Comments on: Excel Icon Sets conditional formatting: inbuilt and custom

Assuming you already know the basics of Excel conditional formatting, let's move on and see what options you have with regard to icon sets and how you can leverage them in your projects. Continue reading →

Comments page 5. Total comments: 162

  1. Hi
    I am trying to show icons for what I would think would be a simple task but I can't seem to make it work.
    In column "N" I have a current rate percentage. In column "O" I have a target rate percentage. I want to use the icons to show a green check if the target has been met, a yellow exclamation point if the target has not been met, and a red stop light if the current rate is 50% or more below the target rate. Basically just showing which rates have been met, are almost there, and are in danger of not being met.
    Can anyone help with this?
    Thanks,
    Heather

  2. Hi
    How can I show Icons for the following:

    Between -1 and +1 Green Light
    Less than -1 Red light
    More than +1 Red Light

    Many thanks

    Sishy

    1. Hello Sishy

      Select your data and create an Icon Sets rule for three icons.
      You can see the rule settings on this screenshot:

      To choose the icons, please click on a small arrow to the right of the icon.

  3. Hi
    I've tried to apply the icon sets to the variance report for my budget. As this is the capital expenditure budget for the period I need to monitor the budget at each asset category level and department level to alert on their budget consumption.
    My requirement is as follows.
    Red icon - Actual value is more than 75% of the budget
    Yellow icon - actual value is more than 50% of the budget
    Green icon - actual value is less than 30% of the budget

    I have sent an email to the support team. Please check on this matter.

  4. So I am trying to use ICON sets to conditionally format percentages.
    What I am doing is calculating percentages of certain measures by calculating a Budget target versus and ACtual performance. I am putting the % of attainment into a cell by entering a formula similar to A1/A2 to return the % of attainment. When I go to create the Icon Sets I want a Green Arrow to show next to the result if attainment was 100% or better, a sideways Yellow arrow if attainment was between 90% up to 100% , and a downward Red Arrow if attainment was lower than 90%.

    My issue is, once I have set up these parameters only Green arrows show up regardless of the value of the data in the cell? What am I doing wrong?

  5. Let's say column A has a unit cost that I need to multiply by 15% to give me the new unit cost in column B. Then I'll need to multiply the new unit cost in column B by the quantity in column C to give me a grand total in column D. How do I write a formula in order to achieve this? There are 166 rows of unit cost in Column A and 166 quantities in column B. Please help.

  6. Hi,
    Guys is there any way My row automatically moves up and down when i change its value? Means i have applied conditional formating in a column when i change one of its value its color changes OK. But what i want is that when the value change it must move up or down as according to the ascending or desending order that i have assigned it

  7. Hi,
    Is it possible to apply a color scale conditional format based on values, but then have text in that cell that differs from those values? This would be like in your example above if the expenditure categories themselves were shaded (e.g. House Rent dark green, Car Payment light green, etc.). I know that the conditional formatting depends on the numerical values, but can the numbers be somewhere behind the scenes while the text in each cell gets shaded?
    Thank you!

  8. Hi!

    There is specific set of icons. I want to use my own customized icon set. Is there any possibility of customized icon set in conditional formatting?

  9. I've seen two questions above related to using negative percentages, but have not seen a response. I want to use an up arrow icon for percentage increases above 2%, a right arrow between 2% and negative 2%, and a down arrow for decreases greater than negative 2%. So, I have a data set that compares a percentage from last year and a percentage this year with a resultant percentage difference -- positive difference if if it went from say, 61% to 63% and a negative difference if it went from 63% to 61%. The change, then, is 2% and -2% respectively. Using these figures in the conditional formatting, I get an error message from Excel saying that "one or more of the values is not a valid percentage." Does Excel not allow a negative percentage?

    1. Hi Ken,
      I have the same problem. did you ever get an answer to this?
      Cheers
      Rodney

  10. I want to change format of a cell range, A1 to B10" based on a cell reference, cell A4 and value can be Income or %Income.
    For Ex. If Cell reference is "Income" then format of cell range should be "Numeric" and if cell reference is "%Income" then format should be "Percentage" for the cell range.

  11. Hi!
    I have a trend analysis looking at data from Sept-August and a column that ranks the results in the trend 1-12 based on their type. I have conditional formating applied to the column using icons ex. green is for everyting from 1-3, etc. It works great with a data that's there, but when I try and paste new updated data over the trend, the conditional formating in the ranking column disapears and does not work when i try to reapply it. Do you know why that happens and what would be the remedy for it.

    Thank you, Lesya

  12. can add new icon in excel to use them in conditional formatting? like smileys (emotions for showing progress of any activity e.g. smiling face in completion of activity, sad smiley in case of incomplete activity)??

  13. Ok, I want each column to show the Up, down arrows in comparison to the previous column. For example if the value in B2 is greater than B1 the green up arrow appears in B2. I know how to do this separately, but is there a way to copy and fill series this formatting?

  14. Good Morning,
    I have a smiliar question as Vicki, from 11/14, but rather than a score value, I'd like for the text in the column to be read and an icon to display in another column.

    Can the be done or must I use numbers?
    Thank you...

    1. Hello Michelle,

      Yes, it is possible. If you describe your rules in more detail, i.e. what text corresponds with each icon, I think we'll be able to help you with formulas.

  15. Good morning,

    I am trying to insert an icon (X, check, exclamation point) into a cell based on the absolute value in another cell of the same row but can't figure out the right way to accomplish this. The value will be a score - 1, 2, or 3 - and the icon would correspond to the value.

    When I go into the conditional formatting menu and try to create the formula based on a number I cannot choose an equal to option, only >= or >

    Can you help? It must be so simple I am missing it!

  16. We operate a business that has credit accounts. We update the accounts weekly, but make changes do to purchases frequently. Is there a way to show by using the arrow icons, what type of action was last performed? i.e., was there a credit added or was there a deduction made. Would ideally love for this to happen every time the cell text is altered.

  17. Dear Svetlana,

    I have a change column and I would like the values to be gradients of red or green if they are positive or negative and then anything = zero to be white/ no formatting. Right now the default gradients will highlight the lowest positive number as red, which makes it look like it was negative.

    Thanks,

  18. Dear Svetlana,

    Would this be possible: I have a column with data bars representing a % of YES answers to my questionnaire, but would for example like to show ratio in YES answers as given Female or Male. Now i could do 2 colums, but it would be better if it could be done within the same data bar. I seems not possible, but just to be sure, I wanted to ask.

    thanks!

    1. Consider using Sparklines

      Regards,

      Sherin

      1. Hi Loes, perhaps you could try two columns side by side or M & F, format left one for right indent & right for left indent and hit each for own colour bar.

    2. Dear Loes,

      Regrettably, I don't know any way to do this either : (

  19. Hi, there is some great info here but I can't figure out how to do what I'm trying to do.

    NOTE: Rephrased/Not repeated

    I have a goal value in cell S9 (this is my daily goal). I have a column of values in C (actual value for each day). I want to compare the value in column c to cell S9 to see if I'm on track to hit my goal. For each cell in the column, if the value in the cell is within 95% or more of the value in S9, then make it green. If it's only 70% to 90% or so of S9, then make it Yellow. if it is between 50% and 70 or so is Dark yellow, and if it is below 50% make it RED.

    I was trying to "use a formula to determine which cells to format" and use a formula, but I fail to do so. Can anyone help me with this?

    1. Hi Yonas,

      Select all the cells in column C you want to highlight (without the column header, if any) and create the conditional formatting rules based on the following formulas:

      Green:=$C2/$S$9>=0.95

      Yellow: =AND($C2/$S$9>=0.7, $C2/$S$9<=0.9)

      Dark yellow:=AND($C2/$S$9>=0.5, $C2/$S$9<0.7)

      Red: =$C2/$S$9<0.5

      In the formulas, C2 is your fist cell with values.

      Also, please note that there is a small gap between 95% (lower bound of the red rule) and 90% (upper bound of the yellow rule), meaning that values within this range won't get colored. But I think you can easily change the figures in the corresponding formulas on your own if needed : )

  20. Hi there,

    I agree with some of the other commenters that there is some really valuable information found here.

    I am having some trouble accomplishing something and I was hoping to find some help.

    I am creating a log for perishable items. In Column F (Expiry Date) I have conditionally formatted the cells to fill yellow if within 30 days of expiry, and red the day of expiry (and beyond).

    I have Column G (Status) which I would like to conditionally format using a colour scale (3 colours: Green, Yellow, Red) based on the time left (from the dated of entry into the log) until the expiry date in Column F.

    I know the expiry date column is already conditionally formatted, but I think the colour scale provides a better visual control for the status of the product and how far into it's shelf life it is. I hope that makes sense.

    Any help would be much appreciated!! Thanks.

    1. Hi Jeremy,

      I believe we will be able to help you better, if we can have a look at your data. If possible, please send a sample workbook at support@ablebits.com and specify the expected result.

  21. Hi, there is some great info here but I can't figure out how to do what I'm trying to do.

    I have a goal value in cell S9 (this is my daily goal). I have a column of values in C (actual value for each day). I want to compare the value in column c to cell S9 to see if I'm on track to hit my goal. For each cell in the column, if the value in the cell is within 95% or more of the value in S9, then make it green. If it's only 10% or so of S9, then make it red. 50% or so is yellow.

    I was trying to use a 3 color scale so I get the gradients to tell me if each day is close to hitting my daily goal. If I can't use the gradients, that's okay. Do you know how I can do this?

    1. I figured it out. Thanks!

  22. I am curious about using icon sets to warn me when if I've used a certain number of hours - like a warning if I'm close to using all hours (yellow) or if I'm in danger of going over my hours (red).

    For example, if I have a value in A1 which is the amount of hours used and A2 has the available hours for use. I want A3 to use icon sets (red/yellow/green) based off of the percentage of hours consumed.

    so,
    Red = x>90%
    Yellow = x 75 and 90%
    Green = x <=75%

    Is this possible?

    1. Hello Hanna,

      Please try the following:

      1 Enter the formula =A1/A2 in cell A3.
      2 Go to Conditional Formatting -> Icon Sets and create a new rule for cell A3.
      3 In the New Formatting Rule dialog box, specify the following settings:
      - Click the "Reverse Icon Order" button.
      - Select the "Show Icon Only" checkbox.
      - For the red icon choose ">"; 0.9 ; Number
      - For the yellow icon choose ">"; 0.75 ; Number

  23. Svetlana - what was the answer to Mary's question - I have same, where I have MtM data in separate columns and want to use Icons to mark if the increase MtM is greater than 10%, Less than -10% or between.

    How do I sent you the data set?

    1. Hi Ben,

      Mary's question was a few months ago and I do not remember the details, sorry. You can send me your data set at support@ablebits.com and I'll try to help. Please also specify in what exactly column you want to add the icons.

  24. Hoping someone can help!

    I have created a stock monitoring/forecast sheet, including 3 columns -

    A - Stock at the end of the month prior
    B - Expected stock at the end of current month
    C - Stock in hand

    I want to format cell C for each line (list of items we stock) to have a data bar highlighting how close it is to reaching the value in cell B.
    I can do this by selecting 'Format all cells based on their values', and choosing the shortest bar as a formula, linking to A, and the longest bar as a formula, linking to B.

    In addition I also want a format overriding the data bar to show the cell in a solid colour when it reaches the value in B.
    I can do this by selecting 'Format only cells that contain', and choosing 'less than' and formula linking to cell B.

    I want to copy this formatting to apply to all cells in the same column, but when I try to copy and paste it in the next cell below C, it is linking to the original cells A and B for the formatting, not the one's below them (absolute formulas, not relative). I have read that you cannot set relative formulas when using data bars.

    Is there a way to apply my above formatting over a number of cells at once, without having to format each one individually?

    1. Hello Kate,

      I believe it would be easier for me to suggest a solution if I could see your data. If you can send your sample workbook at support@ablebits.com, I'll try to help.

  25. I would like to make the data bars three colors with gradient fill to indicate a change in percentage Red for 0-30% Yellow for 30-70% and Green for 70-100% sort of what the 3-color scale does only in data bar format? Is this possible?

    1. Sorry, Nathan, I don't know any way to do this. Most likely this is not feasible.

  26. how to change the colors scale in format style more than three colors.

    1. Hi Tajamal,

      Regrettably, this is not possible.

  27. Is there a way to add an extra layer of formatting with the icon sets (ie add a blue circle in addition to the Red, Yellow, and Green options). I have a data set that needs to be analyzed into for different components. Thank You.

    1. Hi Jonathan,

      To my best knowledge, only one icon set can be applied at a time.

  28. When it comes to Conditional Formatting, I really was in the dark but after going through the notes I hv now at least seen some light thanks to the illustrations. Only I'm still confused as to why when I assign Icon set to represt values in a cell range which are in percentage type (%) do I have to change type to Number in the Manage the rules dialog box for it to give me the desired results?

    1. Hello Ramaite,

      Sorry, I am not sure I can follow you. Anyway, it is difficult to recommend anything without seeing your data. If you can post a data sample and explain what exactly result you are truing to achieve, I'll try to help.

  29. Hi,

    thanks for the useful info. After applying the conditional formatting, if we want to copy and paste it into Word or presentations how should be do it. I know we can paste it as image. But, the image doesn't work for me so is there a way to paste it as an excel table where the icons remains in the word as they are in the excel.

    Thanks!

  30. Hi there, I am stuck with a small problem I have in conditional formatting and came thru a blog by you and thought of writing here.

    Here I need to show if the % change in the cost driver is more than 2% higher or lower than the % change in actual price.

    Product Warehouse July'13 Aug'13 Sep'13 Oct'13
    A 1 Actual Price 1.65 1.67 1.71 1.77
    A 2 Actual Price 1.65 1.53 1.57 1.73
    Cost driver 1.62 1.67 1.74 1.69

    Can you please help.

    1. Hi,

      Our support team sent you a solution by email. Hopefully, it was helpful.

  31. I have 3 columns: CURRENT YEAR, PRIOR YEAR, CHANGE.
    I want to conditionally format the Change column so that decreases are in red & increases are in green.
    Additionally, I want to use Icon Sets (arrows) to show:
    * green up arrow if it's an increase that would have a positive impact
    * red up arrow if it's an increase that would have a negative impact
    * green down arrow if it's a decrease that would have a positive impact
    * red down arrow if it's a decrease that would have a negative impact

    Is this doable w/ Icon Sets? Sort of a 2-dimensional icon set: direction of arrow to denote increase vs decrease, but color of arrow to denote impact this change has on bottom line.

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Kertran,

      It's a bit difficult to figure out what positive / negative impact is without seeing your data. If you can send us your sample workbook at support@ablebits.com, we will be able to help you better.

  32. Hey, I've been having trouble with the icon sets, i wonder if you could help me.

    I'm want to add an icon set,the circles red, green and yellow. I want to compare changes in percentage between 1 month and another.

    I need to set the icons: green for when its equal or greater to 0.01%; yellow: when there is no change 0.00%; and red the the number reflects a negative %.

    Could you please advice how to do it.

    Thank you, it will be of great help.

    1. Hey Mary,

      I need to know a bit more about your data structure to be able to suggest a solution. Do you have values for 2 months in 2 separate columns? Or, do you already have a column with the calculated percentage of change? Maybe you can provide a sample of your data - what exactly values you have in column A, B, C etc. You can send me a sample workbook at support@ablebits.com and I'll try to help.

  33. Hello Sean,

    Regrettably, you cannot do without an additional column. Excel icon sets allow using formulas as a condition, but do not support relative cell references that are needed in your case.

    So, you can achieve the result you want in this way:

    1. Create an additional column.

    2. Enter the formula =AJ162-AJ161 to row 162 of the newly created column (assuming row 162 is the first row where you need the icons).

    3. Copy the formula to all other cells of this column until row 175 (or the last row where you want to display the icon set).

    4. Create the icon set rule for the column with the above formula. In the rule:
    - Select the 'Icon Set Only' check box.
    - For the green up arrow, set >=1.
    - For the yellow right arrow, set >0.
    - Set Type to "Number" for both icons.

    Hope this helps.

    1. Thank you Svetlana for the reply, it does help, unfortunately I have several tables (about 10), 22 columns where values may be changing randomly in each table, and nearly 300 rows of parameters (~600 total). Is adding a new column the only possible way to show a change in value or no change? I've looked up other forums where similar questions were asked, and I've seen "IF" or "AND" formulas being put in with the values in a cell, and then giving it an icon to put in if it matches the statement. Is that possible, or am I better simply going over the cells with my eyes, looking for a change, and going from there? Hope my questions aren't confusing and that there is some sort of solution other than adding columns.

      Thanks,
      Sean

      1. Hi Sean,

        Of course, you can use IF and AND formulas as well. The problem is that you cannot have both - a formula and your current data - in the same cell. So, an additional column will be needed anyway.

        As an alternative, you can consider changing the cell's fill or font color instead of adding icons to reflect the value change. If this approach may work for you, you can create 3 rules based on the below formulas:

        Green (a value increases): =$AJ162>$AJ161
        Yellow (a value is the same): =$AJ162=$AJ161
        Red (a value decreases): =$AJ162<$AJ161 For step-by-step instructions on creating rules with formulas, please see Excel conditional formatting formulas.

  34. I'll give an example to hopefully make this faster.

    In cell AJ161, I have a value of 200. Going down the table (each row is a new parameter for what I'm doing, something is going to be altered), the value of 200 increases by 10 each cell (AJ162, cell value = 210, etc.), until AJ166. From AJ166 to AJ169 the cell value stays at 250. The value then goes up again by 10 in AJ170. In AJ171, the value drops to 240, and continues to drop until AJ175.

    What I would like, is to have Conditional Formatting Icon arrow sets, that show if a value increases, decreases, or stays the same, from the cell directly above it, rather than being given a specific number. I hope you are able to help me with this.

    Many thanks!

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