• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
How2forU

How2forU

easy answers for you and me

  • Laptop & PC
  • Smartphone & Tablet
  • Office
  • Apps & Software
  • Glossary
  • Blog
  • Hobby
Home » Excel: How to change the background color based on the cell value

Excel: How to change the background color based on the cell value

11/30/2020 by Sarah Winter

Especially for huge MS Excel tables, it is helpful to mark cells with colors, if they contain a certain value. This is possible by using the “If-function”. In this article we will show you how.

Changing the background color of Excel cells using the “If – function”

Time needed: 3 minutes.

The easiest way to explain how changing the colour of Excel cells via the if-function works is by using an example. So, let’s imagine you’re recording accounting transactions. To immediately spot negative values, you can highlight these cells using the if-function.

  1. Prepare a list

    As a starting point, prepare a list of all your accounting transactions. Mark the cells you want to highlight with colors according to their value.

  2. Choose “Conditional formatting”

    After that, click on the tab named “Home” and find the button “Conditional formatting”. Microsoft Excel Conditional Formatting

  3. Select your formatting features

    This function allows you to change colors of cells based on their value: You can choose between “Less than…”, “Greater than…”, “Between…” and many more options. For our example, we want to mark cells with a value less than zero with a red background color. Therefore, click on “Highlight cell rules” and “Less than”.Microsoft Excel Highlight Cells Rules

  4. Enter formatting conditions

    Chose “0” in the field “Format cells that are less than” and decide for a formatting option. For our example “Light red fill with dark red text” is most appropriate.Microsoft Excel Format cells that are LESS THAN

  5. Confirm your selection

    Click on “OK”. MS Excel will format the cells you marked in the beginning immediately.

  6. Check the result

    Now you are able to see days with negative revenues quickly.Microsoft Excel finished formatted table

  7. Repeat for other formatting options

    You can repeat this procedure for other formatting options. For example, use the button “Between than” to highlight days with earnings high enough to meet your long-term business goals.

💡 Related Posts:

  • Instagram: How to change your username
    Instagram: How to change your username
  • Netflix: How to change the language
    Netflix: How to change the language
  • How to change app icons on your Smartphone
    How to change app icons on your Smartphone
  • Windows 10: How to change your computer name
    Windows 10: How to change your computer name
  • How to change line spacing in Word
    How to change line spacing in Word
  • How to change app icons on your iPhone
    How to change app icons on your iPhone

Filed Under: Office Tagged With: documents, Excel, Microsoft Office

Tags

4G 5G Alexa Android app Apple backup Covid-19 DIY documents e-mail Excel Gmail Google Halloween health Instagram iOS iPad iPhone Mac messages messenger Microsoft Office music Netflix network Outlook passwords PDF Samsung screenshot shortcuts Signal Smart Home smartphone Snipping Tool social media Spotify video call WhatsApp WiFi Windows10 Word Zoom

Primary Sidebar

Browse our How Tos

Browse by category

  • Glossary
  • Smartphone & Tablet
  • Laptop & PC
  • Hobby
  • Office
  • Apps & Software
Rapper

“Thug life” meaning: This is how to define Thug

04/12/2021 By How2forU

Especially in rap circles but also increasingly in YouTube videos “thug life” is becoming a common expression.

A smart home speaker placed on top of a laptop with a textbox superimposed on it reading "Alexa: How to activate and set up Drop in"

How to activate Alexa Drop In

03/25/2021 By Nadine Noppinger

You can activate and set up Alexa Drop in to use your echo devices as a hands-free kit. To do so, simply follow our step-by-step guide.

mac

How to take a screenshot on your MacBook

04/08/2021 By How2forU

If you’d like to take a screenshot you’ll just need to know simple key combinations. We’ll show you how to take a screenshot.

White House in the background and on top of it a text box reading "What does impeachment mean?"

What does impeachment mean?

02/09/2021 By Beatrice Predan-Hallabrin

Donald Trump became the first US president to be impeached twice. But what exactly does impeachment mean and could Trump be convicted?

pages

Word: How to start page numbering on page 3

03/01/2021 By Sarah Winter

It´s easy to start page numbering on page 3 of a Microsoft Office Word document. Even if numbering should start with 1 instead of 3.

Picture showing a phone on a table, in front of it a text box reading "How to delete Signal messages for both sides"

Signal: How to delete messages for both sides

04/14/2021 By Ferdinand Pönisch

It is possible to delete messages sent on Signal for both yourself and your chat partner. We show you how it’s done.

Categories

  • 💡 Laptop & PC
  • 💡 Smartphone & Tablet
  • 💡 Office
  • 💡 Apps & Software
  • 💡 Glossary
  • 💡 Hobby

Smartphone & Tablet

How to change app icons on Android & iOS14💡 iPhone: How to recover deleted text messages💡How to share your iPhone calendar💡Sidecar: How to turn an iPad into a secondary Mac display 💡Huawei: How to take a Screenshot 💡 Samsung Galaxy S8: How to take a screenshot 💡 How to find your IMEI number 💡 iPad: How to take a screenshot

Laptop & PC

How to check your CPU temperature 💡 Is there a snipping tool for Mac? 💡 How to take a screenshot on your MacBook 💡 How to connect laptop to monitor

Office

How to fix slow running Windows 10 💡 How to use emojis in Microsoft Outlook 💡 How to password protect a folder in Windows 10 💡Excel: How to change the background color based on the cell value 💡 How to disable startup programs in Windows 10 💡 Word: How to start page numbering on page 3 💡 How to take screenshots on Windows 10

Apps & Software

How to start a video call on viber 💡 Funny questions you can ask Alexa💡Alexa glows green 💡 How to recover deleted WhatsApp messages 💡 Alexa glows yellow 💡 How to delete your Snapchat account 💡 How to merge several PDF files 💡 How to edit PDF files 💡 How to create a Gmail account 💡 Spotify Family: How to share an account 💡 Spotify costs: Free Account vs. Premium

Hobby

How to make homemade hand sanitizer 💡 What to eat after a colonoscopy 💡 How to keep chickens 

Glossary

What is 5G? 💡 What is 4G and 4G+? 💡 What’s Bixby? 💡 What is a VPN connection? 💡 What is the WPS button and where can I find it? 💡 “Thug life”: What does that mean? 💡What is a hashtag? 💡 What is SSID?

Footer

Pages

  • Blog
  • How2forU
  • Imprint
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in