Conditional formatting is a very effective way of highlighting larger items of interest, trends, and many other attributes that may be of interest within your spreadsheets. It is generally quite easy to use and has flexibility depending on the rules you want to apply to your conditional formatting. Therefore, it can be good for analysts to highlight key points in their analysis, but it can also be very good for people working in management who are looking to control data or see certain items highlighted. Let us explain why you should use Conditional Formatting in Excel.
If you have never used conditional formatting before, it is easiest to explain by visualising how you would normally format a cell in Excel. Excel allows you to format cells by changing the font style, colour, and weight or even by changing the colour of the cell itself. All of these options are covered within the Beginner Excel Course. However, Intermediate Excel Courses will normally cover conditional formatting. This is because conditional formatting is more complex, including far more variables.
What is conditional formatting?
Conditional formatting uses formats to highlight outstanding items, large items, small items, or any other type of rule that you try to apply to your spreadsheet. It is flexible and enables you to create your own rules. However, common rules are set up and available for users to make life easy.
It is ideal for anybody who is monitoring data or looking to present their analysis. You could use conditional formatting in many different industries and jobs in many other ways. However, alternatives within Excel and Power BI can enable you to highlight summaries and emphasise major points to management.
Benefits of Conditional Formatting
However, conditional formatting would be an extremely useful tool for many jobs. Professionals who work in finance, HR, Projects, and many other industries will find it beneficial to learn how to use conditional formatting.
There are issues with conditional formatting. If you cannot set your own rules and rely on standard rules, conditional formatting may not meet your requirements. Additionally, it only highlights things according to your rules, which can draw your attention to this characteristic. However, more important items may be missed due to this. It is important always to ensure that you use various functions to ensure that you achieve your aims. This will be to overcome the anomalies that may cause it not to work for you when you need it.
