I’m having trouble with conditional formatting in my spreadsheet. I want to highlight cells based on a date range but it’s not working right. Here’s my formula:
=isnumber(vlookup(A1,$D$2:$D$13,1,0))
I used isnumber because of date issues. The problem is only the first cell in my selection changes color. This is wrong because that cell doesn’t even have a date in it.
Can anyone spot what I’m doing wrong? I’ve tried different versions of the formula but can’t get it to work properly. Any help would be great!
I’ve dealt with similar date-related conditional formatting issues before. The VLOOKUP approach can be tricky for dates. Instead, try using a direct comparison with the AND function. Something like =AND(A1>=D$2, A1<=D$13) might work better for you.
Make sure your cells are actually formatted as dates in Excel. Sometimes they look like dates but Excel sees them as text. Also, double-check that you’ve applied the conditional formatting to your whole target range, not just one cell.
If you’re still having trouble, it might be worth looking into named ranges for your start and end dates. It can make formulas cleaner and easier to manage in the long run.
Hope this helps you sort out your formatting issue!
I’ve experienced similar challenges with Excel’s conditional formatting when it comes to dealing with dates. In my case, the VLOOKUP formula wasn’t the most reliable option for a date range. I ended up switching to a direct comparison using the AND function. For example, if D2 is your start date and D13 your end date, a formula like =AND(A1>=D$2, A1<=D$13) worked more consistently.
Double-check that your cells are rightly formatted as dates. Also, ensure that you apply the conditional formatting to your entire target range rather than just one cell. This approach cleared up the issues for me, so I hope it can help you too.