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 9. Total comments: 1719

  1. I'm trying to figure out how to use conditional formatting on the results of a formula. For example. G2 is a DOB, H2 is a calculation of the age in months based on the current date and the DOB. I would like to be able to format so that the results of the formula in H2 can be categorized. If H2 >0 and or= 24 and <or=47, the cell will be yellow, etc. It seems that I cannot use the "value" function because the value is the formula that calculate the month. The only alternative I can find is to individually conditionally format for "text contains" and type in each month value (which 12 months x 16 years which seems excessive). Please advise!

    1. Hi!
      If H2 contains a number, use H2=24 or similar. I don't understand the conditions you describe so I can't offer a formula.

  2. Hi. In column B is a list of days/dates. I have a cond. format that turns the cell blue on todays date. Simple enough.
    However, i'd like cell R to be highlighted on yesterdays row, today.
    Tue-06 7 :57 12:30 13:0 17:11 44 34
    Wed-07 7:33 12:30 13:5 17:0 50 2
    So if WED-07 was highlighted as thats today, i'd also like 44 34 highlighted from yesterday.
    Does that make sense.

      1. Hi
        That was my first thought but it doesn't seem to work. Would have been simple

        1. The dates in column b are typed manually. How would another cell know what yesterdays date is? Would i have to have a seperate cell with todays date - =today() ??

  3. Hi. Could you help me with conditional formatting for the following scenario, please?

    If cell B1 has '00-Jan-00' in it, then cell A1 needs to be highlighted in red (regardless of what A1 has in it)

    Thanks

  4. what is the correct function or format to utilize if i want to have an up arrow if value in one cell is greater than value in another cell
    down arrow if less than

    wanting to track if rate is trending up or down each week

    1. Or you can compare two columns using conditional formatting Icon Set arrows as explained in this example.

  5. Hi, I am trying to conditionally format some test results. I have a table with columns for each question and the marks that each student got. I have made it an actual table within excel and added in the 'total row' option within the table editing. Within this bottom row I have put the maximum values for each mark. I wanted to then use these as the references for conditional formatting.

    However, it is not working. And it is something to do with using the 'total row', it is as though excel will not recognise values in this row for conditional formatting.

    Any ideas?

    PS I would prefer to have them in the total row at the bottom for visual purposes, I know I could move them elsewhere and make it work, but I want this to work (and also to find out why it isn't working!)

    1. Hi!
      I kindly ask you to have a closer look at the article above. Perhaps you are not using an absolute reference to the total row.
      For example,

      =A1>$A$10

  6. OK, so I hope someone can help me figure this out. I have two columns, first one is year of purchase and the second is end of life (EOL). So, column one will have year 2019, column two has a formula in it that adds 5 years to the first column, (2019+5). So, purchase date will be 2019 and EOL is 2024. I'd like to use conditional formatting to show when the device is getting closer to replacement. This way the EOL column turns green as long as the device is 3 years old or younger, 3-4 years old would be yellow, 4-5+ years turns red.

    Thanks for any help that can be given.

    Aaron

  7. We have somethings with expiration dates and want to make a spreadsheet that will show us (in yellow) when they are 30-60 days from expiring and (in red) when they are <30 days as well as past the due date, and all other cells are to remain white. We want the color in column C and the date in column B. We also only need the month and year and can't figure out how to set it to only show mm/yy (as in 09/22). Excell used to not be this complicated but we sure can't figure it out now-can anyone help with this?

    Thank you!

  8. I have column A with days and dates listed. I then have five columns (B:F) with a drop down menu of "Yes", "No", "Maybe".

    What formula should I use in the Column A cells to turn just that cell in Column A to green if all other 5 columns (B:F) are "Yes" OR to turn the date cell in Column A to red if all other 5 columns (B:F) are "No". Those rows with a mix of yes, no, maybe could remain uncoloured in Column A.

    Thanks in advance.

  9. Hi, I am trying to compare two table in two different sheets for duplicate values. Can i please ask what is your opinion in regards of what should i use for that ? Thank you in advance.

  10. I love your tools and they make my life much easier. I would like to format a cell based on the following:

    If a cell in column L contains "N0" and I would like to format the corresponding cell in Colum A the same color as the format in Column L.

  11. MY mac does have "new rules type" under "New format". What can I do ? TIA

    1. Hi!
      To create a new conditional formatting rule on mac, follow Home - Conditional formatting - New rule - Style: Classic - Use a formula (or other options of your choice).

  12. Hi Alexander Trifuntov, it worked like charm , nice and appreciate you help and this portal

  13. Sire, i trying to lookup 4 cells if any of the Cell contains text "Yes" than it should give a ouptu in a new cell with a text "Match found". How can i achieve this . Thanks

      1. Hi Alexander Trifuntov, it worked like charm , nice and appreciate you help and this portal

  14. PLEASE HELP

    I've tried everything. I have a formula that I know works in another excel sheet I already have. I have followed it exactly- to the the T again (and even copied and pasted) and copied and pasted the format only too. It goes like this
    I have A4 Cell that will either contain 100% (or other varying percentages) (I've put this in text, general, numbers, percentages, etc. - still no fix). I want the B4 Cell to turn gray if A4 has 100%.
    I select "Use a formula to determine which cells to format"
    Format where this formula is true:
    =$A4=''100" (I've also put "100%)

    In my other excel where this formula works the formula is true when =$A4="Yes" but I'm guessing there is a problem because its a percentage or number? Please let me know

  15. Hello,

    Thank you for the above post, I learnt a lot and have been able to conditionally format some cells I need but I am still stuck on a particular one.

    I would like AE11 to turn yellow if greater than AE4 or green if less than AE4.

    I have formatted these rules with no luck:
    Rule 1: =AE11 >= $AE$4 (yellow)
    Rule 2: =AE110,SUM(AE5:AE10),"") and the value of AE4 is generated based on the formula =IF($C$11 = 1,"1",IF($C$11 = 2,"3",IF($C$11 = 3,"5",IF($C$11 = 4,"6",IF($C$11 = 5,"8",IF($C$11 = 6,"9","")))))). Is the fact both cells contain a formula affecting my ability to conditionally format?

    Please excuse my messy rules, just starting out.

    1. Sorry, something has gone wrong with my post and now it doesn't make sense.

      The crux of my problem is AE11 and AE4 both contain formulas. How do I conditionally format cells when the cells already contain a formula?

        1. Hey,

          I have checked my formulas in both AE11 and AE4 and they are both working.

          The formula for AE11 is =IF(AD5>0,SUM(AE5:AE10),"")

          While the formula for AE4 is =IF($C$11 = 1,"1",IF($C$11 = 2,"3",IF($C$11 = 3,"5",IF($C$11 = 4,"6",IF($C$11 = 5,"8",IF($C$11 = 6,"9",""))))))

          They are both returning what is expected of them. I want to conditionally format AE11 so it turns yellow if greater than AE4 or stays white if less than or equal to AE4.

          1. Hi!
            Your second formula returns numbers as text. You cannot compare text and number. Do not use double quotes in it. Instead of "3" write 3.

            1. Thank you, thank you, thank you! It is working perfectly now.

              You are very generous in sharing your expertise.

  16. Dear Alex,

    I need to fill the current cell with some colour if the font colour of the matching data from another sheet is red. Kindly tell us the syntax ?

    Thanks in advance

      1. Thank you so much

  17. Dear Sir/Mam,
    Need support for excel formula.
    I want to show aging report to management.
    if last three days not single qty dispatch showing colour Yellow, if not dispatched last 5 days showing colour Red.

    please supoort.
    I have data
    Date wise FG in qty & date wise dispatch qty,

    Regards,
    Indrajit Raut

  18. I am using conditional formatting on a calendar. I created a scheduler where I enter appointments and the appointments then appear on the calendar using a vlookup. The scheduler is just a pivot table that is very rudimentary, but it really looks nice when it is moved to the calendar. The problem I am having is that when I try to search the pivot table for the condition it is highlighting everyday on my calendar because it is picking up the formulas in the pivot table rather than the results of the formulas. How do I get the conditional formatting to search for the value/results that the formulas give rather than the formula itself?

  19. Hello, hoping you can help me! I have a spreadsheet with column headings:
    BUDGET - these are $ values
    ACTUAL - these are $ values
    VARIANCE - this is a % difference
    I want to use conditional formatting in the ACTUAL cell BUT based on the result in the VARIANCE cell, eg:

    If the VARIANCE is >90%, then format ACTUAL green
    If the VARIANCE is between 76%-89%, then format ACTUAL orange
    If the VARIANCE is <75%, then format ACTUAL red

    Hoping you can help! Thanking you in anticipation!

    1. Hi!
      Have you tried the ways described in this blog post? Pay attention to the following paragraph of the article above – Formulas to compare values. Create a separate rule for each color.

  20. I want to highlight the corresponding values of Y axis with X axis. I have about 3000 units.
    V lookup can find only 1 data at a time. I am looking for the way where i can find all 3000 values in X axis and their corresponding Y axis value (it is in text format)

  21. I am creating a spreadsheet where I have a drop-down with numbers 1, 2, and 3 in column C. I want to associate a different set of locker combinations to each number in column D depending on which number I select in column C... how can I best accomplish this?

    Thank you!

  22. Hello,

    I'm having trouble getting my conditional formatting to work. I have a column formatted to turn red, yellow, or green, based on how far out the date is. That part is working fine, however, I also have formatting set to grey the cell out if a separate column is marked "yes". This is working on some cells but not others and I see no reason why it shouldn't work. I have tried completely deleting all formatting and starting over. I have tried using just the grey format and it still only applies to the same cells and not the others. My formula is simple and reads =R2="yes". Do you know why this works on some cells and not others?

    1. Hello!
      Unfortunately, without seeing your data it is difficult to give you any advice. Check if other conditional formatting rules apply to these cells. Also, check the values in column R. There may be extra spaces or other characters.

  23. I have a spreadsheet (spreadsheet 1) with all addresses in our county (about 140,000). Those addresses have latitude and longitude assigned to them.

    I have another spreadsheet (spreadsheet 2) of about 300 people who signed up and gave their address to participate in a program to pick up material at their home for free. I want to conditionally match those addresses with addresses in spreadsheet 1 so I can locate people that signed up on a map using their latitude and longitude (this method is more accurate than other methods available).

    Using the following formula I got about 80 of the 300 addresses in spreadsheet 2 to match with addresses in spreadsheet 1 =COUNTIFS(Address, $O2)

    (Address in that formula is a Named Range in spreadsheet 2, which I read enables me to compare columns from two different spreadsheets, and it worked.)

    The failed matches is because people who signed up did not always write their street name the same way the county has it in its records. But they almost always get their street number correct, and the first word of the street name, so I am guessing matching about the first 12 characters will capture many more matches.

    So, I want to conditionally format a match of the first 12 characters in the address column on spreadsheet 1 with the first 12 characters in the address column on spreadsheet 2.

    I have tried =COUNTIFS(LEFT(Address,12),LEFT($O2,12)) and a number of other formulas, but all have been rejected by Excel. Help getting the correct formula would be greatly appreciated.

    1. Hello!
      COUNTIFS function cannot use formula instead of a range of values. If you want to count the number of matches, use the SUMPRODUCT function.

      =SUMPRODUCT(--(LEFT(Address,12)=LEFT($O2,12)))

      You can also use the SEARCH function to search for matches.

      =SUM(--ISNUMBER(SEARCH(LEFT($O2,12),Address)))

      I hope it’ll be helpful. If something is still unclear, please feel free to ask.

      1. Thank you Alexander for your swift response! I apologize for my long-delayed Thank You.

        I wish I could say your answer worked. It is entirely possible your answer would work if I had more knowledge on how to apply it.

        Bottom line is after trying your formulas (probably wrongly) I gave up and used a geocoding website (not perfect results, but appears to be pretty good). Even if I were able to use your formulas properly, this kind of problem really needs a fuzzy match, because of the mistakes people make when they write their address. From what I have read that is far trickier than what I asked about and beyond my very basic Excel skills, so rather than try to become an Excel expert for this one problem I decided to give up.

        Thank you again for trying to help me, and for helping others here!

  24. I need to the following to be conditionally formatted in the following manner:

    1. if Column F = 4 I need the cells that have an "R" in columns G-W to be red.
    2. if Column F = 3 I need the cells that have an "R" in columns G-W to be yellow.
    3. If Column E = Y I need names in column C to be highlighted in Blue.

    Any help would be greatly apprciated

  25. Your created a Conditional Formatting Rule that will highlight the cell if any of the values in the range A3:A50 meets or exceeds the new Client Goal of 3 in cell A1, using this Rule: “=$A$3>=$A$1”. However, the formatting was changed for the entire range whether the criteria was met or not. What probably went wrong?

    A. The Conditional Formatting Rule should be: =A$3>=$A$1

    B. The Conditional Formatting Rule should be: =$A$3=A1

    C. The Conditional Formatting Rule should be: =$A$3>$A$1

    D. The Conditional Formatting Rule should be: =A3>=$A$1

  26. 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

  27. 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!

  28. 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.

  29. 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!!

  30. 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

  31. 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

  32. 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!

  33. 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 !!

  34. 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.

  35. 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!

  36. 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.

  37. 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?

  38. 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.

  39. 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

  40. 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.

  41. 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!

  42. 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?

  43. 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.

  44. 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.

  45. 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.

  46. 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?

  47. 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.

  48. 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.

  49. 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.

  50. 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.

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