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Excel conditional formatting practice

Highlight the reps whose sales are over the target in F1, more than it, not equal to it, with conditional formatting, so the highlight moves by itself when the numbers or the target change.

Select the sales, C2:C13, without the header and the total. On the Home tab open Conditional Formatting and pick Greater Than…. In the box, point at the target instead of typing it: =$F$1. Greater Than leaves out a value that is exactly the target.

17 Highlight what's over target Conditional formatting Core

sales.xlsx
Ready

Click a cell while typing to insert it, drag to select a range, F4 adds $, Esc cancels.

Tap a cell while writing a formula to insert it, or slide across cells for a range. The strip above the keyboard has = ( ) : , $.

The Conditional formatting guide

Select the numbers (not the header, not the total), then Home → Conditional Formatting → Highlight Cells Rules → Greater Than. Point at the target cell, =$F$1, instead of typing the number, and the highlight follows when the target changes.

CoreAbout 3 minutesBy Updated

Why a rule, not a fill colour

Colouring cells by hand looks the same today and is wrong tomorrow: change one number and the colours stay where they were. A conditional formatting rule looks at the values every time the sheet recalculates.

Select the right cells first

The rule applies to whatever is selected when you make it. Leave out the header: in Excel a piece of text counts as larger than any number, so "Sales" passes a Greater Than 5,000 test and lights up. Leave out the total row too: a total is nearly always over a target meant for one row.

Point at the target

The box in the Greater Than dialog accepts a reference. Type =$F$1 or click F1. Now the target lives in one cell, where everyone can see and change it. A typed 5000 hides the target inside the rule.

"More than" is not "or more"

Greater Than leaves out a value exactly equal to the target. If the task says "at or above target", use New Rule → Format only cells that contain → greater than or equal to, or a formula rule like =C2>=$F$1.

Manage what you made

Conditional Formatting → Manage Rules lists every rule on the sheet and the range it applies to. Clear Rules removes them from the selection or the whole sheet.

FAQ

How do I highlight cells greater than a value in Excel?
Select the cells, then Home > Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Greater Than. Type the value or a reference like =$F$1, pick a colour and press OK.
Can conditional formatting refer to another cell?
Yes. Type a reference such as =$F$1 in the rule's box. The highlight then follows whatever is in F1.
Why is my header highlighted by conditional formatting?
The rule includes the header row, and Excel treats text as larger than any number. Apply the rule to the numbers only.
How do I highlight values greater than or equal to a number?
Greater Than is strict. Use New Rule > Format only cells that contain > greater than or equal to, or a formula rule such as =C2>=$F$1.

All challenges

  1. 01Starter, 3 min Add it upSUM
  2. 02Starter, 3 min Find the averageAVERAGE
  3. 03Starter, 3 min Smallest and largestMIN, MAX
  4. 04Starter, 3 min Count what's thereCOUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK
  5. 05Starter, 3 min Write once, fill downRelative references
  6. 06Core, 3 min Lock it with $Absolute references
  7. 07Starter, 3 min Percent of a totalPercentages
  8. 08Starter, 3 min Make the numbers readableNumber formats
  9. 09Core, 3 min Up or down by how much?Percent change
  10. 10Core, 3 min What you see vs what's storedROUND
  11. 11Core, 3 min The typical valueMEDIAN
  12. 12Core, 3 min Select to the end in one moveCtrl + Shift + arrow
  13. 13Starter, 3 min Sort without breaking rowsSort
  14. 14Starter, 3 min Filter to what mattersFilter
  15. 15Starter, 3 min Copy and paste a formulaCtrl+C, Ctrl+V
  16. 16Core, 3 min Paste values onlyPaste Special → Values
  17. 17Core, 3 min Highlight what's over targetConditional formatting
  18. 18Core, 3 min Spot the duplicatesDuplicate Values rule
  19. 19Core, 3 min Pass or fail?IF
  20. 20Core, 3 min Both or either?AND, OR
  21. 21Core, 3 min Exactly one of the twoXOR
  22. 22Core, 3 min Grade bands with nested IFNested IF
  23. 23Core, 3 min Count the ones that matchCOUNTIF
  24. 24Core, 3 min Add up the ones that matchSUMIF
  25. 25Core, 3 min Use a cell as the conditionCriteria in a cell
  26. 26Core, 3 min Partial matches with * and ?SUMIF, COUNTIF with wildcards
  27. 27Core, 3 min Count with two conditionsCOUNTIFS
  28. 28Core, 3 min Add up with two conditionsSUMIFS
  29. 29Core, 3 min Look it upVLOOKUP
  30. 30Core, 3 min Find the right bracketVLOOKUP approximate match
  31. 31Core, 3 min XLOOKUP, the modern wayXLOOKUP
  32. 32Core, 3 min Where is it in the list?MATCH
  33. 33Advanced, 3 min INDEX and MATCH togetherINDEX + MATCH
  34. 34Advanced, 3 min Lock just the row or the columnMixed references
  35. 35Advanced, 3 min Growth per year (CAGR)CAGR with ^
  36. 36Core, 3 min Use a rate from another sheetReferences to other sheets
  37. 37Core, 3 min Catch the error, not the bugIFERROR
  38. 38Core, 3 min Which invoices are missing?Compare two lists
  39. 39Core, 3 min Reconcile the ledger with the bankXLOOKUP or VLOOKUP + IFNA
  40. 40Core, 3 min Join text together&, CONCAT, PROPER
  41. 41Core, 3 min Split first and last namesLEFT, MID + FIND
  42. 42Core, 3 min Stray spaces that break a countTRIM
  43. 43Core, 3 min Flag the bad entriesTRIM, LEN, EXACT
  44. 44Advanced, 3 min Clean a bank descriptionTEXTBEFORE, TEXTAFTER, PROPER
  45. 45Core, 3 min Mistake hunt: #N/A everywhereFixing #N/A
  46. 46Core, 3 min Mistake hunt: hard-coded numbersReferences instead of typed numbers
  47. 47Core, 3 min Mistake hunt: numbers stored as textNumbers stored as text
  48. 48Core, 3 min One of each, then the totalsUNIQUE
  49. 49Core, 3 min Your first pivot tablePivot tables
  50. 50Advanced, 3 min Which category went up most?SUMIFS, change, lookup
  51. 51Core, 3 min How many days late?Date arithmetic
  52. 52Core, 3 min Turn text into real datesDATEVALUE
  53. 53Advanced, 3 min Month ends and working daysEOMONTH, NETWORKDAYS
  54. 54Core, 3 min Renewal datesEDATE
  55. 55Core, 3 min Days overdue and aging bandsDate difference, aging bands
  56. 56Core, 3 min How many late orders?Pick the tool
  57. 57Core, 3 min Sales per repPick the tool
  58. 58Core, 3 min Whose part is it?Pick the tool
  59. 59Core, 3 min Who gets the bonus?Pick the tool
  60. 60Core, 3 min Each region's sharePick the tool
  61. 61Advanced, 3 min Case: the supplier reportCase, five steps
  62. 62Advanced, 3 min Case: the monthly budgetCase, five steps
  63. 63Advanced, 3 min Case: the reorder listCase, five steps

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