How can I copy a format from one cell to another?

[C004040]

I need to do this via some kind of funtion rather than manually. For example, I have a conditional format in A7. I need to copy the formatted results of that cell to A1. If A7 is red then I want A1 to be red and so on.

[starryknight64]

Try copying A7, then doing a Paste Special on A1 pasting only the format.

You may need to alter your conditional formatting to have constant references instead of relative ones if you have any (i.e. $A$1 instead of A1).

I hope this helps!

[JBeaucaire]

...For example, I have a conditional format in A7.

There's your answer right there. Anything you can create as a conditional format for A7 can ALSO be put in A1. Just adjust the CF formula so that it STILL is looking at A7 and evaluating it the same way A7 is evaluating itself.

When A7's CF logic turns itself red, the same thing would happen in A1 since you're using the same logic.

If that's not clear, post up your CF formula and we'll make a suggestion.

[C004040]

I want to be able to do this with a function. I want to be able to do it without manual intervention. It's a large spreadsheet and would take too long to do this for every cell or even range of cells.

[C004040]

Using the conditional formatting for both cells looks promising but how do I point to A7 when I use CF for A1? The 2 options I see are "Cell value it" and "Formula is".

[starryknight64]

You don't "point to" A7 when you do this, rather, you use A7's formatting conditions and copy it over to A1.

So if A7 turns red when $A$2 equals 5, then (when copied over) A1 will turn red when $A$2 equals 5.

Basically, A1 will have the same logic as A7 has.

You can even select multiple cells and paste the formatting of A7 if you need to.

[JBeaucaire]

That's only two cells. Have you oversimplified the question?

Applying the same CF logic to 1000 cells takes moments. So unless there is no rhyme/reason to the layout of your sheet, you can do this, too.

There is no builtin function for controlling cell coloring via formula. CF is the best solution, and properly implemented is not time restrictive either.

If you describe your full need for the large spreadsheet, I'm sure we can point out a simple way to use Excel's built-in tools.