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  • Thread starter Thread starter Jim
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J

Jim

Hi,

I am new to excel and hope you can help me with a
question. Is there a way to make one cell mirror the
format of another cell without using past special?

Here is the background. I have a workbook that shows all
our projects milestones with dates. I have found out how
to use conditional formatting to make past dates turn red
(indicating that a milestone is late) and want to know how
I can make the rest of the line (milestone title)
automatically mirror the format (colour) of the
corresponding conditionally formatted date cell. As
milestone dates constantly change I want this format
mirroring to happen automatically without manually copying
and then using past special.

Hope someone can help me with this as my book and help
have come up blank.

Thanks, Jim
 
Jim said:
Hi,

I am new to excel and hope you can help me with a
question. Is there a way to make one cell mirror the
format of another cell without using past special?

Here is the background. I have a workbook that shows all
our projects milestones with dates. I have found out how
to use conditional formatting to make past dates turn red
(indicating that a milestone is late) and want to know how
I can make the rest of the line (milestone title)
automatically mirror the format (colour) of the
corresponding conditionally formatted date cell. As
milestone dates constantly change I want this format
mirroring to happen automatically without manually copying
and then using past special.

Hope someone can help me with this as my book and help
have come up blank.

Thanks, Jim
Click to expand...

Using conditional formatting, you can make the format of a cell (or cells)
dependent on the value not just of the cell itself but of any other cell.

So, for example, you could make the format of all cells in row 1 dependent
on the value of A1 (for the sake of example, let's say when its value is
123).
To do this, select row 1.
Format > Conditonal Formatting
Change the frst box to FormulaIs
In the second (formula) box type the equation
=($A$1=123)
Set the required format in the usual way.

The brackets aren't strictly necessary, but I find it helps when
undersatanding the formula.
Within these brackets, you could have put any formula you wanted. For
example, like this:
=($A$1<=TODAY())
Note carefully the use of absolute references. Excel will apply the formula
to the formatting of each of the selected cells, adjusted just as it would
have been if the formula had been in the first cell and copied across to the
others. The absolute reference means that all formats will depend on the
value in one cell.
 
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