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Excel is an incredibly powerful tool that can help to make data easier to understand, and one of the most useful features of Excel is its ability to quickly and easily alternate the color of rows based on group. This feature is particularly useful when there is a large amount of data, as it helps to visually organize the data and make it easier to analyze. With a few simple steps, any user can quickly and easily alternate the color of rows based on their group, enabling them to quickly identify and compare different groups of data. This makes it easier to understand the data and identify trends or patterns that may be present.
Often you may want to alternate row colors in Excel based on group values.
For example, you might want to alternate the row colors in the following dataset in Excel each time the value in the “Player” column changes:
The following step-by-step example shows how to do so in practice.
Step 1: Enter the Data
First, let’s enter the following dataset in Excel that shows the number of points scored by various basketball players:
Step 2: Create Helper Column
Next, we need to create a helper column that assigns numerical values to each unique name in the “Player” column.
First, type the value 0 into cell C1.
Then type the following formula into cell C2:
=IF(A2=A1,C1,C1+1)
We can then click and drag this formula down to each remaining cell in column C:
Step 3: Alternate Row Colors Based on Group
Next, highlight the cells in the range A2:C15, then click the Conditional Formatting dropdown menu on the Home tab and then click New Rule:
Once we press OK, the row colors in the range A2:C15 will alternate each time the value in the “Player” column changes:
Note: We chose to use a light green fill for the conditional formatting in this example, but you can choose any color and style you’d like for the conditional formatting.