lookup help

[Guest]

I am inexperienced with lookup functions, but was told that a lookup equation could be generated to compare the contents of "Column A" with contents of "Column B', and if there are matches, to change the cell format (color, font, etc) to show same values. Can anyone clue me in

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tom Ogilvy]

select column A

Assume cell A1 is the activeCell in the selection

go to Format=>conditional formatting in the menu

Change Cell value is to Formula is

put in a formula like

=Match($A1,$B:$B,0)

Then click the format button and go to the pattern tab. Select a color

OK your way out.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

I am inexperienced with lookup functions, but was told that a lookup

equation could be generated to compare the contents of "Column A" with
contents of "Column B', and if there are matches, to change the cell format
(color, font, etc) to show same values. Can anyone clue me in?

 

[Beto]

I am inexperienced with lookup functions, but was told that a lookup equation could be generated to compare the contents of "Column A" with contents of "Column B', and if there are matches, to change the cell format (color, font, etc) to show same values. Can anyone clue me in?

If I understand well, you want something like:

Column A Column B

Pears Apples
Apples Peaches
Oranges Oranges <---- Same Format
Melon Grapes

To do this, you need to use conditional formatting, It is in
Format/Conditional Formatting...

Then just use the dialog presented to do the proper formatting, remember
to format both first cells in column A and B, this is: format first cell
to be compared in Column A and Format first cell to be compared in
Column B. When creating the Conditional formatting, remove all absolute
references (Ex: $A$1 -> A1 ) so you can then copy the format dowm.

Regards,