Question

I have a table in excel which has a column for UserIds in the first column. It has other information in the rest of the column.

I also have a list of UserIds that I want to choose from that first table.

How can I highlight only the rows in the table that match the UserIds in the list?

Example,

Table

User   Name    Age
 1     Tom     25
 23    Sam     18
 5     Tim     23
 15    Tod     19
 35    rob     38

and the list (which i have copied into a column the same excel sheet is):

User
15
5
1

So, I should be able to highlight the rows in the Table for Users 15, 5 and 1.

Answer 1

You can use conditional formatting

1. I suggest you apply a range name to your look up list for ease of management, I have used a range name MyList for G11:G13 in the pic below
2. Highlight the cell range to be formatted, start your selection at the top left cell
3. Select Conditional Formatting from the Excel menu (xl2010 screenshot below)
4. Use a formula to determine which cells to format
5. Enter a formula like =COUNTIF(MyList,$A2)>0

This works by looking at row 2 and testing if A2 occurs at least once in Mylist. Which is does for “1”, so A2, B2 and C2 are coloured in

A3 is not in the list, so A3:C3 are uncoloured etc

There is an excellent write up of conditional formatting at Debra Dalgleish’s site here. In xl2003 conditional formatting is accessed via the Format .. Conditional Formatting menu.