I have a column of names (L:L) to which I need a conditional format that highlights a specific name in the column.
The name is set by the value of another cell elsewhere (B3) in the sheet and changes frequently, hence the highlighted name in L:L will also change each time depending on what the value of B3.
I can't figure out how to reference the value of B3 in either Exact Text or Custom Formula.
The solution is to use the format rule Text is exactly and have your desired cell locked via an absolute reference: =$B$3.
Absolute reference is required because otherwise the cell which the formatting rule evaluates against changes as the rule checks for different cells further down the column. For example, if the rule =B3 was used on the range L:L, it would evaluate L1 against B3, L2 against B4, L3 against B5, and so on.
You can read more about formatting rules here.
Related
[inventory sheet] (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kLDo8Up_RJa2rXsEZ9ElKBEhGUTsMw61-fQspOPuBz4/edit#gid=0)
I'm trying to conditionally format column E based on column D. For example, if the value in column D is <8, highlight the adjacent cell in column E green. If value is >7 and <15, highlight yellow. If value is >14, highlight red.
The formula I have now works, but I can't figure how to apply the formatting to the entire column without manually inputting 3+ conditional format rules on each individual cell.
The existing conditional format from your sheet is partially correct, it just needs some tweaking on the Apply to range value. You can create 3 conditional formats on E3 and it will apply to the whole column of E if you put the E3:E on range.
Please see the 3 conditional formats I have created based from your given sheet.
Conditional format 1:
Conditional format 2:
Conditional format 3:
Output:
Reference:
AND function
Just select the whole range and create one single rule per condition. Use the formula as it is created for the first cell and it will "drag" automatically.
For example with =D2>15
Please refer the image
I want the cell to be highlighted based on the value is less than or greater than the value in the benchmark column. I am not able to do that using conditional formatting custom formula. I have manually applied formatting for 02/01/2023 . I want the formatting to apply to the column with date = today() only.
Thanks :)
I can write a custom formula for each row of each date column. But is there any way a single custom formula that could format across rows and columns?
I'm guessing your fist value of 02/01/2023 and Activity1 is C2. Then for the whole range C2:Z (or whichever you have):
=C2>=$B2
Do this for one color for the whole range and it will drag automatically, you don't need to write it as an arrayformula. The "$" will always refer to the value in column B from the row it's positioned
if you are selecting whole range (C2:Z), try this for green and red respectively:
=(C2>=$B2)*(C2<>"")
=(C2<$B2)*(C2<>"")
I would like to colour cell C3 red, as the value is less than the next filled cell on row 3 (E3).
You need custom formula in the formatting rules for range C2:W.
And you can use the formula below for green:
=and(not(isblank(C2)),C2>index(filter(D2:$W2,arrayformula(not(isblank(D2:$W2))))),1,1)
And make another conditional formatting rule with the same range and change > accordingly for red.
Note that the equal case does not have formatting in your example.
To understand why, there are a few components at work. I'll give an outline in case OP or any passer-by wants one.
First is how conditional formatting in Google Sheet works. I will be brief here. The range we put in the rule is C2:W. Google Sheet will use the beginning cell in that range as a reference. For C2:W, the 1st cell is C2. In the formula, the cells are read in terms of relative position to that reference cell. So when evaluating formatting for cell C2, it treats the formula as is. But, for example, when evaluating formatting for cell C3, Google Sheet iterates all non-fixed ranges by 1 row. Another example: for D3, all non-fixed ranges are iterated by 1 row and 1 column.
Whenever the formula evaluates to true, the format will be applied -- although that is subject to further formatting if you have subsequent formatting rules which apply to the given cell.
Next are the components of the conditional formula.
not(isblank(C2)) checks for blank cells and makes the whole formula only true when the cell is non-blank.
For filter() usage, please consult official documentation. I will explain how filter() is applied to your example.
In our use, we are trying to rid of empty cells in the range that is on the same row as the cell in question and goes from the next column to column W. (I am using column W because there is no known end column in your image. Please adjust to your application accordingly.) Same row as C2 means row 2. Hence the digit 2 in D2:$W2. No $ sign for row because row index is meant to iterate through our range C2:W in the formatting rule. No $ sign for D because we mean 1 column next to the cell in question and the exact column index should iterate. We fix column W because the end column does not evolve and is thus not meant to iterate. Neglecting this will not particularly change the result in your example. However, it is good to be clear with the meanings.
arrayformula(not(isblank(D2:$W2))) produces a local row array whose cells are true/false that each represents whether the corresponding cell is non-blank. filter() in turn only keeps cells from D2:$W2 for cells in arrayformula(not(isblank(D2:$W2))) that are true.
We only care about the 1st non-blank cell. To retrieve the 1st cell from a (local) array, we use index(...,1,1). (That said, omitting index() also happens to work for the 1st cell in particular because when comparing a single cell with > or < to an array range, only the 1st cell of the array is used.)
Apply a conditional formatting to the range desired (starting from cell C2) using this formula:
=IF(C2="",FALSE,OFFSET(C2,0,AGGREGATE(15,6,(COLUMN(D2:W2)-COLUMN(D2)+1)/(D2:W2<>""),1))>C2)
I'm trying to apply conditional formatting for cells that are less than value of a previous cell in the same column. For example, if D5 < D4 apply formatting, if D6 < D5 apply formatting, etc down the column.
I created conditional formatting for D5 denoting D4 as =D4 to get it's value. This works, however, when I copy this formatting to the cell below, D6, it does two things:
It does not make a copy of the formatting but updates existing one adding a range (D4,D5).
It still references D4 to check the value against, while I need it to compare against D5.
I'm not sure why D5 is always referenced, since I'm not using absolute reference, but a relative one. I don't see a way to compare with previous cell in the same column other than creating a formatting for each cell. Any pointers?
Found a solution based on another post color red if cell above value is lower:
Select a range where formatting needs to be applied, e.g. D9:D20.
Right click, select Conditional Formatting.
Click "Add new rule"
In "format cells if" choose custom formula is.
Enter formula: =D9
Select desired formatting.
I'm trying to have a cell on Sheet A check if it's either > or < the value in a cell on Sheet B, then change its color accordingly. Under the custom formula I use: =A1>("SheetB!A1"), but it doesn't seem to work. I use the color Green for the > and the color Red for the <. Every time the rules are saved it will always display A1 on Sheet A in red.
Is the function wrong? Or is it not possible to have a Conditional Format even search across sheets?
For some reason (I confess I don't really know why) a custom formula in conditional formatting does not directly support cross-sheet references.
But cross-sheet references are supported INDIRECT-ly:
=A1>INDIRECT("SheetB!A1")
or if you want to compare A1:B10 on SheetA with A1:B10 on SheetB, then use:
=A1>INDIRECT("SheetB!A1:B10")
=A1>INDIRECT("SheetB!"&CELL("address",A1))
applied to range A1:B10.
You can do this by referencing the cell and row number in the current sheet, so as you drag-copy that conditional formatting to other rows it will reference the correct cells.
In the below equation I am coloring cells based on the exact same cell in some other sheet named "otherSheetName" in this example. If for example you want to color cell B2 in Sheet2 if the cell B2 in otherSheetName contains the text "I Like Dogs" you would go to cell Sheet2!B2 , click condition formatting, choose equation from the drop down and paste the below equation.
=IF(INDIRECT("otherSheetName!"&ADDRESS(ROW();COLUMN()))="I Like Dogs";1;0)
Comparing strings instead of numbers for a conditional formatting rule, you can use:
=EXACT(A1,(INDIRECT("Sheet2!A1")))
Case sensitive.
There is one trick/bug: if you have conditional formatting in Sheet1 that explicitly references itself (e.g., the formula is Sheet1!$C$2), you can copy the conditional formatting to Sheet2 with Paste special > conditional formatting and it will "work"... as long as you don't touch anything:
if you try to edit the conditional formatting in Sheet2, then you'll get an "Invalid formula" error.
if columns/rows change in Sheet1 such that they affect the conditional formatting (e.g., row/column inserts), this is not reflected in Sheet2 (keep in mind that the indirect trick mentioned by #AdamL will also not reflect column/row updates either, so it's a wash in this respect).
I was able to compare two sheet and highlight the differences on the second sheet using conditional formatting :
=A1<>(INDIRECT("Sheet1!"&Address(Row(),Column(),)))