Conditional Formatting on Sheet and Row Level

Offshorejoe

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.

Adrian Mandile CHESS

It would be great to be able to multi-select "If [this column]..." columns in Conditional Formatting, so that we don't have to clone and duplicate the same formatting for many columns with the same condition.

For example, I have a number of currency-type columns and I'd like them to display in red font if they are less than zero. Do do this currently, I would need to clone the same conditional format many times for each individual column!

Alternatively, this could be achieved with adding an "OR" option, similar to the "AND" option.

Katrina

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

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

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

ahh, I see.

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

Sam L

I have 16 columns of data and I have to set 5 rules for each column. This causes me to have to create 80 rules which was time consuming

Stefan

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.

Paula Grahame

I would love to see the conditional formatting feature to be updated to format an entire sheet at once.

I.E: "If this symbol is anywhere on my sheet, apply this formatting to the cell (or row)"

I primarily work in column based sheets with sometimes in excess of 100 columns - each of which have 2 or 3 formatting rules to apply. The process is tedious in a singular column format. Being able to conditionally format an entire sheet at once based on the data in the cell would be a game changer with what can be done on large column based sheets.

Suzanne Raphael

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.

Ray Lindstrom

I'm currently in Conditional Formatting hell where I'm applying the same conditional formatting across many columns. I have 5 rules for each column. I create them for one, and then keep cloning and updating settings. It would be great to be able to apply to multiple columns, or the entire sheet, at once.

svenu

Hi Team,

Currently, a conditional formatting rule applies to the whole sheet. Please add a feature to be able to select a range, similar to Applies to in MS-Excel:

Regards

Sowmya

JennS_

Please add this feature. There is a serious need for this! I am currently having to manually create formats for 67 columns in a sheet x 3 conditions per cell. This should be an easy update. C'mon smartsheet.

Paula Grahame

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/373469#Comment_373469

Ugghhhh Same! I have to build 3 or 4 conditional formatting rules for almost 100 columns. Its maddening. And SO easy to mess up.

Full sheet formatting would literally save my work sanity.

Erin Kim

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

Stu Haney

Excel handles this much better. Seems like achieving a similar level of capability would not be too hard to do in Smartsheet. cloning formatting for each column can't be the answer! Help!