+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 6 of 6

Conditional Formatting Ignoring + or - Symbols

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    04-22-2020
    Location
    England
    MS-Off Ver
    2013
    Posts
    2

    Conditional Formatting Ignoring + or - Symbols

    Hi All,
    This is my first time here and first time posting so apologies if this is the wrong place to post.

    I have a few simple formatting rules set up to change the colour of a cell depending on whether the value is higher or lower than another.
    For example:
    Target Grade = 6
    Grade Achieved = 6 or higher (cell to turn green as matches or exceeds target grade)
    Grade Achieved = 5 (cell to turn amber as is only one grade below target grade)
    Grade Achieved = 4 or lower (cell to turn red as is two grades or more below target)

    The problem I have is that I want to input the Grade Achieved as a value followed by either nothing, '+' or '-'. E.g. Grade Achieved = 4-, 6+, 8, 5- etc. I do not want '+' or '-' to have any effect on the conditional formatting at all. These are just shown for reference. The use of '+' or '-' seems to throw the conditional formatting rule such that: any Grade Achieved below the target will always show green if the grade is followed by a '+' or '-'. When not followed by a '+' or '-', the conditional formatting works fine.
    In summary, is there a way to make '+' or '-' appear invisible to excel so I can use these symbols without effecting conditional formatting rules? I have attached an example document of what I currently have.

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    01-24-2020
    Location
    Belgium
    MS-Off Ver
    2013
    Posts
    95

    Re: Conditional Formatting Ignoring + or - Symbols

    Hi, there

    Your mockup in column "Grade Achieved" is beyond comprehension

    Regardless, this formula does the trick in contracting the number from a "5+" alike
    Formula: copy to clipboard
    Please Login or Register  to view this content.

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    04-22-2020
    Location
    England
    MS-Off Ver
    2013
    Posts
    2

    Re: Conditional Formatting Ignoring + or - Symbols

    Hi,
    Thank you for your feedback although I'm not sure what you mean by beyond comprehension. I thought formatting in column F did a good job (apart from this problem I mention)
    Your MATCH function looks to do a better job that the MID function I had used - thank you for this.
    The problem is I need conditional formatting to apply to the grade with '+' or '-' and not a formula that extracts the number from said grade. If you would be able to show how this function could be used in my example, that would be fantastic.
    Thanks, Dan

  4. #4
    Forum Guru
    Join Date
    09-10-2017
    Location
    Chippenham, England
    MS-Off Ver
    365
    Posts
    15,029

    Re: Conditional Formatting Ignoring + or - Symbols

    Maybe
    =LEFT($C3)+0<=F3

  5. #5
    Forum Moderator AliGW's Avatar
    Join Date
    08-10-2013
    Location
    Retired in Ipswich, Suffolk, but grew up in Sawley, Derbyshire (England)
    MS-Off Ver
    MS 365 Subscription Insider Beta Channel v. 2404 (Windows 11 22H2 64-bit)
    Posts
    79,385

    Re: Conditional Formatting Ignoring + or - Symbols

    I'm not sure what you mean by beyond comprehension.
    Don't worry - I get it, but then I'm a teacher, too ...

    I think the member commenting thought that these were calculated grades rather than grades achieved in a test that have been added manually.
    Ali


    Enthusiastic self-taught user of MS Excel who's always learning!
    Don't forget to say "thank you" in your thread to anyone who has offered you help.
    You can reward them by clicking on * Add Reputation below their user name on the left, if you wish.

    Forum Rules (updated August 2023): please read them here.

  6. #6
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-04-2020
    Location
    Jacksonville, FL
    MS-Off Ver
    Excel for Microsoft 365
    Posts
    1

    Re: Conditional Formatting Ignoring + or - Symbols

    Sorry to jump on the thread...just wondering...If I want to include a + in conditional formatting, how do I do that? I have text contains - set as green and want text contains + set as red. The - works but the + leaves the cell white and the + disappears.

+ Reply to Thread

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Conditional formatting to insert symbols
    By [email protected] in forum Excel Formulas & Functions
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 01-18-2020, 05:27 AM
  2. Replies: 14
    Last Post: 09-15-2016, 02:40 AM
  3. Conditional formatting inserting symbols only
    By KK1234 in forum Excel Formulas & Functions
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 09-16-2015, 01:23 PM
  4. Replies: 6
    Last Post: 06-04-2015, 05:15 AM
  5. [SOLVED] help creating conditional formatting symbols using a formula
    By SEMMatt in forum Excel Formulas & Functions
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 02-22-2013, 10:27 AM
  6. Replies: 8
    Last Post: 12-03-2012, 08:21 AM
  7. Conditional formatting for numbers and symbols
    By stewart1 in forum Excel Programming / VBA / Macros
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 06-19-2011, 09:02 AM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts

Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0 RC 1