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Conditional Formatting on Sheet and Row Level

Dear Smartsheet Development Team,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to suggest an enhancement to the conditional formatting features in Smartsheet. As a frequent user of your platform, I have found that while Smartsheet offers robust functionalities, there are limitations in the conditional formatting options that hinder user experience and efficiency.

One particular limitation is the inability to apply conditional formatting to all cells on a sheet or an entire sheet at once. Currently, users can only apply conditional formatting to one column at a time. This restriction greatly limits the flexibility and efficiency of formatting large datasets, especially for users migrating from platforms like Excel where such capabilities are standard.

Given that conditional formatting is a fundamental tool utilized across various industries on a daily basis, enhancing these features in Smartsheet would significantly improve user productivity and satisfaction. Therefore, I propose the following enhancements to the conditional formatting functionality:

  1. Apply Conditional Formatting to Entire Sheets: Allow users to apply conditional formatting rules to all cells within a sheet or to entire sheets at once. This feature would streamline the formatting process for large datasets and improve overall efficiency.
  2. Bulk Conditional Formatting: Introduce the ability to apply conditional formatting rules to multiple columns or ranges simultaneously. This would enable users to format data more quickly and intuitively, similar to the capabilities offered in spreadsheet applications like Excel.
  3. Advanced Conditional Formatting Options: Expand the range of conditional formatting criteria and formatting styles available to users. This could include additional comparison operators, custom formulas, and more diverse formatting options such as icon sets and data bars.
  4. Conditional Formatting Presets: Provide users with pre-defined conditional formatting presets tailored for common use cases across different industries. This would simplify the formatting process for users who may not be familiar with creating custom rules.

By implementing these enhancements, Smartsheet can better meet the diverse needs of its users and provide a more comprehensive solution for data management and analysis. I believe these improvements would greatly enhance the usability and effectiveness of the platform, ultimately leading to higher user satisfaction and adoption.

Thank you for considering my suggestions. I look forward to seeing the continued evolution of Smartsheet and the implementation of these enhancements.

91
91 votes

On Wishlist · Last Updated

We are currently exploring how we might improve conditional formatting in the future so we appreciate all this great feedback - thank you! Please keep adding your comments to help us understand your scenarios better. If we have more details to share we'll update the status here.

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Comments

  • Katrina
    Katrina ✭✭✭✭
    edited 03/08/24

    It would be helpful to be able to do conditional formatting for the entire sheet or by a row rather than column by column. It becomes very tedious to enter the same formatting over many columns.

  • Nik Fuentes
    Nik Fuentes ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited 07/24/24

    I was under the impression Conditional Formatting already applied to every row that meets its conditions. I also know there's an Entire Row option so you don't have to check off every column.

    Do you mean that you'd like the ability to apply a conditional format to every row in one column? [eg: if [row Count]# is Odd then apply this format to Column2]

    I think I'm on board, but I might be misunderstanding. Could you provide an example?

  • Katrina
    Katrina ✭✭✭✭
    edited 07/24/24

    I'd like to highlight all of the percentages over 100, but that would include the top row, which does not need to be highlighted. To exclude this row, I had to add another column and exclude that from conditional formatting.

  • Nik Fuentes
    Nik Fuentes ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited 07/24/24

    ahh, I see.

    yep, that's a pain and a half to set up.

  • Stefan
    Stefan ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    edited 07/24/24

    Did you ever do a sheet which needed many (e.g. 30 or more) conditional formats?

    Currently it’s a tedious nightmare to create them and again, when changes are required.

    I request a substantial overhaul of this functionality with use at scale in mind.

    Smartsheet Consulting, Solution Building, Training and Support.

    Projects for Processes and for People.

  • Suzanne Raphael
    Suzanne Raphael ✭✭✭
    edited 07/24/24

    I have wished for this feature more times than I can remember over many, many years. My latest use case was wishing to highlight any cell that includes the phrase "USAGE NOTE." FYI, I'm in software QA and project management, FWIW.

  • Erin Kim
    Erin Kim ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited 07/24/24

    We need this. I am in a conditional formatting nightmare.