#Apply conditional formatting excel 2016 how to
#Apply conditional formatting excel 2016 series

Conditional Formatting with number values When a cell value is changed, the format is automatically applied or removed. In this example, I have opted for a green fill color. Enter “Complete” into the box provided and specify the format you want to apply. Click Home > Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Equal To.ģ. We would like to automatically format the cells when the task status is set to “Complete.”Ģ.

The status is either “Not Started,” “In Progress,” or “Complete.” Format based on the text valueįor our first example of setting up a Conditional Formatting rule, we have a list of tasks and their current status.

Conditional Formatting for KPI performance.

Conditional Formatting with number values.

We will also look at using the data bars and icon sets features of Conditional Formatting.

#Apply conditional formatting excel 2016 how to

In this tutorial, you will learn how to apply Conditional Formatting rules to text and number values. With Conditional Formatting, you can format cells or display icons depending on the cell value’s performance against a rule.

Your analysis and reports are more compelling with Conditional Formatting. It brings your attention to what matters on a spreadsheet. It won’t be the most efficient for large volumes of data because we are running the calculations for every cell repeatedly.Conditional Formatting is one of the most requested features of Excel. This is a rough and ready but effective solution. Note, in true Blue Peter fashion I’ve adjusted the colours for each band and also adjusted the gap and spacing of the bars (simply double-click on any of the bars and you’ll have access to those settings). Now if we click on the default chart we created earlier, Excel highlights the table data used for the chart (below).ĭrag the red and blue boxes to select our new data (below).Īnd voila, we have our chart with conditionally coloured bands and a key to those bands (below). If the value falls within a boundary then value is written into that cell, otherwise it’s left blank. For each cell, the Amount (F4-F16) is compared to the boundaries.

In rows 1 and 2 we list the boundaries of each band (e.g. To do this we can create the bands we want to chart as additional columns in the table (below). We want each bar coloured according to the band of values it falls into.

#Apply conditional formatting excel 2016 series

Let’s take a table (below) with data series and values which we want to chart.Ī default chart will represent each column in the same colour (below). So Craig’s question asked if one can apply this Conditional Formatting feature to bars or segments within Excel charts?Īnd if you recall, the answer is no but you can create a similar experience by categorising the data into distinct, banded columns and charting those. And also you can choose data bars which allow you to visualise the value according to magnitude. You can also use icons such as red, amber and green or perhaps smiley faces. You can also choose conditions based on averages, top %, text occurring, duplicate values and many more. It allows the user to create some nifty formatting based on cell values with just a few clicks. Conditional Formatting was introduced in Excel 2007 and has improved ever since. Back in the old days of Excel 2003 you’d need to do some functions to achieve this and you were limited to 3 conditions per cell. That makes your list more readable and Excel more human. You want to highlight customers who have due dates within the next week in orange and you want to highlight customers who have due dates within 2 days in red. You have a list of customer accounts and due dates in Excel. You can create a pseudo conditionally formatted chart. It’s a nice sunny day as I’m writing this article. I’d like to provide the answer in the form of a news sandwich (good news, bad news, good news). Craig from Lloyds Banking Group asked if Excel’s conditional formatting can be applied to charts.