Excel Conditional Formatting tutorial with examples

The tutorial explains all main features of Excel conditional formatting with examples. You will learn how to do conditional formatting in any version of Excel, efficiently use preset rules or create new ones, edit, copy and clear formatting.

Excel conditional formatting is a really powerful feature when it comes to applying different formats to data that meets certain conditions. It can help you highlight the most important information in your spreadsheets and spot variances of cell values with a quick glance.

Many users, especially beginners, find it intricate and obscure. If you feel intimidated and uncomfortable with this feature, please don't! In fact, conditional formatting in Excel is very straightforward and easy to use, and you will make sure of this in just 5 minutes when you have finished reading this tutorial :)

What is conditional formatting in Excel?

Excel Conditional Formatting is used to apply certain formatting to data that meets one or more conditions. Just like usual cell formatting, it lets you highlight and differentiate your data in various ways by changing cells' fill color, font color, border styles, etc. The difference is that it is more flexible and dynamic - when the data changes, conditional formats get updated automatically to reflect the changes.

Conditional formatting can be applied to individual cells or entire rows based on the value of the formatted cell itself or another cell. To conditionally format your data, you can utilize preset rules such as Color Scales, Data Bars and Icon Sets or create custom rules where you define when and how the selected cells should be highlighted. Excel conditional formatting

Where is conditional formatting in Excel?

In all versions of Excel 2010 through Excel 365, conditional formatting resides in the same place: Home tab > Styles group > Conditional formatting. Conditional formatting on the Excel ribbon

Now that you know where to find conditional formatting in Excel, let's move on and see how you can leverage it in your daily work to make more sense of the project you are currently working on.

For our examples, we will use Excel 365, which seems to be the most popular version these days. However, the options are essentially the same in all Excels, so you won't have any problems with following no matter what version is installed on your computer.

How to use conditional formatting in Excel

To truly leverage the capabilities of conditional format, you need to learn how to utilize various rule types. The good news is that whatever rule you are going to apply, it defines the two key things:

  • What cells are covered by the rule.
  • What condition should be met.

So, here's how you use Excel conditional formatting:

  1. In your spreadsheet, select the cells you want to format.
  2. On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Conditional Formatting.
  3. From a set of inbuilt rules, choose the one that suits your purpose.

    As an example, we are going to highlight values less than 0, so we click Highlight Cells Rules > Less Than… Using preset Highlight Cells Rules
  4. In the dialog window that appears, enter the value in the box on the left and choose the desired format from the drop-down list on the right (default is Light Red Fill with Dark Red Text).

    When done, Excel will show you a preview of formatted data. If you are happy with the preview, click OK. Preview of the conditionally formatted data

In a similar manner, you can use any other rule type that is more appropriate for your data, such as:

  • Greater than or equal to
  • Between two values
  • Text that contains specific words or characters
  • Date occurring in a certain range
  • Duplicate values
  • Top/bottom N numbers

How to use a preset rule with custom formatting

If none of the predefined formats suits you, you can choose any other colors for cells' background, font or borders. Here's how:

  1. In the preset rule dialog box, from the drop-down list on the right, pick Custom Format… Setting up custom formatting
  2. In the Format Cells dialog window, switch between the Font, Border and Fill tabs to choose the desired font style, border style and background color, respectively. As you do this, you will immediately see a preview of the selected format. When done, click OK. Choosing the fill color
  3. Click OK one more time to close the previous dialog window and apply the custom formatting of your choice. Custom format is applied to the selected cells.

Tips:

  • If you want more colors than the standard palette provides, click the More Colors… button on the Fill or Font tab.
  • If you wish to apply a gradient background color, click the Fill Effects button on the Fill tab and choose the desired options.

How to create a new conditional formatting rule

If none of the preset rules meets your needs, you can create a new one from scratch. To get it done, follow these steps:

  1. Select the cells to be formatted and click Conditional Formatting > New Rule. Create a new conditional formatting rule in Excel.
  2. In the New Formatting Rule dialog box that opens, select the rule type.

    For example, to format cells with percent change less than 5% in either direction, we choose Format only cells that contain, and then configure the rule like shown in the screenshot below: Choose the conditional formatting rule type.
  3. Click the Format… button, and then choose the Fill or/and Font color you want.
  4. Click OK twice to close both dialog windows and your conditional formatting is done! New conditional formatting rule is created and applied to the selected cells.

Excel conditional formatting based on another cell

In the previous examples, we highlighted cells based on "hardcoded" values. However, in some cases it makes more sense to base your condition on a value in another cell. The advantage of this approach is that irrespective of how the cell value changes in future, your formatting will adjust automatically to respond to the change.

As an example, let's highlight prices in column B that are greater than the threshold price in cell D2. To accomplish this, the steps are:

  1. Click Conditional formatting> Highlight Cells Rules > Greater Than…
  2. In the dialog box that pops up, place the cursor in the text box on the left (or click the Collapse Dialog icon), and select cell D2.
  3. When done, click OK.

As a result, all the prices higher than the value in D2 will get highlighted with the selected color: Create a conditional formatting rule based on another cell value.

That is the simplest case of conditional formatting based on another cell. More complex scenarios may require the use of formulas. And you can find several examples of such formulas along with the step-by-step instructions here:

Apply multiple conditional formatting rules to same cells

When using conditional formats in Excel, you are not limited to only one rule per cell. You can apply as many rules as your business logic requires.

For example, you can create 3 rules to highlight prices higher than $105 in red, higher than $100 in orange, and higher than $99 in yellow. For the rules to work correctly, you need to arrange them in the right order. If the "greater than 99" rule is placed first, then only the yellow formatting will be applied because the other two rules won't have a chance to be triggered - obviously, any number that is higher than 100 or 105 is also higher than 99 :)

To re-arrange the rules, this is what you need to do:

  1. Select any cell in your dataset covered by the rules.
  2. Open the Rules Manager by clicking Conditional Formatting > Manage Rules…
  3. Click the rule that needs to be applied first, and then use the upward arrow to move it to top. Do the same for the second-in-priority rule.
  4. Select the Stop If True check box next to all but the last rule because you do not want the subsequent rules to be applied when the prior condition is met.
Arrange the conditional formatting rules in the right order

What is Stop if True in Excel conditional formatting?

The Stop If True option in conditional formatting prevents Excel from processing other rules when a condition in the current rule is met. In other words, if two or more rules are set for the same cell and Stop if True is enabled for the first rule, the subsequent rules are disregarded after the first rule is activated.

In the example above, we have already used this option to ignore subsequent rules when the first-in-priority rule applies. That usage is quite evident. And here are another couple of examples where the use of the Stop If True function is not so obvious but extremely helpful:

How to edit Excel conditional formatting rules

To make some changes to an existing rule, proceed in this way:

  1. Select any cell to which the rule applies and click Conditional Formatting > Manage Rules…
  2. In the Rules Manager dialog box, click the rule you want to modify, and then click the Edit Rule… button. Edit a conditional formatting rule in Excel.
  3. In the Edit Formatting Rule dialog window, make the required changes and click OK to save the edits.

    That dialog window looks very similar to the New Formatting Rule dialog box used for creating a new rule, so you won't have any difficulties with it.

Tip. If you don't see the rule you want to edit, then select This Worksheet from the Show formatting rules for drop-down list at the top of the Rules Manager dialog box. This will display the list of all the rules in your worksheet.

How to copy Excel conditional formatting

To apply a conditional format you've created earlier to other data, you won't need to re-create a similar rule from scratch. Simply use Format Painter to copy the existing conditional formatting rule(s) to another data set. Here's how:

  1. Click any cell with the formatting you want to copy.
  2. Click Home > Format Painter. This will change the mouse pointer to a paintbrush.

    Tip. To copy the formatting to multiple non-contiguous cells or ranges, double-click Format Painter.

  3. To paste the copied formatting, click on the first cell and drag the paintbrush down to the last cell in the range you want to format. Copy conditional formatting to another range of cells.
  4. When done, press Esc to stop using the paintbrush.
  5. Select any cell in your new dataset, open the Rules Manager and check the copied rule(s).

Note. If the copied conditional formatting uses a formula, you may need to adjust cell references in the formula after copying the rule.

How to delete conditional formatting rules

I've saved the easiest part for last :) To delete a rule, you can either:

  • Open the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager, select the rule and click the Delete Rule button. Delete a conditional formatting rule.
  • Select the range of cells, click Conditional Formatting > Clear Rules and choose the option that fits your needs. Clear conditional formatting rules in Excel.

This is how you do conditional formatting in Excel. Hopefully, these very simple rules we created were helpful to get a grasp of the basics. Below, you can find a few more tutorials that can help you understand the inner mechanics and expand conditional formatting in your spreadsheets far beyond its traditional uses.

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314 comments

  1. i want select the one colour gradient bt only two colour is available how i can choos one colour or preset

  2. I want to color max value. but unable to color max value like that one (1). how to do it

  3. hi does anybody know how to make yes have a background value of 100%?

    So I am able link it to a dependent and can average everything out.

  4. Hello,
    I have a total of 50 employees. On a separate sheet, I have the list of employees who filed for leaves on a specific day however I'd like to highlight only the first 10% of 50 (which is 5) since the allowed number of leaves per day is 5 only. The basis is the Transaction ID:

    "Transaction
    ID" Employee # Name Date and Time Rqstd
    1 F025630 John Smith 4:30:03 PM
    2 F025631 John Doe 7:32:03 PM
    3 F025632 Jane Doe 12:30:03 AM
    4 F025633 Jane Smith 1:30:03 AM
    5 F025634 Tony Stark 1:35:03 AM
    6 F025635 Steve Rogers 1:36:03 AM
    7 F025636 Clint Barton 2:30:03 AM
    8 F025637 Natasha Romanoff3:30:03 AM
    9 F025638 Bruce Banner 6:30:03 AM
    10 F025639 Thor Odinson 9:30:03 AM

    How do I do that?

  5. please help me ,
    if i am type 20-2 in excle 2013 then excle take 43151 value , not take correct value so how to resolve this

    • Dinesh:
      How is the cell you're entering the 20-2 formatted?
      Try formatting it in another way.
      Right click select Format Cells and then choose another option from that list. Maybe text.

  6. Please help.

    So I’m not sure what to use or what to do. So I’m trying to make an inventory sheet, so right now b9,c9, is 10 where e9,f9 is 10 and h9,i9 is 10. So when i9 goes to “0” I want h9 to Recognise and talk to f9 and say hey I’m giving my value of 10 to i9 so you will need to talk to e9 and Your Your 10 from him. Do I make sense?

  7. What are the different number formats?How will you change the format of the number?write the steps

  8. I want to set the conditions of a cell to:
    today's date - 180 days turn red
    today's date - 135 days turn orange
    today's date - 90 days turn yellow
    today's date - 75 days turns green

    Can anyone help?

    • Josh:
      You've asked to apply four different conditional formats based on four different conditions, so you'll need four rules all applied to the same range of cells.
      Select the range of cells to which you want to apply the rules.
      Select Conditional Formatting, select Highlight Cell Rules, then More Rules, then select Use Formula to determine which cells to format.
      Where the range is H48:H51, in the field that is displayed enter this formula:
      =AND(H48>TODAY(),H48=(TODAY()+75))
      Notice that the formula references the top left cell in the range H48:H51. Your range and top left cell is probably different, but this formula must reference the top left cell in the range.
      Notice that this formula will apply the formatting to the date that is 75 days from today.
      The H48>TODAY() ensures the date in H48 is not in the past.
      You asked for TODAY()+ 180, etc. so the formula includes H48=(TODAY()+75), etc. So it is only formatting the cells that are equal to 180 days (or whatever number of days)from today. Not greater than the number of days from today. This allows you to put different formatting to each rule and specific future date.
      Select format, then choose the fill color then OK and then apply and OK your way back to the dialogue window that displays the rules.
      In that window you'll want to click Add New Rule so that you can enter a new rule which will have the same formula except that you'll change the "+" number to the different number of days and different formatting for each different rule.
      Follow this same procedure until you have all four rules and their respective formatting the way you want them.

  9. how can i add 2 cell the second cell will petch or getch the data of the first cell and after adding it the 1 cell will reset to zero and the second cell will stay its value
    for example
    1+0=1 then after the sum it will be like this
    0+1=1 then i will input new no. to cell 1
    2+1=3 the the the second cell will show the total and the 1cell will be reset to 0

  10. Hey,

    Can someone help me with the below one ?

    A reports to B and B reports to C and c reports to D and so on hierarchy..

    Now there are certain expectations wherein A reports directly to D .. in case I want to pull n represent this as per hierarchy how should I do it ?

    Endly, let’s assume 5000 employees hierarchy is X and 3000 hierarchy is Y how should we add them up together

  11. Thank you very much for these tutorials, they are so useful!!!!

  12. How To Highlight Row If Cell Contains Text/Value/Blank In Excel

  13. how do you compare figures that are in the same raw. e. g show how the deposits made perform against each other.

  14. Hello,

    I am trying to highlight cells in column C based on the second digit in a 10-digit code - I want each cell in that column highlighted one color if that digit is N, another color if that digit is not an N. I assume I will need two rules, and am trying to use the formulas =mid(c2,2,1)="N" and =mid(c2,2,1)"N". When I tested the formulas in a blank column the "true" and "false" come up correct, but when I put them into a Conditional Formatting rule, they are not highlighting the correct cells. Any suggestions?

  15. Hello i have a work list sheet with multiple items on then i have a date type in two different columns i have a 90 day wjndow from the date to complete the work by the date i was trying to figure out how to have the celss turn red after the 90 is past

  16. Correction
    Kindly anybody has Idea, I have one text cell in Excel, hwo to divide that text into two cells ( I have 7000 full text cells with full text and I want to make the cells less high with transferring half the cell content to new cell in between the existing full cells) unfortunately this web has no facility to past a screen shot to attach to explain in an example what I want to do, Thanks in adv. and happy new year

    • Hello,

      I'm afraid there's no easy way to solve your task with a formula. Using a VBA macro would be the best option here.

      However, since we do not cover the programming area (VBA-related questions), I can advice you to try and look for the solution in VBA sections on mrexcel.com or excelforum.com.

      Sorry I can't assist you better.

  17. Kindly anybody has Idea, I have one text cell in Excel, who to divide that text into tow cells ( I have 7000 full text cells with full text and I want to make the cells less high with transferring half the cell content to new cell in between the existing full cells) unfortunately this web has no facility to past a screen shot to attach to explain in an example what I want to do

  18. Hi -
    I want to trigger a cell to change color depending on the % in another cell. I have been able to create rules for 0% in T8 to trigger U8 Grey, 80% T8 to trigger U8 orange, but when I add 100% T8 to trigger U8 Green it doesn't work and still triggers orange. Can you let me know what I am doing wrong?
    Thanks for any and all your help!!!

    • Hello,
      For me to understand the problem better, please send me a small sample workbook with your source data and the result you expect to get to support@ablebits.com. Please don't worry if you have confidential information there, we never disclose the data we get from our customers and delete it as soon as the problem is resolved.
      Please also don't forget to include the link to this comment into your email.
      I'll look into your task and try to help.

  19. Hi,

    I am not sure if it has been mention above but I am stuck with a formula.

    I want the following: If $X2 is not blank / empty and $W2 has a negative value (loss) then the entire row goes red. If $W2 has a positive value (revenue) then the entire row goes blue.

    I have tried few things but I don't know. I have tried this for example =IF($W2<0,ISBLANK=$X2=FALSE)

    • Thanks in advance :-)

  20. Hi,

    I am trying to highlight number of cell with the number i keyin, what is the formula for this situation?

    Thanks

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