Comments on: How to conditionally format dates and time in Excel with formulas and inbuilt rules

See how to apply Excel conditional formatting to dates. Learn how to use formulas to highlight weekends and holidays, format cells when a value is changed to a date, shade upcoming dates and delays, conditionally format dates based on the current date, and more. Continue reading →

Comments page 5. Total comments: 758

  1. Hi,
    i reviewed your all formula but not found any of them as i was looking for.
    can you let me know what is the formula i can use for getting 3 color in one cell. like below.

    yellow color - 10 days early of due date.
    Red color - if the due date has passed.
    Green color - If can meet the due date.

    Thanks /Zaman.

    1. You can use Home>>Conditional formatting >> Manage Rules >> New Rules >> and choose "Format only cells that contain" and choose Cell Value for less than 10 days , equal to 10 days , less than 10 days
      Hope this help to you

    2. You would use the formulas to highlight future dates, but apply 3 different rules to your columns.
      Red would be =$K3=1, $K3-TODAY()<15)

    3. Hi Zaman, im just wondering if you had any luck working this formula out? I am also needing a formula to highlight cells early of due date

  2. ALREADY EXISTING FORMAT - 13-Aug-18
    REQUIRED NEW FORMAT - 13-08-2018
    PLEASE GUIDE US HOW TO CHANGE THIS FORMULA

    1. If this is already formatted as a date, select the cells or column that you want to format, select "Format > Format Cells", select the "Custom" option, and enter the format "dd-mm-yyyy"

  3. I have a Spreadsheet where i have to populate the cells for the arrival date of guests.

    At the top of the Sheet is the Date the report is for. i.e 7 June

    Then further down the columns I populate the names of guests / membership number and arrival date 7 June- which is the same as the date of the report.

    what is the code I can use so that when I change the date of the report it auto populates the arrival date of the fields beside all the guests who are arriving on the same date?

    1. Chris:
      If all the guests' arrival date will be the same date as the date for the report, you can enter the cell address of the cell from the top of the sheet, let's call it cell A2.
      So, in cell B12 where you want to enter a guests' arrival date the formula would look like:
      =A2.
      If you want to enter this address in the first cell that holds names and dates and then copy it down the column lock that address like this:
      =$A$2
      Incidentally, enter the names and dates in separate cells. Don't enter different data types in the same cell.
      You may even want to enter the first name and last name in two separate cells. This way you can search and analyze the records easier.
      Many of the questions here on AbleBits have to do with different data types having been entered in the same cell and now it has to be untangled. All that extra work and aggravation can be avoided by setting up the data entry correctly.
      If you want to get fancy you could create a Master List of all the members' names and then use a drop down or lookup field to enter their names. It should be faster and less prone to error. Oh, yeah, there are several options for lots of possible fun with this data.

  4. Dears
    I would like to make date ranges = Some text or month.
    Example : 5/01/2018 - 4/01/2018 = January
    5/02/2018-4/02/2018=February
    Kindly help me.
    Input two date ranges - Out put required "Text" (Bill of the month of)

    1. Sorry Date Column Singe only.
      Example
      01/01/2018 = December 17
      02/01/2018 = December 17
      03/01/2018 = December 17
      04/01/2018 = December 17
      05/01/2018 = January 18
      upto to
      04/02/2018 = January 18

      1. Khursheed:
        Where 4/1/2018 is in cell K25 and the date you want to compare it to is in L26 the formula looks like this:
        =IF(L26<=$K$25,"December 17","January 18")
        You can change the cell addresses to suit your needs.
        Note the cell that holds the 4/1/2018 is in K25 and in the formula is an absolute reference indicated by the $. This means that as you copy the formula up or down the column the cell to compare the dates to will always be 4/1/2018.
        The formula reads like this, If the value in L26 is equal to or less than the value in K25, then display December 17 otherwise display January 18.

  5. Hi,
    Need Help

    I want to know the expire date of the certificate is the following formula for conditional formatting is correct?

    =AK4>EDATE(TODAY(),3)

    1. Pradnya:
      I think it would work better if you put the value for TODAY in another cell and referenced that cell. For example: =AK4>EDATE(AK3,3) would work better. Where the cell AK3 holds the formula TODAY().

  6. Hi,

    I have a column with tenant names, a column with move in dates, and a column with Lease expiration dates.

    Without adding an additional column, is it possible to have the column with the move date turn yellow 2 months before the 3 years anniversary without the actual move in date changing? I also would like this to happen every 3 years.

    1. Becky:
      Yes, you can do this and some other date related things, too.
      To highlight the move date:
      Select the cell(s) containing the signing date(s)
      Select Conditional Formatting from the ribbon or wherever it is in your version of Excel
      Choose New Rule based on formula
      enter =TODAY()+60 in the field
      Choose the formatting of your choice then OK out and you're finished.
      If you want to see in another cell what the status of your tenant's dates are, enter this in another cell where A42 contains the signing date of the lease:
      =IF(A42<TODAY()+60,"2 Mos","OK")
      If you want to see the day and date their lease expires, enter this in another cell:
      =EDATE(A42,36) where "36" is the number of months from the signing date.
      When you enter all of this in the various cells, your lease sheet should display a lot of info.

  7. I am needing to indicate whether a guests arrival date occurred within 7 days of their booking date. The data resides on two separate sheets (one sheet for the guest name and booking date and another worksheet for the guest name and arrival date.A yes/no answer or the actual # of days between the two dates would be amazing.

    1. Nikki:
      Sheet 1 Cell A1 "Name" Heading
      Sheet 1 Cell B1 "BookDate" Heading
      Sheet 1 Cell A2 is the guest's name
      Sheet 1 Cell B2 is the booking date
      Sheet 2 Cell A1 "Name" Heading
      Sheet 2 Cell B1 "Arrival Date" Heading
      Sheet 2 Cell A2 is the guest's name
      Sheet 2 Cell B2 is the arrival date
      Sheet 2 Cell C2 =DATEDIF(Sheet1!B2,B2,"D")
      Sheet 2 Cell D2 =IF(C2<=7,"Yes","No")

  8. I have a spreadsheet that I'm creating for a friend. They hire out various things and take multiple payments. I would like to highlight the cells net to the date when its the current month EG cell I5 has the date but i would like H5 to change colour when its in the current month the date is entered (DD,MM,YYYY). I'm pretty certain this is possible but every time i try i seem to get 1,1,1900 and it conditional formats to this date

    1. This will work.
      Enter this into H5
      =IF(MONTH(I5)=MONTH(TODAY()),"Current Month","")
      Then in Conditional Formatting window enter
      Cell is equal to
      Then in second field choose Is Equal to
      Then in third field Enter ="Current Month"
      Then choose formatting of your choice

      1. Thank you Doug that works great. Sorry for late reply

  9. I'm trying to compare the difference in scheduled and actual times. So a person is scheduled to report to work at 9:00a but the clock in at 9:05. I need a column to show Late and On time when those two times are compared.

    1. Hello,

      You can use a formula like this:

      =IF(A1>TIME(9,0,0),"Late","On time")

      where cell A1 is “9:05”

      Hope it will help you.

  10. If the date in H7 is before the date in G7, I want the font color to be green. If the date in H7 is after the date in G7, I want the font color to be red. How do I do that?

    1. Hello, Nicholas,

      you need to use the most basic formulas that will compare dates in conditional formatting, like the one below:
      =H7this article to learn more about conditional formatting.

  11. Hi is there a way I can highlight dates in a column that cannot exceed another date in another column? For example, I have a spreadsheet where one column consists of dates where patients received their services and another column expressing their discharge date. I want to look for any discrepancies where the service dates exceed the discharge date.

    Thank you.

    1. Hi, Kelly,

      you need to create a simple conditionally formatted rule where one date (let's say, in A1) is bigger than the other (for example, A1>A2).
      Please take a look at this point of the article to learn the principle. You can adjust the formula, simply change "TODAY()" to the cell that contains other date for comparison.

      Hope this helps!

  12. In your first example of using the built-in date conditional formatting I had already done this, but I would like to have it format the entire row instead of just the cell. I have three conditions set up.
    1. Is anything "This month"
    2. Is anything "Next month:
    3. Is anything before today.
    1 overrides 3. My formatting works well, but I wish this set up would highlight the entire row based on these conditions as opposed to just the cell. Anything further than the next month will not need to be highlighted, but this will be an ongoing spreadsheet with changing dates as information is updated.

    1. Hello, Adam,

      to format the entire row you need to open Conditional Formatting Rule Manager (Home tab > Conditional Formatting > Manage Rules), select the rule and enter the whole row to the Apply to field (e.g. B:B, or A1:C1 supposing you have 3 columns).

      If you don't want the other rules to be applied when the first condition is met, make sure to select the Stop If True check box next to those rules in the same Conditional Formatting Rule Manager.

      Hope this helps.

      1. This works for columns, but not rows. If I go to manage rules and select a bunch of rows (say 2-11) it still only highlights the cell within that date range, not the entire row. I have columns A-M and the only column where the date range matters to me is column I. My conditional formatting works to highlight dates in a range in that column, but I would like it to do something like highlight all of row 3 if the date in column I falls in my range, instead of just cell I3.

        Thanks for your help.

  13. Hi
    I have a list of various deadline dates. I would like to add a column for "activity start date" which would be fixed at 2 weeks prior to the deadline date - so the formula would be the same but the actual dates will all be different

    Is there such a formula as "activity start date" = "deadline date" - 2 weeks

    deadline start
    31.6.2017 needs formula to calculate and input "17.6.2017"

    Thanks
    Paul

  14. I have a spreadsheet where I have a sent date and to be completed date. If the Sent date is between 7-13 days before the to be completed date it needs to be yellow and no color if it's 1-6 days before the to be completed date. If the Sent date is more than 14 days after the date to be completed date it should turn red. Now if the project was completed in the time frame and there is a Y in the completed column the cell needs to go back to join color. Someone please help me!!!

    1. Hello, Heather,

      since you have 4 conditions, you will need to create 4 rules for conditional formatting using AND function. Also you need to know how to subtract dates in Excel.

      So, if your Sent date is in A2 and To be completed date is in B2, your first rule will be like this:
      =AND((B2-A2)>=7,(B2-A2)<=13)
      Choose the filling, make sure to apply it to =$A:$B, and check the Stop if true box.

      Please use this example and the links above to learn more about all this functions and create the rest of the rules.
      Hope this helps!

  15. Hi,

    Id like to know what formula to use to between two different columns using dates where column A would have 16/06/2017 and column B would have 17/06/2017 so I can tell if the date in column b is greater and have it highlit red in formatting please which i can do using =$A$1<$B$1 and formatting it red, what i am struggling with is applying it across the entire two columns for all dates as it wants to keep using cell A1 only

    1. Hi, Jake,

      if I understand your task correctly, the rule you're using - =$A$1<$B$1 - is correct, but you need to make sure that it applies to =$A:$B. Then both of you columns will be filled with red if the date in column B is greater than the date in column A.

  16. Hi Svetlana Cheusheva,

    How to highlight a cell by entering different dates.

    For Example: i want to highlight dates from 1 to 5 GREEN, from 6 to 10 BLUE and from 11 to 15 RED.

    Thanks.

    1. Hi Mudassir,

      I assume you want to highlight dates depending on the day of the month. If so, set up 3 different rules for your range of dates with the following formulas, and choose a different color for each rule:

      1 to 5 GREEN: =AND(DAY(A1)>0,DAY(A1)<=5)

      6 to 10 BLUE: =AND(DAY(A1)>5,DAY(A1)<=10)

      11 to 15 RED: =AND(DAY(A1)>10,DAY(A1)<=15)

  17. I am trying to get a cell to highlight "good" in green if a date is met and "rescrub" in red if the date goes beyond the required date. For instance, reports are due by the 20th of each month. How can I insert the above parameters if the date is met or not met?

    1. I also would like to know..

  18. Hi

    I have a date received column (Column A) and column titled notice of complaint issued (Column B). I want the notice of complaint issued cell to highlight red if the date entered is more than than 28 working days after the date received.

    Struggling to get anywhere near working that one out, so any assistance hugely appreciated.

    Thanks
    Rob

    1. Hi, Robert,
      first of all, you need a formula which will count the number of working days between your dates – that would be Excel NETWORKDAYS function (you can read more about it here). The next step is to use this function when creating a formatting rule for your cells:
      =NETWORKDAYS($A2, $B2)>28

      Follow the steps from the article to create a formatting rule using the formula above. Hope it helps!

  19. Hello,
    I have not really found an answer to my problem and I hope you can help me.
    I am comparing 2 days and 14 days difference
    Column B (arrival date): 30/08/2017
    Column A( expected delivery date): 15/08/2017

    If Column A has less than 14 days after the arrival date (Column B) to be highlighted in red, also if the date is even before the arrival Date (Column B) also to be highlighted in red.

    Many thanks in advance

    1. Hello, Dilyana,
      for your first condition, you need to create a formatting rule with a following formula:
      =($B1-$A1)<14
      As for the 2nd one, please, explain in more details the condition you wish the dates to meet.

  20. Hi,
    In my spread sheet I want to highlight an entire row based on the year, i.e. rows with 2016 to be blue, 2017 to be green. The cell will contain a full date - 2016-11-30 - but I don't care about the month or day. The only information I have found seems to be on months and days. Can you help me?

    1. Hi, Elizabeth,
      there are other ways you can play with.

      One of them, is to create a new formatting rule, where you choose Format only cells that contain – specific text - containing – end enter 2016. And make these cells to be filled with blue. Same goes for 2017 – a new rule with a corresponding text value and colour in the rule.

      Another way is to use YEAR function. Let's say you enter dates into A column, and there's 2016-11-30 in A1. You create a new formatting rule with a next function:
      =(YEAR($A1))=2016
      But the same should be done for dates that contain 2017.

      Hope it'll help!

  21. Hi,
    I have a question - i have a sheet with multiple columns, now for example if i put a date in column R then i would like the entire row to be orange, later once i decide to put a date in column S then the same row should turn Green. How do i do this.

    1. Hi, Bosco,
      are you going to put only dates in these columns? If so, you can create two formatting rules that will check if those are blank or not. The formulas for the rules are:
      =$S1<>"" and =$R1<>""
      If your data begins from the second or the third row (and so on), change the number in the formula accordingly.

  22. I am trying to format one cell to highlight when the year isn't current. The names listed must complete a task at any date during the current year. After December 31st of each year, the task is overdue. The cell currently has only the year, but it would be nice to have the actually date they completed the task and still have December 31st of the current year as the condition. Thanks for your assistance.

    1. Hello, Sherry,

      if the cell to format is A1 and it contains a full date, use the next formula in conditional formatting:
      =YEAR($A1)<YEAR(TODAY())

      If there's only a year entered into the cell, the formula will be:
      =$A1<YEAR(TODAY())

  23. Hello,

    I need help, I want to change the dates font color to be black in cell A, if cell B is "done", else keep the due date in red in cell B.

    For exmp:
    Cell A1 =today()
    Cell A4 due date is 4 March 2017 (it is in red if expired)
    Cell B4 is keep counting the over due days
    Cell C4 is where the payment is still in debt. But once the payment is fully paid, cell B turned to "done" automatically. When cell B is "done", the due date in cell A is black again instead of red.

    up to now i am using the format as below

    cell B with: =IF(C4<=0,"selesai ",(A4-A$1)
    For Cell A4 I am using Conditional formatting rules manager

    I am using windows 10

    Thank you

    1. cell B with: =IF(C4<=0,"done",(A4-A$1)

  24. I have an interesting problem. I have a spreadsheet that has 3 sheets, one as an overview that the workbook opens to, and 2 with expiration dates.
    The expiration dates are on Emp_Data sheet and Vehicle_Data respectively, I use the formula on the main page to calculate remaining time before expiry:
    =IF(DATEDIF(B2,Emp_Data!B4,"y")=0,"",DATEDIF(B2,Emp_Data!B4,"y")&" years,")
    &IF(DATEDIF(B2,Emp_Data!B4,"ym")=0,"",DATEDIF(B2,Emp_Data!B4,"ym")&" month(s), ")
    &IF(DATEDIF(B2,Emp_Data!B4,"md") = 0,"",DATEDIF(B2,Emp_Data!B4,"md")&" Days")
    This formula removes the year/month/day if it returns a 0. B2 is the current date, and Emp_Data!B4 is the expiration date.
    What I want to do is have conditional formatting for dates that go below 15 days remaining, and another for fields that are above 15 days. Because I use separate sheets, it does not seem to be possible. I have attempted to use condition formatting for numbers, text, and dates for the field, to no avail.
    I have attempted to use a formula to convert the remaining time to days, in a separate field, however, I cannot apply conditional formatting with just one field, as they are all different dates.

    1. You can actually do this. When you are in the conditional formatting screen, you click on the button at the end of the text box and you can change the sheet that it is pulling the information from.

  25. hi,

    thanks alot for this useful tutorial, and i have a question :

    i am trying to use those 2 conditional formatting formulas :

    =AND(E$2:K$2=TODAY()+1,HOUR(NOW())>2)

    and this formula :

    =AND(E$2:K$2=TODAY(),HOUR(NOW())<=2)

    where the range E$2:K$2 is a table head and contains a sequence of current week dates

    i want to highlight the column in the table which has tomorrow's date on the table head cell only if the current real time is after 3:00 AM, And if not, i want to highligt the column which has today's date (not tomorrow's) ?????

    note : the range that each of the 2 conditional formatting formulas applies to is $E$4:$K$134 which is my table without the head cuz i don't want to highlight the head.

    i am getting tired trying to do that, can u help me?

    and thanks alot :)

    1. hhhhhhhhhhh finally it worked ! Yes !!

      the right formulas should be :

      =AND(E$2=TODAY()+1,HOUR(NOW())>2)

      =AND(E$2=TODAY(),HOUR(NOW())<=2)

      still really want to thank u, ur tutorial helped me alot, thanks.

  26. Hi team,
    Please, can you help me with this?

    I have a spread sheet which contains a date range i.e. 12/02/17 ( column B ) and 13/04/17 ( Column C ) ( Both in Row 2 ). I would like column B and C to turn yellow if Today's date is in that range only.

    Thank you in advance ! Really appreciated !

    1. try selecting column B & C then make conditional formating which contain the following formula :

      =B$2:C$2=TODAY()

      and choose the wanted formatting

      1. Thanks Jim, but that formula did not work. We are looking to use a formula that will format a time period window. Example we need Cell B2 and C2 to change formatting when todays date is less then C2 and greater than B2.

  27. Hello,

    I have a spreadsheet where all I need to do is for the row colour to change to grey when the date at the beginning of the row is in the past. I can't find the formula anywhere that will make it work!

    Thanks

    1. try selecting the rows then make conditional formating which contain the following formula :

      =$A1:$A9<TODAY()

      where i suppose that A is the column that has the dates (the rows heading), and the rows is 1 to 9

      and choose the wanted formatting (gray)

  28. i have successfully formatted dates in relation to today as i wanted, with your help thanks.
    however it is formatting when no date is inputted in the cell. how do i correct this?
    =TODAY()-$B$4>=15 (highlighted RED) this is the format used.

      1. Works great thanks.
        another i can do this for a single row, however when i try to apply to the rest of the page this is still referencing the original cell $B$4.
        how to I make it reference the corresponding row C4 D4 etc.
        i have tried removing the $ but this makes the formula invalid.

        help

  29. Hi, could you please write for me the formula for calculation the duration between two dates with a condition like

    10 Aug 2016 but it is required to consider 21 Oct 2016

    Minus

    21 Nov 2016 but it is required to consider 20 Nov 2016

    Required date difference is (21 Oct 2016 - 20 Nov 2016)

  30. I have a spreadsheet with various dates - two of which are:
    Start Date Actual completion date

    I want to be able to add a colour to the Actual Completion date field if the date entered is 30/60/90 days after the start date (ie 30days=green,60days=amber, 90days=Red) but I can't work out how to do it.
    Can you help please

    1. Hi Karen,

      You can create three rules with the following formulas:
      1. For the red color:
      =$B1-$A1 >= 90
      2. For the amber color:
      =$B2-$A2 >= 30
      3. For the green color:
      =$B2-$A2 < 30
      Make sure that the rules are in the following order: red, amber, green.
      The Start date values are in A1:A100, the Actual completion date values are in B1:B100.

  31. Hello,

    I have created a live-spreadsheet for Orders with 'Date Required' and 'ETA' columns in them.

    I would like the dates in the 'ETA' to be highlighted if they are greater than the dates stated in the 'Date Required' column.

    I can get this to work on individual Rows through Conditional Formatting but cannot repeat the process on a large scale through-out the entire sheet.

    Please let me know if you can help.

  32. Hi
    I need to highlight time in Green if within the 30 minute window of the stipulated shift timings and Red everything beyond that. We have 3 shifts with 9am, 10am & 11am.
    Can you help, I am struggling to do that.
    Thanks & Regards

      1. Hi Team,
        This is how it is and I need to highlight the one's which are compliant within the agreed time in that shift

        In Timing
        S.#Name Shift (AM)Monday Compliant Tuesday Compliant
        1Aditi 10:00 9:00 Yes 9:15 Yes
        2Anshuja 10:00 10:00 Yes 9:45 Yes
        3Archana 11:00 11:00 Yes 11:00 Yes
        4Arunjit 11:00 10:25 Yes 10:45 Yes

  33. I have a date in column e and then in column f I have added 3 years to when I need an update to renew what is in column e. Now I would like to know how I can get column a to turn red when it is 60 days before column f is due.

  34. Hi
    Cell A2 is the Invoice Submitted date (1 Sep 16) and B2 is the payment release date ( 10 Oct 16). Now I want the entire row to be highlighted in yellow color 10 days before the payment clearence date is near
    And second I want the entire row to be highlighted in red color if payment is not done on time

    1. Hi satya,

      You can create two rules with the following formulas:
      1. For the red color:
      =$B2-$A2>=10
      2. For the yellow color:
      =$B2-$A2<10
      Make sure that the rules are in the following order: red, yellow.

  35. Hello, i'm creating the list of documents in my storage. In column E i have "Retention Start Date, column F is "Retention Period. and column G is "Retention End Date". What i would like to do is to get the cells in the "Retention End Date" to turn red when it reaches a end date in real time. For example, if the start date is 10/12/16, and retention period is 7 years, the next column would be 10/12/23, and it should only be highlighted in red when the end date is equal to the computers date. Is this possible? How can i do this?

    1. Hi Hamizan,

      You can create a rule with the following formula:
      =$G2=DATE(YEAR($E2) + $F2, MONTH($E2), DAY($E2))

  36. I have to log complaints in a database and am looking for a better way to follow-up if there has been no response provided. I am to receive a response within 48 hours of receipt of the complaint. I would like to use the conditional formatting to highlight the date received column for the complaints I have not received a response from within this time-frame.
    So far this the formula I have come up with =IF(IF(Y2="",IF((TODAY()-$A2>2),"followup",""),"")="followup",TRUE,FALSE).

    After using this formatting, in the "Date Received" column it didn't highlight the date of the complaint that has the "Date Resolved" cell blank/gone beyond the 2 day timeframe. I don't know exactly what else I need to input to make it work, but I am determined to figure out why.

    Thanks I hope this make since!

  37. Hi,
    I have a spreadsheet used for tracking training dates for employees and supervisors. I need a formula for highlighting the supervisors recurrent training date a year from their initial training for just 1 column. I used the formula: =TODAY()-$L4>=365 and formatted it to turn red when it is over a year, which worked great; however, not everyone on the spreadsheet is a supervisor so those cells under that column are either blank or "N/A". How do I include the blank and N/A cells so they are not highlighted?

  38. Hi,
    i've been working on this spreadsheet which has a column for the "date of recieving comments", and another for "date of resubmission".Assuming we hav 13 days time between the 2 dates, is it possible to include a column that alerts about the deadline.
    can u suggest a method to do it?
    thanku

  39. Hi,

    Please help, =IF(DAY(F6)=1) is not working in my sheet. i want to change the dates 1-7 = Color 1, 8-15 = Color 2 and so on...

    Thanks

    1. Hi ripudaman,

      You can create different rules to change the color, for example:
      1. For 1-7 days:
      =DAY($B1)<=7
      2. For 8-15 days:
      =AND(DAY($B1)>7, DAY($B1)<=15)

  40. Hi

    Can you please tell me how can I find a number of particular value from a column...

    For e.g.: suppose 'Type' column has five type with 1000 records I want to find a number of records belong to particular type in a different excel sheet cell.

    Thanks.

  41. WORKDAY will work perfectly for what I need to do, but I want to include weekends in my calculations. What formula do I use instead of WORKDAY?

    1. Hi Aly,

      If you are referring to the formula in comment 252, you can just use the TODAY() function:

      Golden rule: =AND($A2>=TODAY()-2, $A2<TODAY())

  42. Please help me of my worksheet I need formula that will notify me the start date and end date. Thank you Svetlana.

  43. I currently use an Excel spreadsheet to track patient appointments and due dates for quarterly/annual exams, etc. I would like to be able to enter the date of the last exam and use conditional formatting to program the cells to change color as the due date for their next appointment becomes more and more urgent. If a patient was seen 12/1/16, would need to be seen again after one year. I would like the cell to turn yellow after 6 months, orange after 9 months, and red when overdue (after one year). Can you help?

    1. Hi Calvin,

      You can create three rules with the following formulas:
      1. For the red color:
      =TODAY() >=DATE(YEAR($A1) + 1, MONTH($A1), DAY($A1))
      2. For the orange color:
      =TODAY() >=DATE(YEAR($A1), MONTH($A1) + 9, DAY($A1))
      2. For the yellow color:
      =TODAY() >=DATE(YEAR($A1), MONTH($A1) + 6, DAY($A1))
      Make sure that the rules are in the following order: red, orange, yellow.
      The "patient was seen" values are in Column A.

  44. I am trying to create a spreadsheet using hire dates, to alert me to when an employee's anniversary is coming up that month! What formula would I need to use in conditional Formatting in order to achieve this goal?

  45. I have 2 columns. One is the start date, the other is the end date. I would like the third column to show "Active" or "Expired" depending on the "end date" in column 2.
    Thank you!!

    1. Hello Christine,

      You can use a formula similar to this, where B2 is the end date:
      =IF(B2<TODAY(), "Expired", "Active")

      Please note, this task does not require making a conditional formatting rule. You just enter the formula in the top cell, and then copy it down the column as usual.

  46. I currently have an excel with dates in columns I thru AA. Dates do not begin until row 4. Those cells have dates of the last time training was completed. It is all annual requirements or semi-annual requirements. I am trying to display dates more than one year old as red; dates between 1 year and 9 months as yellow, and dates 9 months to today as green. Are there any formulas that would assist in that? Thank you.

    1. Hi Dan ,

      You can create three rules with the following formulas:
      1. For the red color:
      =TODAY() >=DATE(YEAR($A1) + 1, MONTH($A1), DAY($A1))
      2. For the yellow color:
      =TODAY() >=DATE(YEAR($A1), MONTH($A1) + 9, DAY($A1))
      3. For the green color:
      =TODAY() >= $A1
      Make sure that the rules are in the following order: red, yellow, green.

  47. Hi,

    I want to display COMPLETE in green, IN PROGRESS in Yellow, PENDING in grey color based on date comparison between two columns and today's date.
    I tried conditional formatting option -> Use a formula to determine which cells to format
    and the formula used was =IF(D2<TODAY(),"COMPLETE","IN PROGRESS"). But it is not working.
    Can you suggest ...

  48. Hi, in column F I have due dates, and in row 1 I have dates as well for time going by. How do I do conditional formatting so that the following for example happens:

    Cell E2 has a date of 8th of November, and AK1 also has a date of 8th of November. I want to have AK2 to then colour orange. And I would want to apply this to the whole table.

    Thanks,

  49. I have start date in A2 cell and End date in B2 cell, looking for conditional date differance in C2 as if End date is not defined then differance should be C2=Today-A2, if End date is defined then C2=B2-A2
    Please Help

  50. I am trying to apply conditional formatting to times related to swimming which are in minutes, seconds and milliseconds. Currently the times are formatted in a Custom Format of mm:ss.00. I've tried the formula option without success. Basically I'm looking to be able to make a cell turn yellow when a swimmer's time is within a second of a current time standard (i.e., greater than 0 seconds but less than or equal to 1 second). How do I go about achieving this conditional formatting? Thanks

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