Can I lock a conditional formatting range?

I frequently use conditional formatting for a whole column. For example, the range will be $A:$A so the conditional format rule will apply to everything in column A. However when I return to view it at a later date I find that it has become broken up into chunks. For example, it has become $A1:$A105; $A108:$A371; $A372:$A554; $A557:$A619 ... etc. I am always careful not to "cross contaminate" by copying column B cells into column A, etc. I can only conclude this comes about through sorting, or inserting or deleting rows. The conditional format formula is often such that I'm loathe to just clear the whole range and rewrite it, but there are frequently many broken up lines which have to be deleted manually which can be extremely time consuming. (As well as dull!). It gets even more complicated when there's more than one conditional format in a column and these different formats are interspersed.

Is there a way to lock the format as $A:$A, so that insertion, deletion, sorting, etc. will not result in it breaking up?

I inserted/deleted rows in a CF with a whole column reference. No problems noted here...

Thanks for the responses both. My suggestion that this outcome might be caused by inserting or deleting was merely that ... a suggestion. It might be caused by something entirely different. Obviously though something is causing it, as it's happening. I'm not re-examining the formatting after one or two, or a few, insertions / deletions / sorts. This is when I go back to view it quite a while later. In the meantime though I've done nothing I'm aware of to disrupt the continuity - i.e. copying pasting something which has a different conditional format from another column, or cutting from column A rather than copying. Thinking about it, the only explanation I come up with is that perhaps if I insert a row the formatting is broken there, stopping at the row before the one I insert, then starting again from the row after. However, as far as I'm aware if I use the column A cell in that new row it follows the conditional formatting rules so it is adding it ... just as a new rule for a fixed range rather than maintaining the $A:$A range. Specifying the whole column rather than, say, $A1:$A1048576 is the point. ... Which brings me back to the original question. $A:$A specifies all of the the cells in the column. It doesn't need to be changed to $A1:$A100;$A101:$A102:$A1:$A1048576, which gives the same result just in a more complicated manner. I'd like to lock the formula to $A:$A and not have Excel change it.

Tim201110: I don't understand why I shouldn't use a whole column range ... that's kind of the point. I want every cell in column A to have that conditional format.

That's an annoyance of conditional formatting; inserting and deleting rows does exactly that, so you end up with dozens of redundant rules.

It's enough of an annoyance that I wrote a simple macro with the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+A to copy the address of the selection. Then I go to CF, paste that into the first rule, and delete all below. With a little more work, a macro could apply the first CF rule to the selection and then delete all others.

To Tim's point, CF extends the used range of the worksheet, which makes for file bloat.

Ah, OK, thanks shg. Sounds like I'll just have to carry on living with it. As for file bloat, I hadn't thought of that! Will try skinning the cat a different way to see what different it makes, size wise.