=ISTEXT conditional formatting on cells for VISIBLE text with hidden formulas

dparnell

New Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2019
Messages
19
Hello,

I have a sheet with a range of cells that have a variation of the following formula in them ( =IF(Research!V1="","",Research!V1 - of course, "V1"). Basically, the sheet is a "table of contents" of sorts, that aggregates data another sheet ("Research" sheet). (Please see the attached image).

I am trying to conditionally format the cells to be a different color if there is any text that shows up. When I do the standard "=ISTEXT" formula, it still changes the "blank" cells to another color. I assume that it is recognizing the text from the formulas. Can someone please help me by showing me how to properly format the range of cells so that, if, some text is visible (not just the formula), it will become highlighted.

Thanks so much for your expertise, in advance!

David

Capture.PNG
 

Excel Facts

Bring active cell back into view
Start at A1 and select to A9999 while writing a formula, you can't see A1 anymore. Press Ctrl+Backspace to bring active cell into view.
Generally, if a formula is returning some value, Excel would consider it a text. Can't be sure with returning Numbers but returning Blanks is a Value hence Text.

Better is to think around where you can use Formula like below for conditional formatting - Try this
Excel Formula:
=Find("V1",E2)>0
Assuming you need to format column E starting cell E2
 
Upvote 0
Another option would be
Excel Formula:
=LEN(D6)>0
changing cell ref to suit.
 
Upvote 0
Generally, if a formula is returning some value, Excel would consider it a text. Can't be sure with returning Numbers but returning Blanks is a Value hence Text.

Better is to think around where you can use Formula like below for conditional formatting - Try this
Excel Formula:
=Find("V1",E2)>0
Assuming you need to format column E starting cell E2
Hi Sanjay - thanks for the response. I tried this and it didn't work for me. Please see the following screencast; I think I did a poor job of explaining this with my initial chat ( Screen video of conditional format ). Please let me know what you think. Thank you!
 
Upvote 0
Another option would be
Excel Formula:
=LEN(D6)>0
changing cell ref to suit.
Hi Fluff - I tried this and it didn't work for me. I posted a screencast to Sanjay's response; please see that for a better explanation of what I am doing. Thank you very much for your help!
 
Upvote 0
Glad you sorted it & thanks for the feedback.
 
Upvote 0

Forum statistics

Threads
1,224,820
Messages
6,181,160
Members
453,021
Latest member
Justyna P

We've detected that you are using an adblocker.

We have a great community of people providing Excel help here, but the hosting costs are enormous. You can help keep this site running by allowing ads on MrExcel.com.
Allow Ads at MrExcel

Which adblocker are you using?

Disable AdBlock

Follow these easy steps to disable AdBlock

1)Click on the icon in the browser’s toolbar.
2)Click on the icon in the browser’s toolbar.
2)Click on the "Pause on this site" option.
Go back

Disable AdBlock Plus

Follow these easy steps to disable AdBlock Plus

1)Click on the icon in the browser’s toolbar.
2)Click on the toggle to disable it for "mrexcel.com".
Go back

Disable uBlock Origin

Follow these easy steps to disable uBlock Origin

1)Click on the icon in the browser’s toolbar.
2)Click on the "Power" button.
3)Click on the "Refresh" button.
Go back

Disable uBlock

Follow these easy steps to disable uBlock

1)Click on the icon in the browser’s toolbar.
2)Click on the "Power" button.
3)Click on the "Refresh" button.
Go back
Back
Top