Deleting Conditional Formatting

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 4, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365

Conditional formats, to Excel, are just like any other format. That means that you can delete them by simply deleting all the formatting in a cell. Follow these steps:

  1. Select the cell or cells whose formatting you want to delete.
  2. Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
  3. In the Editing group, click Clear | Clear Formats.

That's it. All the formatting is removed from the cells, including any conditional formatting. If you don't want to delete any explicit formatting in the cell, but instead want to delete just the conditional formats, follow these steps:

  1. Select the cells from which you want to delete the conditional formatting.
  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. Choose Clear Rules | Clear Rules from Selected Cells.

If you don't want to delete all the conditional formatting rules, then you need to follow these steps, instead:

  1. Select the cells from which you want to delete the conditional formatting.
  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. (See Figure 1.)

    5. Figure 1. The Conditional Formatting Rules Manger.

  5. From the list of available rules, select the one you want to delete.
  6. Click Delete Rule.
  7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for any other rules you want to delete from the selected cells.
  8. Click OK to close the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager dialog box.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6815) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365.

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

Making Spell Check Ignore Characters

The rules of professional editing often require that editorial changes in a quote be noted with brackets. These brackets, ...

Discover More

Specifying a Language for Text

Need to format a paragraph (or some selected text) so that it is a language other than English? You can do so easily by ...

Discover More

Printing Rows Conditionally

Need to only print out certain rows from your data? It's easy to do if you apply the filtering or sorting techniques ...

Discover More

Dive Deep into Macros! Make Excel do things you thought were impossible, discover techniques you won't find anywhere else, and create powerful automated reports. Bill Jelen and Tracy Syrstad help you instantly visualize information to make it actionable. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, real-world case studies, and 50 workbooks packed with examples and solutions. Check out Microsoft Excel 2019 VBA and Macros today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Finding Cells that Use Conditional Formatting

Conditional Formatting is a great boon to effectively displaying the information in your worksheets. If you want to ...

Discover More

Highlighting Greater Than Average Dry Durations

If you need to find whether the duration between two dates is greater than the average of all durations, you'll find the ...

Discover More

Conditionally Highlighting Cells Containing Formulas

Excel's conditional formatting feature allows you to create formats that are based on a wide variety of criteria. If you ...

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.

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

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 two minus 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.