How can I shade a cell in Excel based on the value of another cell?

By /

The process of shading a cell in Excel based on the value of another cell involves using conditional formatting. This feature allows you to set rules that determine the formatting of a cell based on its own value or the value of another cell. By setting a specific condition and choosing a formatting style, you can easily create a visual representation of data in your spreadsheet. This can be useful for highlighting important data or creating a color-coded system for easier data analysis. By utilizing conditional formatting, you can quickly and efficiently shade cells in Excel based on the value of another cell.

Excel: Shade a Cell Based on Another Cell Value

To shade a cell in Excel based on the value of another cell, you can use the New Rule option under the Conditional Formatting dropdown menu within the Home tab.

The following example shows how to use this option in practice.

Example: How to Shade a Cell Based on Another Cell Value in Excel

Suppose we have the following dataset in Excel that contains information about points scored by various basketball players:

Suppose we would like to shade each cell in the Team column where the corresponding cell in the Points column is greater than 25.

To do so, we can highlight the cells in the range A2:A11, then click the Conditional Formatting dropdown menu on the Home tab and then click New Rule:

In the new window that appears, click Use a formula to determine which cells to format, then type =$B2>25 in the box, then click the Format button and choose a fill color to use.

Once we press OK, all of the cells in the Team column that have a corresponding value in the Points column greater than 25 will be shaded:

Note that in this example we use the formula =$B2>25 to shade all cells in column A where the corresponding value in column B was greater than 25.

However, we could also shade values in column B based on text values in column A.

For example, we could use the formula =$A2=”Mavs” to shade all cells in column B where the corresponding value in column A was equal to Mavs.

Note: We chose to use a light green fill for the shading in this example, but you can choose any color and style you’d like.

Additional Resources

The following tutorials explain how to perform other common operations in Excel:

x

Related terms:

  1. Excel: Shade a Cell Based on Another Cell Value
  2. How to apply conditional formatting to a cell based on the value in another cell?
  3. How can I display a default value in Excel based on another cell?
  4. How can I assign a value in Excel based on whether a cell contains a specific word?
  5. How can I change the font color in Excel based on the value of a cell?
  6. Excel: Change Font Color Based on Cell Value
  7. Excel: Autofill Cells Based on Value in Another Cell
  8. How can I use Excel to show a default value depending on the value of another cell?
  9. Another Cell How can I use conditional formatting in Google Sheets to highlight a cell if it is equal to or greater than another cell?
  10. How do I highlight an entire row based on the value of one cell?