Conditional Formatting is one of Excel’s most powerful and underutilized features. It allows you to automatically apply formatting—such as colors, data bars, or icons—based on specific conditions. This can help highlight trends, identify key insights, and make your data more visually intuitive. In this beginner’s guide, you’ll learn the basics of Conditional Formatting and how to apply it to your data.

Why Use Conditional Formatting?

Conditional Formatting is great for:

• Highlighting important data: Automatically flag numbers that meet certain criteria (like sales above a target).
• Identifying trends: Use color scales to show trends, making it easy to spot patterns or outliers.
• Improving data readability: Differentiate between different types of data using visual cues, like color coding.

How to Access Conditional Formatting

Before diving into the examples, let’s start by understanding how to access the Conditional Formatting feature in Excel:

1. Select the Range of Cells: First, highlight the cells where you want to apply Conditional Formatting.
2. Go to the Ribbon: On the Excel Ribbon, navigate to the Home tab. Look for the Styles group, where you’ll find the Conditional Formatting button.
3. Open the Dropdown Menu: Clicking the Conditional Formatting button opens a dropdown with several options, including Highlight Cells Rules, Top/Bottom Rules, Data Bars, Color Scales, and Icon Sets.

Basic Types of Conditional Formatting

Excel provides several predefined Conditional Formatting options. Let’s explore some of the most commonly used types:

1. Highlight Cells Rules

This option is useful for highlighting cells that meet specific criteria. For example:

• Greater Than/Less Than: You can highlight numbers greater than a specific value.
• Example: Highlight all sales values greater than $1000. Steps:
• Select the range of cells.
• Go to Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Greater Than….
• In the pop-up window, enter 1000 and choose the formatting style (e.g., red fill with dark red text).
• Text That Contains: This rule highlights cells containing specific text.
• Example: Highlight all cells containing the word “Completed” in a project management sheet. Steps:
• Select the range of cells.
• Go to Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Text that Contains….
• Type “Completed” and choose the formatting style.

2. Top/Bottom Rules

This category helps you quickly identify outliers or trends in your data. It includes options like Top 10 Items, Bottom 10%, and Above/Below Average.

• Example: Highlight the top 10% of sales figures to see which sales reps are excelling. Steps:
• Select your data range.
• Go to Conditional Formatting > Top/Bottom Rules > Top 10%….
• You can choose to highlight the top 10, 20, or even higher percentages. Select your preferred formatting.

3. Data Bars

Data Bars are helpful when you want a visual representation of your data. Each cell is filled with a color bar, whose length is proportional to the cell’s value.

• Example: Apply Data Bars to a column of sales figures to instantly see which months had higher or lower sales. Steps:
• Select the data.
• Go to Conditional Formatting > Data Bars > Choose a color gradient.

4. Color Scales

Color Scales apply a gradient to your data, making it easy to identify high, low, and average values.

• Example: Use a red-yellow-green color scale to show profit margins. Red might indicate low profits, yellow moderate profits, and green high profits. Steps:
• Select your range.
• Go to Conditional Formatting > Color Scales.
• Choose a color scale from the menu. You can use predefined color sets or customize your own.

5. Icon Sets

Icon Sets allow you to add small icons next to data, indicating whether values are increasing, decreasing, or staying the same.

• Example: Add arrow icons to a list of monthly sales to see at a glance which months performed better or worse. Steps:
• Select the data.
• Go to Conditional Formatting > Icon Sets.
• Choose an icon set that suits your data (e.g., arrows, flags, or traffic lights).

Creating a Custom Conditional Formatting Rule

Excel also lets you create custom rules if the predefined ones don’t fit your needs.

Steps:

• Select your data range.
• Go to Conditional Formatting > New Rule.
• In the New Formatting Rule window, you can choose to format cells based on a formula. This gives you greater flexibility in creating conditions.
• For Example, to highlight sales figures in red that are below the average, apply below given steps.
• Select the sales data range.
• Choose Use a formula to determine which cells to format.
• Enter the formula =A1<AVERAGE($A$1:$A$10), assuming your sales data is in cells A1 to A10.
• Choose your desired formatting style.

Managing and Removing Conditional Formatting

Sometimes, you may need to adjust or remove existing Conditional Formatting rules.

• View/Manage Rules: To manage your rules, go to Conditional Formatting > Manage Rules. This lets you edit, delete, or create new rules.
• Clear Rules: To remove Conditional Formatting, go to Conditional Formatting > Clear Rules, and choose either to clear rules from selected cells or the entire worksheet.

Best Practices for Conditional Formatting

• Keep it simple: Avoid overloading your data with too many rules or styles.
• Use contrasting colors: This makes highlighted data stand out.
• Test your rules: Make sure your formatting rules correctly apply to the data.
• Consider data readability: Conditional Formatting should enhance, not overwhelm, the data.

Conclusion

Conditional Formatting is a dynamic tool that helps bring your data to life. With just a few clicks, you can turn a plain Excel sheet into a visually compelling report that highlights key information. Whether you’re analyzing sales performance, tracking trends, or managing a project, understanding and using Conditional Formatting will make your Excel skills even more powerful.

Now that you’ve learned the basics, why not try experimenting with your data? The more you practice, the more ways you’ll find to make Conditional Formatting work for you.

Video Tutorial

If you want to watch video tutorial for more detailed guideline on how to use the conditional formatting in Excel, watch it from below.