In this article, we will learn How to Apply Formatting to List/Table in Excel.
Scenario:
There are two types of cell formatting in excel. One is direct formatting like formatting header columns, grand total, specific row or column. For these formatting we use the default option or recommended styles in excel. And second is formatting based on value. Like format cells which have value more than the average value. For these we use conditional formatting. As the name suggests Conditional Formatting is used to highlight the data on the basis of some criteria. It would be difficult to see various trends just for examining your Excel worksheet. Conditional Formatting provides a way to visualize data and make worksheets easier to understand.
Direct formatting in Excel
To find the Cell Style option, Go to Home tab > Styles group > Select the More dropdown arrow in the style gallery > at the bottom of the gallery > Select New Cell Style.
You can also select from the recommended styles as mentioned below.
Create your own Style using New Cell Style
Conditional formatting in Excel
It allows you to apply a formatting basis on the cell values such as colours, icons and data bars. For this, we will create a rule in Conditional Formatting. Go to Home > Condition formatting.
You can also select from the recommended conditions as mentioned below.
Insert condition and then select the type of format to apply and click OK.
Example :
Direct formatting
All of these might be confusing to understand. Let's understand how to use the function using an example. Here we have a list of cells to format. First we change the Heading Style. Select the Heading cells or row and Go to Home tab > Styles group as shown below.
Under Titles and Headings, Select the type of style from the options ( Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3 , Title or Total) and changes will be reflected on the selected data.
As you can see, Cell Style is reflected on the data. This is easy, convenient and used as common practice. You can also select the cells and create your cell format on the Home tab, choosing border, Font Style, Font Color, Font Size, Bold, Italic, Underline, lined borders and Cell Color.
Conditional formatting
Conditional formatting is used to format cells based on condition. Like if needed to format only the cells which have the value zero ( 0 ). Now to access this. Here we have some values on the left side on which conditional formatting is being applied. And on the right side we have some values on which the conditional formatting values are based upon.
follow the steps mentioned below.
Select the cells A1 : C9.
Go to Home > Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Greater Than..
A dialog box will appear in front
Select the F3 cell in the first bow and select the formatting of the cells to Yellow Fill with Dark Yellow Text.
Click Ok.
As you can see the format of values is changed using Conditional formatting.
You might also notice what happened to the values between 42 & 50. Excel overwrites the first rule and gives preference to the last rule applied. If you wish to highlight the data with different colours. Make new rule in conditional formatting
Now we need to view the results based on another cell value.
For that go through the same process
Select the cells
Go to Home > Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Less Than..
A dialog box will appear in front
Select the G3 cell in the first bow and select the formatting of the cells to Green Fill with Dark Green Text as shown in the snapshot below.
Click Ok.
As you can see the new format of values is changed using Conditional formatting based on cell values.
Changing the values in the cell changes result.
As you can see we changed the value in G3 cell from 50 to
40 and can view the updated results.
You can create your own rule using the New Rule. Remove formatting using the Clear Rule and view all formatting on selected cells using Manage Rules.
Hope this article about How to Apply Formatting to List/Table in Excel is explanatory. Find more articles on calculating values and related Excel formulas here. If you liked our blogs, share it with your friends on Facebook. And also you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook. We would love to hear from you, do let us know how we can improve, complement or innovate our work and make it better for you. Write to us at info@exceltip.com.
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