted (with people being able to see those tasks due this working week, next working week, etc. and would instead be due in the next 7days, or the next 7-14 days.

    Any suggestions? Thanks :)

    1. I have solved it, though there may be a more efficient way.

      I ended up using the "WEEKNUM" function. So, if the due date is in cell C1, then:

      This week is WEEKNUM(TODAY())=WEEKNUM($C1)
      Next week is WEEKNUM(TODAY()+1=WEEKNUM($C1)

      If there is a better way, I'd be happy to hear it. As it is, this is my IF statement for the due date descriptor column:
      =IF(ISNUMBER($C1),IF($C1TODAY(),$C1TODAY(),$C1<TODAY()+31),"This month",""))))))),"")

      This may be a bit overdone with too many options so may be refined (removing the next fortnight for example), but for now it's what I was after.

      Happy to hear any feedback/criticism/ideas!

      Keep up the great work :)

      1. It cut off my IF statement as it doesn't like some of the syntax. Not sure how to get around that. Needless to say, that formula is not correct! :)

  12. I am trying to figure out how to use conditional formatting so that if I have a group of five cells the fifth cell is red unless there is text in any of those five cells. So I would like A5 to be the color red but if there is text in any cell A1:A5 then the color of the A5 cell would be gray. Is this possible?

  13. Hello! Im looking to create a conditional format rule to highlight when a commission was not paid, but was supposed to.
    I have "Yes" or "No" values where the column is the month, and the row is a policy that commission should have been paid to.
    I also have another field in a separate column the date the commission should have started
    For example:
    Commission start: 10/22
    Payment status:
    10/22 No
    11/22 Yes
    12/22 NO

    I want it to basically highlight the 12/22 field because a commission was NOT received even though it should have been (after that commission start date)
    Any advice?

    1. Hi! I hope you have studied the recommendations in the tutorial above. Unfortunately, this information is not enough to recommend a formula to you. It is not clear how your data is written. However, "12/22" and "12/22 NO" are text. You cannot compare the text "10/22" to the text "12/22".

  14. I have been struggling with conditional formatting for weeks trying to crack this code! I have a spreadsheet that is tracking Personnel (Column A), with a completion date (Column C) within a time frame of 6 months. I have set up 3 cells with current date (E44), start date (E47), due date (E48) separate from the table.
    I need a formula that will highlight cells in column A, based on whether Column C is blank AND a specific Cell (E44) is within 60/30/15 days of the due date listed in Cell (E48). Each increment will be formatted to a different color (i.e.60=blue, 30=yellow, 15=red).

    1. Hi! If I understand your task correctly, the following conditional formatting formula should work for you:

      =AND(ISBLANK(C1),$E$48-$E$44<60)

      Combine the conditions using the AND function.

  15. Hi All - I'm not sure if this is possible but would like to pick your experience and knowledge to see what could be done...

    I'm trying to apply a conditional formatting on a column.. to change the cell color when it meets the below conditions:

    1. Cells in the column where we have conditional formatting applied should be more than 0
    AND
    2. Value in the adjacent cell in the same row should be a fixed text
    AND
    3. Value in a fixed cell anywhere in the file should be a fixed text.

    Example:
    I have texts in cell A3, A6, A7, A9.... = Deployed
    I have text in cell B2 = Not Deployed
    I have text in cell C2 and D2 = Deployed

    I need to have conditional formatting applied in column D, the conditions should be as mentioned above... If I'm looking at Cell D3, if the value is more than 0, if the value in D2 = Deployed and if the value in A3 is Deployed, then the cell D3 should be colored green..

    I have tried a lot of combinations and formulae and its not working... any help would be highly appreciated.

    1. Hi! You have given two different descriptions of the task. The sample data does not match these descriptions. It is not clear to which data range you want to apply conditional formatting. If you need help, please describe your problem accurately.

  16. Hi there! I'm having quite a bit of difficulty with conditional formatting. I've been trying to figure this out for weeks now! I would appreciate any amount of help!

    Here's an example of what I'm working with:

    Column A has dates and Column B has rooms. I want a duplicate value in Column B to be highlighted only if there is also a duplicate date in Column A of the same rows. Basically, if Room 1 is being listed twice on the one date, I'd like it to be highlighted.

    For example: I would like to have a formula that formats B2 and B3 if A2 and A3 are the same, but not include B4, because the room is different, and not B5 because the date is different.

    A2 B2
    01 January Room 1 - Highlight
    A3 B3
    01 January Room 1 - Highlight
    A4 B4
    01 January Room 2
    A5 B5
    02 January Room 1

  17. Hi everyone!

    I'm having a hard time working with conditional formattig on Excel Online. I don't know if the logics are different from the desktop version, but I feel like the formulas are very simple and straight-forward, however they are not working as I expect them to. I have a fill with multiple data validations in place but unfortunately this data validations do not work because we usually copy and paste data from other sheets and paste it on this one, which seems to bypass the validations. So I have been trying to use conditional formatting to highlight the cells instead.

    Here are two examples:

    1. For a column (F) with data validation list, I want to highlight the cells it if the text is not Proper case. I'm using the following conditional formatting rule: Apply to range F2 and Highlight cells with cell value not equal to =EXACT($F2,PROPER($F2)). The issue is that this highlights all the cells. My expectations is that it should highlight "this example" but not "This Example". I also tried changing range to F2:F, F2:F2 and changing the formula to =EXACT(F2,PROPER(F2)) | =AND(EXACT(F2,PROPER(F2)),ISTEXT(F2))

    2. For a column (B) with data validation based on length, I want to highlight the cells if the value is not equal to exactly 10 characters. I'm using the following conditional formatting rule: Apply to range B2 and Highlight cells with cell value not equal to =LEN(B2)=10. The issue is that this highlights all the cells as well. My expectations is that it should highlight "123" or "123456789012345" but not "1234567890".

    I'd appreciate any help with this. Thanks in advance!

  18. Hello,
    I have a conditional formatting for a file and was wondering if you could help.
    I will use | to show how the file columns are set up with 1 set of headers in row 3.

    |Current|Comparison|New|Special1|Special2|Current|Comparison|New|Current|Comparison|New|Special1|Current|Comparison|New|

    The conditional formatting looks at the data under Current and New to highlight is based on the values. (like if Current is 5 and New is 0, then fill color is Red. If Current is 5 and New is 10, then fill color is Orange)

    With the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager, Applies To:
    Currently I have to add the range for every column I need it applied to. (like this, =$O$4:$O$12,$T$4:$T$12,$W$4:$W$12,$AA$4:$AA$12)
    How I can apply to a whole range ($O$4:$AA$12), but if the column header row 3 = "New"?

  19. JA51______________________JD51___________JE51___________________JF51________________JG51
    *Jul - Overtime __________9:00____________R4 277.37_____________9:00________________R4 277.34

    Sorry, I am resending my request to see if me worksheet extract will be better understood.

    I want to highlight cells JA51:JG51 green when JE51 is within 5% of JG51. In row 3, I have numbered the columns for use in another formula.

    I have tried the conditional formatting formula below. When I split the two AND functions, they both work, bur when I combine them into the AND function, I get no highlight.

    =AND(INDIRECT(ADDRESS(ROW(),JA$3+3,3))>=(INDIRECT(ADDRESS(ROW(),JA$3+5,3))*0.95),INDIRECT(ADDRESS(ROW(),JA$3+3,3))<=(INDIRECT(ADDRESS(ROW(),JA$3+5,3))*1.05))

    Many Thanks

  20. JA51 JD51 JE51 JF51 JG51
    *Jul - Overtime > 180: 9:00 R4 277.37 9:00 R4 277.34

    Good Afternoon

    I want to highlight cells JA51:JG51 green when JE51 is within 5% of JG51. In row 3, I have numbered the columns for use in another formula.

    I have tried the conditional formatting formula below. When I split the two AND functions, they both work, bur when I combine them into the AND function, I get no highlight.

    =AND(INDIRECT(ADDRESS(ROW(),JA$3+3,3))>=(INDIRECT(ADDRESS(ROW(),JA$3+5,3))*0.95),INDIRECT(ADDRESS(ROW(),JA$3+3,3))<=(INDIRECT(ADDRESS(ROW(),JA$3+5,3))*1.05))

    Many Thanks

  21. Hello Svetlana Cheusheva,
    I am doing a very simple =A1'OLD'!A1. I am applying it to cells A1:CH3000

    I have a column CC that has mixed formatted data (some cells are numbers others are text) that is outputted from Access. It is coming out as "General" format.

    I have verified that BOTH New tab and Old Tab have same formatting for this column, yet EVERY cell in that column that has data is highlighted.

    If I go in to the cell, CC1 and check for spaces... the formatting resets and goes... hey I match CC1 on Old now.

    This is a huge doc and I'm trying to highlight changes from the previous week's report.

    2. =A1 'OLD'!A1
      The comment box keeps wiping out the It should read A1 is not equal to OLD A1

    3. =A1'OLD'!A1

  22. 'm trying to use conditional formatting to highlight cells containing a reference to a cell in another sheet. It works on some of the cells, but not all containing the said reference formula.
    What could be causing this?

  23. good day! I want to ask if its possible to highlight the lowest value based on the highlighted result in conditional formatting. Thank you!

  24. Hello.
    I created a conditional formatting rule to make text within a cell bold and red if it equals 'NEIN'.
    The rule does not work consistently. Every once in a while I have to manually change the color.

    It's not really a big deal, just a little frustrating.

    Is it possible to use a formula to automatically format text in a cell? I'm using Excel 2021 on Windows 10.

    Thanks in advance.

  25. Hello~

    I've tried conditional formatting and it doesn't apply formula.

    Example :

    I want to change the value of a cell to "0", if another cell has the word "cancelled" in it.

    The formula I've written:

    =if(D3="cancelled", "0", false)

    For some reason it doesn't apply to the cell or row.

    Thank you in advance~

    1. Hello! Conditional formatting cannot change the value of a cell. You need an Excel formula for that. You have written this formula. You can also change the value of a cell by condition using a VBA macro.

  26. I'm trying to use conditional formatting to highlight cells containing a reference to a cell in another sheet. It works on some of the cells, but not all containing the said reference formula.
    What could be causing this?

    1. Hi! Unfortunately, this information is not enough to give you any advice. Please specify what you want to do, what formula you used, and what problem or error occurred.

  27. I want to be able to dynamically color a range of cells based on another range of cells. From what I'm seeing here you would have to manually write a rule and manually program a format for every single possible color. This is an unacceptable solution. It should be easy to simply have a range from 1-10, and color your cells based on whichever value from 1-10 you have; you should not need to manually program all 10 rules.

  28. Hello! I am working on a workbook with 2 relevant sheets. I would like a cell to be formatted to a specific color depending on its membership to a specific table. The formula returns True properly and Fase properly, but I am unable to use the formula within the rule formula field.

    Sheet 1 (only the first column is relevant)
    ----------
    Role Name
    Permission Name 1
    Permission Name 2

    Sheet 2 (T_Permissions definition; only the first column is relevant)
    ----------
    [ Permission Name ]
    Permission Name 1
    Permission Name 2

    FORMULA:
    =(IFERROR(IF(VLOOKUP(A3, T_Permissions[Permission Name], 1, FALSE)=A3, TRUE, FALSE), FALSE))

    VLOOKUP finds A3 (Permission Name 1) within T_Permissions[Permission Name] and returns the permission name if found. False tag is set so i can filter the tables.
    If this returned permission name equals the initially referenced cell's value, return True. Else return False.
    If there was an error through this process, False should be returned

    If input in an individual cell, the output is TRUE when appropriate and FALSE when appropriate.
    When input to the conditional formatting rule, I receive the error "There is a problem with this formula" and recommends putting quotes to signify that it is not a formula.

    I have also tried to input the following as a rule:
    =OR(=IFERROR(IF(VLOOKUP(A3, T_Permissions[Permission Name], 1, FALSE)=A3, TRUE, FALSE), FALSE))
    and
    =False() OR (IFERROR(IF(VLOOKUP(A3, T_Permissions[Permission Name], 1, FALSE)=A3, TRUE, FALSE), FALSE))
    and
    =IFERROR(IF(VLOOKUP(A3, T_Permissions[Permission Name], 1, 0)=A3, 1, 0), 0)
    (this one will return 1 and 0 appropriately)

    Do you have any ideas? I'm new to excel (but not programming) and am frequently having to visit this site and the excel formula list,

    2. To clarify:
      VLOOKUP references A3 from Sheet 1 (A1 is blank, A3# is a list of permissions associated with the role of A2)
      and
      =OR(=IFERROR(IF(VLOOKUP(A3, T_Permissions[Permission Name], 1, FALSE)=A3, TRUE, FALSE), FALSE))
      should be
      =OR(IFERROR(IF(VLOOKUP(A3, T_Permissions[Permission Name], 1, FALSE)=A3, TRUE, FALSE), FALSE))

      all of these alternatives returned the same error

  29. I have a rule in column A and I copied a line of information from a different spreadsheet and pasted to the spreadsheet with the rule. Now the rule will not apply to the newly added information in column A.

    1. Hi! When copying and pasting from another table, you copy not only the values, but also the format. Therefore, conditional formatting will not be applied to this data. Use Paste Values.

  30. I am trying to format a running balance for fund tracking. I would like to use the 3-color scale to do so. For values =12001 AND <=3500). Whichever way the midpoint color scale works is fine with me, I just want to have the gradient effect as the values get lower and lower. Lastly once the remaining balance reaches a value of <12,000 I want those cells to be red. This way I can track when our remaining fund balance is getting low the color is a warning sign to either slow payments, or halt them altogether. I hope this makes sense. The numbers I will play around with a bit to see exactly what values I want in the formula bars, but I just can't get the conditional formatting to take to my range of column data. (Excel says I cannot use relative references which has me confused on whether or not the absolute references will always resort back to the FIRST cell's value or will it carry through the column.

    The running balance is a calculated column form some other columns nearby, and starts at the top value of 60,000. I want the scale to then change based on those above criteria. So as I progress throughout the year and spend funds down, the column I am trying to format is a calculated value based on the previous balance minus the new payment made. Does that affect my conditional formatting rules at all being a calculated cell? I would not think it would, but just brainstorming my own logic.

    I am trying to do the conditional formatting using formulas, since I want to highlight cells that meet certain thresholds as warnings to myself about getting close to running out of funds. Would appreciate any and all guidance please.

  31. Hi,
    Highlighted Rows filtered and display in the same sheet but deferent cell
    Eg.

    whatever highlighted in A to F should be filtered and display in J to O cell

    thnx

    1. Hi! Excel formulas can't see which rows you've highlighted. You can select a range of rows and work with it using a VBA macro.

  32. I have an excel with two cells. Each cell has a dropdown menu. The first cell has a 'Yes/No' choice, the second cell has five choices, but only ONE of those five is relevant to the 'Yes' choice of the first cell. Can a formula be written so that if 'Yes' is selected in the first cell, the second cell automatically fills in the only relevant choice in the second cell?

    For example:

    Cell 1: Yes/no - I select 'Yes'
    Cell 2: Choices 1-5 - it automatically selects choice 1, the only one that is relevant to 'Yes'

    ALTERNATELY

    Cell 1: Yes/no - I select 'No'
    Cell 2: Choices 1-5 - I select relevant choice from dropdown menu

    Any assistance would be appreciated.

  33. Can you help me about this subject?
    I need a formal If the date is old or identical to today's date
    , the message "Check must be performed" will appear, and if the date is in the future or equal to today's date, the same date will appear

  34. I have a colum with Reserved time| Pick up time| time Difference.
    i need to determine if the bus is early, on-time, or delayed (within the +/-30minute window how do I do a formula that selects early, on-time or delayed base on the +/-30 minute condition.

  35. I have a small database consisting of numbers from 10 to 20 that are scattered in the range(B3:F9 FOR EXAMPLE)
    Now, I want to format the top 3 numbers , so I used the TOP/BOTTOM RULES command, but what it is, it formats 5 numbers!!! for me, all of which are 20!!!WHATS WRONG?!!!!!!! While I expected numbers 19 and 18 to be highlighted

  36. Thanks a lot for this articles. It saved me a lot of time for solving a conditional formatting issue !
    By the way, I have been using the Ablebits Add-in since 3 years. It works great and heped me increasing my productivity a lot :)

  37. I am trying to use the same formula for multiple lines, example: =$H$5=$G$5 APPLIES TO =$A$5:$H$5. I want it to continue down each row and keeping the column references the same but changing the row reference. Is there an easy way to do this without writing the formula every time? (NEXT ROW WOULD BE =$H$6=$G$6 APPLIES TO =$A$6:$H$6

  38. I have an excel sheet with columns label years, 2000 , 2001, 2002, 2003 all the way to 2015 with lets say high temperature values. Going down the rows are days 1 , 2, 3 ect... so now I want to find the highest temperature across they years. So now lets say I found that it is 33.5C in over 15yrs (Using the MAx function) ... i now would want to find in which year that temperature value occurred ... example 33.5C occurred in 2010... But I would want that to be displayed in a column on its own.. can that be done?

  39. hi dear
    im using this formula =IF(AE4=""؛AD4؛AE4)
    when there isnt formula inside those cells(ad4 nd ae4) it work perfect but when I use formula inside those cells it dont work .(im using xlookup for gathering data for these cells)
    I want to use value of ae4 if its not empty other wise if its empty or blank or ziro i want to choice ad4 data
    plz help me

    1. Hi! If I understand correctly, you are trying to write this formula in cells AE4 and AD4. This creates circular references because the formula cannot reference itself. Choose a non-empty value inside the XLOOKUP formula.

  40. Hello, I work for a company that has approximately 400 agents.

    I am looking to create an Excel spreadsheet that can verify when an agent has gone past a certain time frame (when replying to a guest by email), and if possible, conditional formatting the time between receiving the email and responding to it.

    The idea is to verify if the agents are replying on time and to check, as a quality assurance department, how often this happens during the month.

    However, I am not sure how to create a formula for email threads that are in, for instance, outlook.

  41. I want to put a formula on an entire column without having to put that formula in a cell and dragging it down as I go.

    I want to put the invoice amount in column A and have column B automatically put the amount without tax (5%). I tried highlighting column B and making a new rule with conditional formatting using a formula of =SUM($A1/1.05). If I put $105 in the cell in column A I want column B to autofill the adjacent cell with $100 (the amount without tax).

    Right now nothing at all is coming up in column B when I put an amount in column A.

    What am I doing wrong? How do I apply a formula to an entire column with out dragging it down as I go?

    Thanks!

  42. Hi! I'm building a workbook that tracks employee performance which will (based on drop-down list selection) display a list of performance metrics/goals and subsequent ranges for achieving performance ratings (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5). I'm utilizing IF, VLOOKUP and IFS functions to identify which goals and ranges to display. The goals and ranges are housed in another sheet on the same workbook. For the metric, the reference formula looks like this: =IF($G$3="","",IF(VLOOKUP($G$3,Goals!$Z$3:$AG$9,5)=0,"",VLOOKUP($G$3,Goals!$Z$3:$AG$9,5))). For each cell returning the ranges for which performance results fall, I'm using: =IF($N$3="","",(IFS($G$3=Goals!$B$16,Goals!$I$17,$G$3=Goals!$B$2,Goals!$I$3,$G$3=Goals!$B$23,Goals!$I$24,$G$3=Goals!$B$30,Goals!$I$31,$G$3=Goals!$B$9,Goals!$I$10,$G$3=Goals!$B$44,Goals!$I$45,$G$3=Goals!$B$37,Goals!$I$38))).

    Since each Metric may vary in Format (i.e., Number, Percentage, Custom ([h]:mm:ss)), I'm wanting to use Conditional Formatting to change the Number Format of the range of cells pulling back performance ranges. The only way I've had success in doing this is to create Conditional Formatting based the values returned from the IF/IFS formula above. My issue is that the performance ranges aren't necessarily static, so I would prefer a method that could simply apply the appropriate Number Format based on the goal type returned from the IF/VLOOKUP formula (which is located in a Merged cell above the two columns where the ranges return. This would allow for the appropriate formatting to match the source based on the header.

    I'm not using an Inserted Table, because I need to Protect most of the document. Also, I've attempted using the "Use a formula..." Rule Type, but it isn't applying the desired Number Format. I've also tried applying General as the Format for the range of cells with which I'm having the issue.

    Is there a way to build Conditional Formatting that controls only the Number Format of a desired range based upon a heading derived from a VLOOKUP in a separate row from the desired range?

    Thank you!

    1. Hi! Unfortunately, your explanation is not very clear. However, I recommend to pay attention to the CELL function. With info_type "format" you can get the format code of the cell.

      1. I will read about the CELL function and see if I can use the format code to properly format the cells.

        Apologies for the unclear explanation. Essentially, the range of cells I'm trying to Conditionally Format would return references based on a header. Depending on which header, the returned data should appear with the appropriate Number Format. For instance, one header should return data as a Percentage, another should return it as a Number with no decimals, and yet another should return as Customer [h]:mm:ss.

        I hope that clears up what I'm trying to do. Thanks!

        1. I'm going to guess that you can use the recommendations from the article above and, for example, this formula for each type of formatting:

          =OR(A1="ABC",A1="DEF")

          Specify in this formula all possible values at which the percentage format, for example, should be applied.

  43. Hello,

    I have the following formula to format cells in column E. Idea is that they are coloured red when the values in column D and E met the conditions as stated in the formula (both textual values):

    =AND($D3="Noodzakelijk";$E3="Niet gestart")

    I also tried many other ways, including:

    =AND($D3="Noodzakelijk",$E3="Niet gestart")

    but Excel doesn't recognise this as a formula because of the komma.

    Any idea how to solve this?

    Rows 1 and 2 contain headers btw.

    1. Pls I want to apply 3 different colour codes to an entire column based on their values but referencing from another particular cell. Using conditional formatting, it is getting only colour from the first cell of that column

    2. Hi! Your conditional formatting formula works if you apply conditional formatting to a range of cells starting on row 3. For example, D3:E100

  44. Hope you can help....believe this is simple but still scratching my head.
    Trying to format a column of cells based on another cell text value. For example; If B10="Higher" conditional format cells in range B15:B25 and highlight the cell (single) that has the highest numeric value in that range. And if B10="Lower", conditional format the cells in range B15:B25 and highlight the cell that has the lowest numeric value. Note; the range my contain more than one higher or lower cells and i would want them to format also.

    thanks

    -Mxc

  45. Hi there

    I really hope you can help ... I'm trying to use conditional formatting to change text colour based on comparing the values in two columns. There are four rules I'll need to apply using different formulas for each:

    FORECAST - NOT BOOKED: if the value in column C is higher than zero, and the value in column D is zero then make the text colour blue
    FORECAST - UNDERBOOKED: if the value in column C is higher than zero, and the value in column D is less than the value in column C then make the text colour purple
    FORECAST - OVERBOOKED: if the value in column C is higher than zero, and the value in column D is more than the value in column C then make the text colour red
    NOT FORECAST - BOOKED: if the value in column C is zero, and the value in column D is higher than zero then make the text colour orange

    Fingers and everything crossed you can help. Thank you so very much in advance!!

    Best regards
    Lynne

    1. Hi! I hope you have studied the recommendations in the tutorial above. It contains answers to all your questions. Use the AND function to test both conditions. For example,

      =AND(C1>0,D1=0)

      1. Yeah, that's the formula I was using but I'd selected the actual row number i.e. C4 rather than C1 and it wasn't working. I've now changed it to C1 and it works!!

        Thank you for your advice and clarity!!

        Kind regards
        Lynne

  46. Hello,
    I am trying to highlight column J values for the following condition:

    If all cells on C1:I1 are blank highlight J1.
    However, I want this applied to the whole table not just one row. Ex If C2:I2 cells are blank highlight J2.
    Is there a way to do this through conditional formatting?

      1. Thank you so much!!! It worked!

  47. Hi!

    I have a two part question that may go beyond conditional formatting capabilities, but though I might give it a shot. Essentially, I am using Excel to track training records for our company. We have 25 documents we train to, each with a different revision (they are periodically updated). Every person has the date and the revision of each document input into this spreadsheet. I was able to get the revision column to conditionally format properly (highlighting red) by comparing their latest trained revision to the latest revision released through the formula "=D4D$3", where D4 (and D5, D6, etc.) is the employees latest training and D3 is the revision of the latest released version of the document. This formula will be repeated 25 times, hence the non-absolute values except for row 3. My questions are:

    1. Next to these revision columns, I have the date the employees completed the training. Can I format these columns to highlight red based on the revision comparison? For example, in column C, I have the date of training for the document noted above (in column D). I made a formula the following formula to highlight cells red: "=D4D$3". However, nothing happens with this formula. Can you condition one cell based on comparison of values (in this case text) in two different cells?

    2. The first column is the person names. Not super necessary, but it would be nice if I could highlight the person's name based on the outcome of the formatting in the subsequent columns as described in the first paragraph above. Essentially, at a quick glance I'd like to be able to look at a person's name, and know they are missing updated training to one of the documents. Not sure how I would make the formula, but maybe an IF statement with a bunch of ORs comparing the employee's revision to latest revision (as seen in row 3 as mentioned in the first paragraph above). Is this a possibility?

    Let me know if there's anything I need to clarify in the query above.

    Thanks,

    1. Hi!
      If I understood correctly, select the range C4:C29 and apply the conditional formatting rule =D4<>$D$3 to it.
      I hope this will help.

  48. Hello,
    When I try to write the following conditional formatting with "Use a formula to determine which cells to format" I always get that standard warning message "There's a problem with this formula. Not trying to type a formula? ....."

    =AND(G11=6,M11=1800)

    I want to format M11 cell with green color by above conditional formatting.

  49. Can i make a formula that if a digit is greater than my fixed digit one column text will be highlighted automatically?

  50. Hi Alexander Trifuntov,
    I want one entire row to show from among the drop downs based on the values entered in another cell.
    I have drop downs 1. Below 100, 2. 100-110, Now I want an entire column cells to display the above result based on the values entered in another cell.
    ( ex. I have drops downs in H column with the above mentioned criteria, now I want these to come up automatically based on the values entered in Column G) If 89 is entered in Column G then Column H must show Below 100.

    Kindly help, I would be highly obliged.

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