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This wikiHow teaches you how to use a custom formatting formula to highlight all the even or odd-numbered cells in a Google Sheets spreadsheet with a color fill, using a desktop internet browser.
Steps
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Open Google Sheets in your internet browser. Type sheets.google.com into the address bar, and hit ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return on your keyboard.
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Click the file you want to edit. Find the file you want to highlight in the list of your saved spreadsheet files, and open it.Advertisement
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Click the Format tab. This button is on a tabs bar below the file name in the upper-left corner of your spreadsheet. It will open a drop-down menu.
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Click Conditional formatting on the Format menu. This will open the formatting panel on the right-hand side of your spreadsheet.
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Click the text field under the "Apply to range" heading. This field is at the top of the formatting panel on the right-hand side. It will allow you to select the area you want to edit and highlight.
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Select the area you want to edit on the spreadsheet. Click your first cell, and drag your mouse to select the area you want to edit.
- When you click a cell, a new window titled "What data?" will pop-up. You can see your selected cell range in this pop-up window.
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Click OK in the pop-up. This will confirm your range selection.
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Click the drop-down menu under the "Format cells if" heading. This option is in the middle of the formatting panel on the right-hand side. It will open a list of available formatting conditions.
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Scroll down and select Custom formula is on the menu. This will allow you to type in a custom formatting formula.
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Click the Value or formula field in the formatting panel. You can type in your custom formula here.
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Enter =ISEVEN(ROW()) into the Value or formula field. This formula will highlight all the even-numbered rows in the selected cell range.
- If the formula above highlights the wrong set of rows, try =ISODD(ROW()) . This will highlight all the odd-numbered rows in the selected range.
- You can find all the row numbers on the left-hand side of your spreadsheet.
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Click the color menu under the "Formatting style" heading. The drop-down menu is green by default. This will open a pop-up window, and allow you to choose a different highlight color.
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Select a highlight color in the pop-up window. Clicking a highlight color here will automatically apply it to your spreadsheet.
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Click the blue Done button. This button is at the bottom of the formatting panel. It will save your new formatting formula.
- This button doesn't save your changes to the spreadsheet file. Make sure you save all the changes before quitting.
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