Confusion with Conditional Formatting Order

[MikeMcCollister]

I've been using conditional formatting in Excel for years and I was pretty sure that I had an understanding of the order that the rules were applied. However, I am confused based on the text "Rule (applied in order shown)". I figured that the rules would be applied from top to bottom. Here is a screen shot of what I am talking about with some very simple formula-based rules.

I thought that as shown in the screen capture that it would first check if the value in the cell was > 4 and make the background green then go to the next rule and if the cell value was greater than 2 then it would paint it blue. In that case there would be no green cells.

So, this looks like the order of the rules is from the bottom up. Is that the case?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Fluff]

The first rule has the highest priority & will take precedence if any other rules conflict.
If the rules don't conflict both will happen

+Fluff v2.xlsm
	A
1	1
2	2
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6
Sheet2

Cells with Conditional Formatting
Cell	Condition		Cell Format	Stop If True
A1:A6	Expression	=A1>4	text	NO
A1:A6	Expression	=A1>2	text	NO

 

[MikeMcCollister]

Fluff,

Thanks. I changed my rule so that it matches your where A1>4 the text is red and for A1>2 the background is blue, as shown with the screen capture. It works as I expect. In fact, no matter what order I make the rules it works the same, as I would expect in this situation. However, once I set the background color, it favors the first one as you stated. Is that what you mean by "conflict"? If so, it looks like there is a "stop of conflict" built-in. Am I understanding this correctly?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Fluff]

Is that what you mean by "conflict"?

Yes that's right. If you are trying to change the fill colour in both rules the first rule will work as it has the highest priority (you obviously cant have two fill colours in one cell).
However if the formats do not conflict (ie fill colour on one & font colour on the other) both rules will work unless you check "Stop if True"

 

[MikeMcCollister]

Fluff,

Thanks for the clarification. I just figured it would apply rule 1 then rule 2 but I know better now.

You have been most helpful.

Regards,

Mike

 

[Fluff]

You're welcome & thanks for the feedback.