How do you use data validation and conditional formatting in Excel to control and highlight data?
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To apply data validation to a cell or a range of cells, select them and go to the Data tab and click on Data Validation. A dialog box will open where you can choose the type of validation you want from the Allow drop-down list. For example, you can select Whole Number to restrict the input to integers, or List to create a drop-down list of options. Specify the minimum and maximum values, the source of the list, or the custom formula for the validation. You can also add an input message and an error alert to guide and warn the users about the validation rules.
To apply conditional formatting to a cell or a range of cells, select them and go to the Home tab and click on Conditional Formatting. A menu will open where you can choose from various options, such as Highlight Cells Rules, Top/Bottom Rules, Data Bars, Color Scales, or Icon Sets. Each option will open a dialog box where you can set the criteria and the format for the conditional formatting. For example, you can highlight cells that are greater than a certain value, show data bars that indicate the relative size of the values, or use icons to represent different categories of data.
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In my experience, this is a tool that is especially useful when creating reports where you don't want to spend too much time reading the data, you just want to gather an idea of things at a glance. One example is if I want to create a list to show results that are good or bad, I often will create conditional rules that will automatically color-fill the cell one way or another.
Data validation can be used for various purposes, such as ensuring data accuracy, creating user-friendly forms, or preventing errors. For example, you can limit the number of characters in a cell by selecting Text Length from the Allow list and entering the minimum and maximum length in the Data Validation dialog box. Additionally, you can create a dependent drop-down list by selecting List from the Allow list and entering a formula that refers to a named range based on another cell's value in the Source box. Furthermore, you can prevent duplicates in a column by selecting Custom from the Allow list and entering a formula that counts the number of occurrences of the current cell's value in the column and compares it to 1 in the Data Validation dialog box. All of these techniques can help you create more efficient and effective data validation processes.
Conditional formatting can be used to highlight outliers, show trends, or visualize data in Excel. For example, you can select Highlight Cells Rules > More Rules from the Conditional Formatting menu and choose Format only cells that contain from the Rule Type list to highlight cells that contain errors. Additionally, you can select Color Scales > More Rules from the Conditional Formatting menu and choose Format all cells based on their values from the Rule Type list to show a color scale based on the value of another cell. You can also apply an icon set based on a formula by selecting Icon Sets > More Rules from the Conditional Formatting menu and then clicking on the icon next to each value and selecting Formula from the Type list.
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