Manipulating Style in a Pivot Table using Excel's Conditional Formatting Feature
Excel Pivot Tables offer a powerful way to analyse and visualise data. One way to make these tables even more informative is by using conditional formatting. This article will guide you through the process of applying various types of conditional formatting in Pivot Tables and ensuring the formatting persists even after refreshing the data.
Applying Conditional Formatting in Pivot Tables
- Select the data area: Inside your Pivot Table, choose the area where you want to apply formatting.
- Go to Home > Conditional Formatting, choose the type of rule you want, such as Top/Bottom Rules, Highlight Cells Rules, or New Rule for custom criteria like "Greater Than".
- When creating or editing a rule, use the "Manage Rules" option, then in the Edit Rule dialog, set the "Applies to" option:
- Choose "All cells showing ‘Sum of Sales Amount’ values for Name and Product" or similar options that apply to the entire Pivot Table value area, not just a selected cell range.
- Define your formatting style (colors, fonts, etc.) and confirm.
This approach applies the formatting rule dynamically to all relevant Pivot Table values, so when the table is refreshed or when new data arrives, Excel maintains the formatting automatically.
Types of Conditional Formatting to consider for Pivot Tables:
- Top/Bottom rules (e.g., Above Average)
- Cell Value-based rules (e.g., Greater Than a specific value, between values)
- Formula-based rules for custom conditions
- Data Bars, Color Scales, Icon Sets (works generally for numeric values)
Maintaining Formatting after Refreshing the Pivot Table
- After applying conditional formatting, use the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager to assign rules to all cells showing specific value fields, not just the selected cells. This ensures formatting persists even when data or structure changes.
- Enable "Preserve Cell Formatting on Update": In some Excel versions, right-click the Pivot Table > PivotTable Options > Layout & Format tab > check “Preserve cell formatting on update” to keep manual formatting changes (though conditional formatting through the rules manager is more reliable).
- Use Excel Tables as source data for your Pivot Table by converting ranges with Ctrl + T; this helps Pivot Table expand with new data when refreshed, keeping conditional formats applicable without redefining rules.
- Avoid applying conditional formatting directly to selected cells because this tends to be lost after refresh. Instead, always set rules globally via the Rules Manager targeting all cells showing specific data fields.
Summary of key steps to reliably apply and preserve conditional formatting in Pivot Tables:
| Step | Details | |-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | Apply formatting via Rules Manager | Select conditional formatting and edit rule > apply to all cells showing specific field data | | Use dynamic references | Use "All cells showing ..." in Applies To field to make formatting dynamic | | Enable "Preserve Formatting" | Use PivotTable Options to preserve formatting on updates if available | | Use tables as source data | Source your Pivot Table data from Excel tables for automatic expansion on refresh |
Following these guidelines will allow you to use different conditional formats in Pivot Tables and keep the formatting intact even after refreshing the data. This is critical for maintaining consistent, readable reports where values dynamically update but visual highlighting remains stable.
If you need a specific example rule or instructions for a particular type of formatting, let me know! For instance, with text or value-based formats, cells can be highlighted based on being greater than or less than a certain number, or being within a specific range.
- Leveraging advanced tools in data-and-cloud-computing technology like Excel's Pivot Tables, you can enhance their informative value by employing trie conditional formatting techniques.
- By managing rules in Data Bars, Color Scales, or Icon Sets categories within Pivot Table's conditional formatting options, you can further optimize your trie data visualization and maintain formatting stability, even after refreshing the data-and-cloud-computing technology.
