Highlight data with conditional formatting rules and choose the right chart type.
Conditional formatting and chart types
How to highlight data and choose a chart
Conditional formatting automatically changes how a cell looks (fill color, font color, an icon) based on its value. There are different rules: “Greater Than” — highlight in red; “Duplicate Values” — highlight in orange; color scales — a gradient from minimum to maximum; data bars — a mini bar right inside the cell. The key feature: rules recalculate automatically when the data changes — no need to recolor anything by hand.
Choose a chart to fit the task, not at random. A column chart (vertical bars) or a bar chart (horizontal bars) is the best choice for comparing categories: “Who sold more?” A line chart is for change over time: “How did revenue change month by month?” A pie chart shows parts of a whole: “What percentage of the total?” But a pie chart gets hard to read with 6 or more categories: the slices become too small — a column chart is better.
Every chart needs axis titles and a chart title; otherwise the reader won't understand what it shows. The title briefly answers the question “What does this chart show?”
Lesson notes
How to highlight data and choose a chart
Conditional formatting automatically changes how a cell looks (fill color, font color, an icon) based on its value. There are different rules: “Greater Than” — highlight in red; “Duplicate Values” — highlight in orange; color scales — a gradient from minimum to maximum; data bars — a mini bar right inside the cell. The key feature: rules recalculate automatically when the data changes — no need to recolor anything by hand.
Choose a chart to fit the task, not at random. A column chart (vertical bars) or a bar chart (horizontal bars) is the best choice for comparing categories: “Who sold more?” A line chart is for change over time: “How did revenue change month by month?” A pie chart shows parts of a whole: “What percentage of the total?” But a pie chart gets hard to read with 6 or more categories: the slices become too small — a column chart is better.
Every chart needs axis titles and a chart title; otherwise the reader won't understand what it shows. The title briefly answers the question “What does this chart show?”