How to Use Conditional Formatting in Excel for Mac

Edited 1 week ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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Excel is a powerful tool that many people use for a variety of purposes, from managing a home budget to analyzing complex data sets at work. One of the most useful features in Excel is conditional formatting. It allows users to automatically apply formatting to their cells based on the values present in those cells, which can help highlight important information, trends, or patterns at a glance.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll learn how to use conditional formatting in Excel for Mac, focusing on the various aspects and options available, including examples and step-by-step instructions to make the process intuitive and simple.

Getting started with conditional formatting

Conditional formatting is a feature in Excel that helps liven up your spreadsheet by changing the format based on a particular criterion or rule. Getting started with conditional formatting in Excel for Mac involves selecting the cells you want to apply the rule to, choosing the format, and defining the rule or condition.

Accessing Conditional Formatting

To use conditional formatting in Excel for Mac, follow these steps:

1. Open your Excel workbook and select the worksheet where you want to apply conditional formatting.
2. Select the cells or range you want to format. You can also select the entire sheet if necessary.
3. From the top menu, go to “Format”, and then select “Conditional Formatting…” from the dropdown menu.

Creating Basic Conditional Formatting Rules

Once you access the conditional formatting options, you can create your first rule. Here's how:

1. After selecting "Conditional Formatting...", a new dialog box will open. This box allows you to set up your rules.
2. Click "New Rule" to create a new condition.
3. You will see several options. For example:
   • "Cell value is": This enables you to format cells based on their actual values. For example, you can format cells that are greater than, equal to, or less than a certain value.
   • "Formula is": This option allows you to write a custom formula, and the formatting will be applied based on the result of this formula.
4. Select the "Cell value is" option. Here, you will specify a condition, such as "greater than", "less than", or "equal to" a certain value. Enter the value you want to use for the comparison.
5. Next, choose the formatting style you like. You may want to change the font color, fill color, border style, etc.
6. Press "OK" to apply the rule.

Using Predefined Conditional Formatting Options

Excel provides predefined rules to quickly format cells. These are listed below:

• Cell highlighting rules: This includes options for formatting cells that are greater than or smaller than two values, between two values, equal to a particular value, contain specific text, or have duplicate values.
• Top/Bottom Rule: Formats cells that are the top 10 items, top 10 percent, bottom 10 items, bottom 10 percent, above average, or below average.
• Data Bars: Adds bars inside cells to compare values. The length of the bars corresponds to the cell value relative to other cells.
• Color scale: Uses a gradient of colors to indicate differences in cell values, often with different colors indicating high, middle, and low values.
• Icon set: Uses icons or symbols based on predefined or custom criteria to label or classify data in cells.

Example of using a predefined rule

Suppose you have a list of students' scores and you want to quickly see the top performers using a conditional rule:

1. Select the category containing students' marks.
2. Go to "Format" > "Conditional Formatting...", select "Highlight Cells Rules".
3. Then select "Greater than".
4. In the input box, type "80" (assuming scores are out of 100).
5. Choose a fill color, such as light green, to represent these numbers.
6. Click "OK". Now, any score above 80 will be highlighted in light green.

Advanced Conditional Formatting Techniques

For more advanced users, Excel's conditional formatting can be taken a step further with the use of formulas. This enables custom logic beyond the basic "cell value is" rule.

Using formulas in conditional formatting

Here's an example of using a formula to apply conditional formatting:

1. Go to "Format", select "Conditional Formatting...", and click "New Rule".
2. Select "Use a formula to determine which cells to format".
3. Suppose you want to highlight rows when a student scored less than 50 marks in a subject. You can write a formula like this:
   =MIN(B2:D2)<50
4. This formula checks if the minimum score in columns B to D for any row is less than 50.
5. Apply the desired formatting, for example, apply a light red fill color to highlight poor scores.
6. Click “OK“, and the rows that meet the condition will be formatted.

When using formulas, always remember to adjust cell references appropriately, using absolute references (with '$') if necessary.

Creating complex conditional formats

You can use multiple conditions combined with logical functions such as AND(), OR() to get complex formats. Here's how:

1. Go to "Format", click "Conditional Formatting...", and "New Rule".
2. Select "Use a formula to determine which cells to format".
3. For example, you want to format cells where the student's score is between 70 and 85. You could use:
   =AND(B2>=70, B2<=85)
4. This formula evaluates whether the value in B2 is between 70 and 85.
5. Choose your format settings, probably yellow fill for this case.
6. Click "OK", and the cells corresponding with this band will be highlighted.

Managing and editing conditional formats

As you add more conditional formatting rules, you may need to edit or delete them. Excel provides easy ways to manage your conditional formats:

View all conditional formatting rules

Excel allows you to view all the rules applied to a worksheet or selection. Follow these steps:

1. Go to "Format", and click "Conditional Formatting...".
2. In the dialog that appears, click "Manage Rules."
3. You’ll see a list of all the rules applied to the current selection or the entire sheet, depending on your preference.

Editing and deletion rules

To edit or delete a rule:

1. Open the "Manage Rules" window by following the instructions above.
2. Select the rule you want to change or delete.
3. To modify the rule, click "Edit Rule...". Make your changes and click "OK".
4. To delete a rule, click "Delete rule". Confirm your choice.
5. Click “OK” in the Rules Manager to apply the changes.

Best practices for conditional formatting

While conditional formatting can significantly enhance the readability of your worksheet, it's important to use it judiciously. Here are some best practices:

• Keep it simple: Avoid using too many different formats at once, as this can confuse the reader and make the data harder to understand.
• Use clear colors and styles: Make sure your formats are easy to recognize. Choose colors that have enough contrast with your worksheet background.
• Use custom formulas for advanced conditions: If necessary, write custom formulas to accommodate complex conditions involving multiple data points.
• Consistent application: The meaning of the formats applied should be consistent throughout the worksheet.
• Test your rules: After you set up your conditional formatting, review different scenarios to make sure your rules correctly identify and format cells.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter problems with conditional formatting, consider these troubleshooting steps:

• Check cell references: Make sure the formulas used in the rules are correct and use absolute references if necessary.
• Rule conflicts: Sometimes rules may overlap. The order of rules can be managed in the "Manage Rules" window, and you can prioritize which rule should apply first.
• Formatting overlap: Make sure that formatting from multiple rules isn’t causing a visual conflict.
• Software updates: Make sure your version of Excel is up to date as bugs may affect functionality.

Conclusion

Conditional formatting is a dynamic and impressive tool within Excel for Mac that enables users to visually interpret data and quickly identify trends or exceptions. By mastering not only its basic but also advanced features, Excel users can effectively highlight and present data as they want. Remember to start simple, gradually explore advanced formula-based rules, and always align the rule hierarchy to effectively execute overlapping conditions. These steps will improve the way you work with and present data in Excel.

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