Excel User Tips

Alternate row shading using Conditional Formatting

One way to make your data legible is to apply cell shading to every other row in a range. Excel's Conditional Formatting feature (available in Excel or later) makes this a simple task.

Select the range that you want to format
Choose Format, Conditional Formatting
In the Conditional Formatting dialog box, select Formula Is from the drop-down list, and enter this formula:

=MOD(ROW(),2)=0.
Click the Format button, select the Patterns tab, and specify a color for the shaded rows.
Click OK twice to return to your worksheet.

The best part is that the row shading is dynamic. You'll find that the row shading persists even if you insert or delete rows within the original range.