Excel 2007 Conditional Formatting

September 25, 2010 11:04 AM

Excel 2007 conditional formatting help!

In my spreadsheet, I want the whole row to be formatted a certain way based on the value of one cell in that row. So if, for instance, cell M3 is "yes", I want all of row three to be green.

I know how to use the conditional formatting feature to change just the cell, but can I make the whole row change color?

posted by rossination to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Best answer: Choose to format cells based on a formula. The formula should be =$M$3=0, or whatever you want M3 to be equal to. If each row will be dependent on whatever's in column M in that row, you can do =M$3.
posted by jeather at 11:10 AM on September 25, 2010

Best answer: Use the formula =$M3="yes". The $ in front of M locks the column, so every cell references back to column M, but lets the row vary as you go down the spreadsheet.

If you have trouble, I sometimes find it works to just do the conditional formatting for column M as just described, then select the entire range and the conditional formatting will auto-fill with the same formula (that may not be too clear, but hopefully you'll get it after some fiddling around).
posted by _Silky_ at 11:32 AM on September 25, 2010

And as a tip, the format painter is great for this sort of thing. Sort out the conditional formatting for just one cell, and then use format painter to give all the others the same conditional formatting.
posted by saintsguy at 11:43 AM on September 25, 2010

Response by poster: Cool, thanks everyone! That worked great.
posted by rossination at 11:45 AM on September 25, 2010