How to: Format Cells based on the Text in the Cell

Sep 19, 2023
2 minutes to read

This example demonstrates how to create a rule that applies a conditional format based on the text in a cell.

To create a new conditional formatting rule represented by the TextConditionalFormatting object, access the collection of conditional formats from the Worksheet.ConditionalFormattings property and call the ConditionalFormattingCollection.AddTextConditionalFormatting method. Pass the following parameters:
Specify formatting options to be applied to cells if the condition is true using the ISupportsFormatting.Formatting property of the TextConditionalFormatting object.

Note

Transparency is not supported in conditional formatting.

To remove the TextConditionalFormatting object, use the ConditionalFormattingCollection.Remove, ConditionalFormattingCollection.RemoveAt or ConditionalFormattingCollection.Clear methods.

View Example

ConditionalFormatting.vb
ConditionalFormatting.cs

' Create the rule to highlight values with the given text string in cells A2 through A15.
Dim cfRule As TextConditionalFormatting = worksheet.ConditionalFormattings.AddTextConditionalFormatting(worksheet.Range("$A$2:$A$15"), ConditionalFormattingTextCondition.Contains, "Bradbury")
' Specify formatting options to be applied to cells if the condition is true.
' Set the background color to pink.
cfRule.Formatting.Fill.BackgroundColor = Color.FromArgb(255, &HE1, &H95, &HC2)

csharp

// Create the rule to highlight values with the given text string in cells A2 through A15.
TextConditionalFormatting cfRule = worksheet.ConditionalFormattings.AddTextConditionalFormatting(worksheet.Range["$A$2:$A$15"], ConditionalFormattingTextCondition.Contains, "Bradbury");
// Specify formatting options to be applied to cells if the condition is true.
// Set the background color to pink.
cfRule.Formatting.Fill.BackgroundColor = Color.FromArgb(255, 0xE1, 0x95, 0xC2);

The image below shows the result (the workbook is opened in Microsoft® Excel®). In the list of authors, the name "Ray Bradbury" is highlighted in pink.