excelexcel-formula

Excel formats and copies text instead of just formatting

I'm trying to format text when it is on equal to the text of an adjacent cell. I create a custom format that looks like this:

=$E2<>$F2

Excel does the formatting (just bolding) appropriately, but it is also copying the text of the cell where I created the format and overwriting destination cells instead of just formatting their text in place. I.e., instead of doing this:

E F
Mytext Mytext
Moretext Differenttext

It is doing this:

E F
Mytext Mytext
Moretext Mytext

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Solution

  • Check if you have formulas in the cells you want to format that could produce the results you are seeing and remove them.

    Then use "Conditional Formatting" like this:

    1. Select the cells you want to format (e.g: column F)

    2. Click on "Format > Conditional Formatting ..."

    3. In the "Manage Rules" Dialog click on the "+" sign in the lower left corner to create a new formatting rule

    4. In the "New Formatting Rule" dialog select "Style: Classic", "Use a formula to determine which cells to format", enter formula =$E1<>$F1 and click on "Format with: Customised Format > Font > Font style: Bold"

    Excel Conditional Formatting

    If you do not want to format the whole column, select just the cells you want to format (e.g. F2:F100) and change the formula to represent the first line of your cells (e.g. =$E2<>$F2).

    This should do the trick!