The SEARCH function returns the position of the text you are looking for as a number (if it exists). Conditional formatting automatically treats any positive number as TRUE, so the rule is triggered whenever SEARCH returns a number. When SEARCH doesn't find the text you're looking for, it...Read more
In this example, the goal is to highlight differences in two ranges, B2:B11 and C2:C11, using conditional formatting. To do this, we need to create a new conditional formatting rule, triggered by a formula, like this:
When you use a formula to apply conditional formatting, the formula is evaluated for every cell in the selection. In this case, there are no addresses in the formula, so, for every cell in the data, the ROW and ISEVEN functions are run. ROW returns the row number of the cell, and ISEVEN returns...Read more
This formula is evaluated for each of the 10 cells in A1:D10. A1 will change to the address of the cell being evaluated, while C1:C10 is entered as an absolute address, so it won't change at all.
The key to this formula is the =0 at the end, which "flips" the logic of the formula. For...Read more
When you use a formula to apply conditional formatting, the formula is evaluated relative to the active cell in the selection at the time the rule is created. In this case, the rule is evaluated for each cell in B4:G12, and the reference to B4 will change to the address of each cell being...Read more
In this example, the goal is to apply conditional formatting to cells that begin with specific text, which is entered in cell G2. The highlighting is done automatically with a conditional formatting rule applied to the range B4:G12. The rule type is "Use a formula to determine which cells...Read more
When you use a formula to apply conditional formatting, the formula is evaluated relative to the active cell in the selection at the time the rule is created. In this case, the rule is evaluated for each of the 10 cells in B2:B11, and B2 will change to the address of the cell being evaluated...Read more
In this example, the goal is to highlight empty cells in the range C5:J16 with conditional formatting. This is a quick and easy way to locate missing values in a data set. To apply a conditional formatting rule to highlight empty cells, follow these steps:
In the formula, COUNTIFS counts the number of times each value in a cell appears in its "parent" column. By definition, each value must appear at least once, so when the count > 1, the value must be a duplicate. The references are carefully locked so the formula will return true only when...Read more
