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Highlight row on drop down selection

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  1. #1
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    Highlight row on drop down selection

    Hi,

    I have a spreadsheet with a drop down list – when a certain option from this list is selected, I would like the row to be highlighted a certain colour – I have no idea how to achieve this! Any help appreciated.

  2. #2
    Forum Expert NBVC's Avatar
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    You'll need Conditional Formatting...

    see here for details....

    http://www.contextures.com/xlCondFormat01.html
    Where there is a will there are many ways.

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    Thanks for the link - I've tried conditional formatting and although it works as it says in the article, I can't get it to work for dropdown boxes.

    I have a column which contains a drop down with the options of 'Low', 'Med', 'High'

    When 'High' is selected I would like the row to highlight red.

    Using conditional formatting, I can only get this to work with manually entered data, rather than the option from a drop down

  4. #4
    Forum Expert NBVC's Avatar
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    So say, column A has your drop down lists... and you want to hightlight rows from column A:Z


    First select entire range, A1:Z100 (assuming row 100 is last row)

    Invoke the Conditional Formatting

    Choose Formula Is from 1st drop down and enter formula =$A1="High"

    where A1 is top-left most cell in your selection (note the $ sign.. this is important as it maintains reference to column A throughout the sheet).

    Choose your format

    If you want more conditions... click Add and continue with similar formulas...

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by NBVC
    So say, column A has your drop down lists... and you want to hightlight rows from column A:Z


    First select entire range, A1:Z100 (assuming row 100 is last row)

    Invoke the Conditional Formatting

    Choose Formula Is from 1st drop down and enter formula =$A1="High"

    where A1 is top-left most cell in your selection (note the $ sign.. this is important as it maintains reference to column A throughout the sheet).

    Choose your format

    If you want more conditions... click Add and continue with similar formulas...
    Thanks again for your help - I'm afraid I couldn't get that to work - nothing highlights when I select the option from the drop down that I want to trigger the formatting.

  6. #6
    Forum Expert NBVC's Avatar
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    Maybe you can attach a copy of your spreadsheet and I will try to apply the format for you.

    Note: I have assumed your dropdown list is a result of Data Validation. If it is a combobox instead, then you will need to assign the cell beneath the combobox... and then the Conditional formatting will be =$A$1=3 where 3 represents the third entry in your list which would correspond to "high"
    Last edited by NBVC; 07-09-2008 at 10:32 AM.

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