Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Copying Conditional Formatting.

Copying Conditional Formatting

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 10, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365


5

In Excel, conditional formatting is considered part of the regular formatting of a cell. If you want to copy conditional formatting from one cell to another, you can do so by simply copying the cell and pasting it (or its format) to another cell. If you want to copy a conditional format to a range of cells (and only the conditional format), the easiest way to do so is by following these general steps:

  1. Select the cell that contains the conditional format you want copied.
  2. Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
  3. In the Styles section, click Conditional Formatting. Excel displays various options related to conditional formatting.
  4. Click Manage Rules. Excel displays the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager. The format you want copied should already be filled in. (See Figure 1.)
  5. Figure 1. The Conditional Formatting Rules Manger.

  6. Select the conditional formatting rule you want copied.
  7. Click the Duplicate Rule button. The selected conditional formatting rule now appears twice in the Rules Manager.
  8. Within the duplicated rule, select whatever appears in the Applies To box.
  9. Press the Delete key. The Applies To box should now be empty and the insertion point still within it. (See Figure 2.)
  10. Figure 2. Ready for a new range.

  11. Using the mouse, click and drag to select the range of cells to which the conditional format should be applied.
  12. Click the OK button to dismiss the Rules Manager.

That's it. Excel does the rest and copies the conditional formatting, as you desired. Technically, the conditional formatting rule wasn't copied, but moved. When you click OK (step 10), the duplicated step is moved to the target range you specified (step 9) and removed from the original cell selected (step 1).

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6253) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Copying Conditional Formatting.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Removing a Directory

Macros allow you to perform all sorts of file-related operations. One such operation allows you to delete a directory. ...

Discover More

Printing Index Field Codes

Word allows you to configure what you see so that field codes are visible instead of the results of those field codes. ...

Discover More

Finding Missing Fonts

When you open documents that were created a long time ago on a system far, far away (sounds almost epic, doesn't it?), ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Shading Based on Odds and Evens

You can use conditional formatting to add shading to various cells in your worksheet. This tip shows how you can shade ...

Discover More

Conditional Formats for Odd and Even Columns

Setting up conditional formatting can be challenging under some circumstances, but once set it can work great. Unless, of ...

Discover More

Conditional Page Breaks

Need to have your worksheet printout start on a new page every time a value in a column changes? There are a couple of ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 5 - 0?

2025-06-13 10:09:22

J. Woolley

@Dr. Bartolo
Here's a modified version of the Tip's second sentence:
If you want to copy conditional formatting from one range to another, you can do so by simply copying the source range (or any cell within the source range) and pasting its format to the target range using Paste Special (pick Formats in the Paste Special dialog).


2025-06-12 04:29:46

Dr. Bartolo

Unless someone knows differently, it would appear that the "Duplicate rule" option is only included in Microsoft 365, not in any other versions of Excel. If there is another way to achieve the same result described in this tip, especially for other versions of Excel, it would be very useful to learn about that. The tip for earlier versions of Excel works, but it is not as useful as the result obtained from using the Duplicate rule button.


2024-08-18 11:38:11

J. Woolley

Notice the duplicated rule can only be applied to a range within the same worksheet. You cannot apply the duplicated rule to another worksheet.


2024-08-12 23:55:40

Peter

@Enno
I have no idea about the missing button, but you can edit the range directly in the "Applies to" box of the format of interest.
If you plan to type a new or expanded range into the box directly press F2 first so that arrow keys work on the text not the references.
So long as you know the target range/address, typing is simpler than adding to an existing range with the mouse.
Type a comma between Applied To ranges, for example =$K$7,$L$7:$M$7


2024-08-12 02:17:54

Enno Hammes

In my Excel 2019 (German Version) this tip does not work because the "Duplicate Rule"-Button is missing. Why?


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.