Ensuring Conditional Formatting and Data Validation is Copied

Pam has created a table that a LOT of users have access to add data to. She has many columns that she has applied data validation and conditional formatting to. However, when users add rows to the table, the conditional formatting and data validation is not always copied down. Pam wonders how she can ensure that it is.

There are actually two approaches to this, and the approach you choose depends on how you want your data to be treated. Perhaps the easiest approach is to define your data as a table. You can do that in this manner:

1. Select all your data. (Some people say that you only need to select a cell in the data, but if your data contains blanks it is more reliable to select all the data.)
2. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
3. Click the Table tool, in the Tables group. Excel displays the Create Table dialog box.
4. In the dialog box, make sure the settings reflect the nature of your data. (The settings have to do with the table data range and whether your data has headers or not.)
5. Click OK. Excel converts the data to a formal table.

At this point, anytime you add information in the rows below the table, Excel automatically formats the new data in the same fashion as the data in the rest of the table. This includes the application of conditional formatting and data validation.

The other approach is to format a row beneath your data so that it reflects your conditional formatting and data validation. Then, make sure that new rows are added above this "end row." Toward that end, you may want to make the row hidden or even lock it. Since new rows are being added between rows already formatted (the last data row and the "end row"), then the newly inserted rows acquire all the formatted of the cells around them. The only drawback to this approach (unlike the earlier approach) is that your users cannot just start typing at the end of the data; they have to do the insert and then enter data in the inserted row.

Finally, a third possibility is to create a macro to add new data or to make sure that your formatting is consistent. Exactly how you do this depends on the characteristics of your data.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (13455) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016.