Excel 2019 Bible

CHAPTER 17Using Formulas with Tables and Conditional Formatting

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Highlighting cells that meet certain criteria
• Highlighting differences between data sets
• Conditional formatting based on dates

Conditional formatting is the term given to the functionality where Excel dynamically changes the formatting of a value, cell, or range of cells based on a set of conditions that you define. Conditional formatting allows you to look at your Excel reports and make split-second determinations on which values are “good” and which are “bad,” all based on formatting.

In this chapter, we'll give you a few examples of how the conditional formatting feature in Excel can be used in conjunction with formulas to add an extra layer of visualizations to your analyses.

This book's website, www.wiley.com/go/excel2019bible, includes a copy of the sample workbook for this chapter. The file is named Using Functions with Conditional Formatting.xlsx.

NOTE

Feel free to revisit Chapter 5 for a refresher on conditional formatting.

Highlighting Cells That Meet Certain Criteria

One of the more basic conditional formatting rules that you can create is the highlighting of cells that meet some business criteria. This first example demonstrates the formatting of cells with values that are lower than a hard-coded value of 4000 (see Figure 17.1).

FIGURE 17.1 The cells in this table ...