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How to Remove Conditional Formatting in Excel

Last updated:
January 9, 2024
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Conditional formatting in Microsoft Excel allows you to format cells based on specific conditions. It can help you highlight important data, track changes, and make your spreadsheets more visually appealing. This article provides a step-by-step guide on how to do this effectively. Let’s get started!

What is Conditional Formatting?

Conditional formatting is a feature in Excel that allows you to format cells based on certain criteria or rules. For example, you can create a rule. This rule will highlight all cells in a specific range. It will highlight any cells that contain a certain value, such as values above or below a certain threshold.

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Why Remove Conditional Formatting?

While formatting can be a helpful tool, there are several reasons why you may want to remove it. First and foremost, excessive formatting can make your spreadsheet difficult to read and analyze. If you have too many rules in place, your data may become cluttered and difficult to navigate. This can make it challenging to spot trends or patterns in your data.

example with too many conditional formatting rules applied

Screenshot taken by the author. Example of how too many conditional formatting rules can become hard to perceive.

Removing formatting is important for keeping your spreadsheets clean and organized. If you are collaborating on a spreadsheet or using it for business, it is important to make it legible and clear. This will help with comprehension.

How to Remove Conditional Formatting in Excel

There are several ways to remove background color in MS Excel, including:

Time needed: 2 minutes

How to Remove conditional formatting manually?

Select the cells that have format painter applied
Go to the Home tab on the Excel ribbon
Click on the Types of Conditional Formatting button
Select Clear Rules, then click on Clear Rules from Selected Cells
The conditional formatting will be removed from the selected cells

How to locate conditional formatting rules?

1.Select the cells that have formatting applied.

2. Go to the Home tab on the Excel ribbon

3. Click on the apply Conditional Formatting button

4. Select Manage Rules

how to manage formatting rules in excel guides

Guide with steps on how to manage formatting rules

5. A dialog box will appear. It will contain a list of all the formatting rules that have been applied to the selected cells.

excel dialog box for removing formatting

The picture was taken by the author with a dialog box with highlighted cells rules in Excel.

6. Click on the rule that you want to remove

7. Click on the Delete button to remove the rule.

Picture was taken by the author with steps on how to delete formatting from the dialog box.

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How to clear formatting using a “clear formatting” option in Excel?

Select the cells that have formatting applied
Go to the Home worksheet tab on the Excel ribbon
Select Clear Formats
The formatting will be removed from the selected cells. You can also choose “Clear rules from entire sheet”, “Entire Table” or “Pivot Table”.

clear rules from home tab in excel guide

How to remove conditional formatting with VBA?

Press Alt+F11 to open button the Visual Basic Editor.
Select the worksheet that you want to remove the formatting from.
Paste the following code into the editor.

Sub ClearCF()
Cells.FormatConditions.Delete
End Sub

This code will remove all rules from your workbook. If you only want to remove formatting from a specific range of cells, you can modify the code like this:

Sub ClearCF()
Range(“A1:B10”).FormatConditions.Delete
End Sub

This code will remove rules from cells A1 through B10. You can modify the range to match your specific needs.

Related Article: How To Automate Excel spreadsheets with VBA?

After you’ve entered the code, save your workbook and run the macro by pressing ALT + F8. Select the ClearCF macro from the list and click Run. This will remove all formatting rules from your workbook or the specified range.

It’s important to note that VBA code should only be used if you have experience with it. If you are not familiar with VBA, it is advisable to use one of the manual methods previously mentioned. Alternatively, you can seek help from someone with more experience.

Conclusion

In conclusion, removing conditional formatting is an important step in keeping your spreadsheets clean and organized. Understand what conditional formatting is and why it should be removed. This will ensure your spreadsheets remain function in Excel and easy to use.

Remember to troubleshoot any issues that may arise. Establish best practices for managing conditional formatting.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens to the data when I remove conditional formatting in Excel?

When you remove conditional formatting in Excel, the data itself remains unaffected. Conditional formatting is solely a visual enhancement that applies formatting based on specified criteria. Removing conditional formatting will not alter the underlying data in any way. It will only remove the formatting rules that were previously applied.

Is there a keyboard shortcut to remove conditional formatting in Excel?

Yes, there is a keyboard shortcut to remove conditional formatting in Excel. You can use the following shortcut:
– Select the cells or range from which you want to remove conditional formatting.
– Press “Alt” on your keyboard and then press “H” to access the “Home” tab.
– Next, press “L” to activate the “Clear” dropdown menu.
– Finally, press “F” to select “Clear Formats.” This will remove the conditional formatting from the selected cells or range.

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