Two Simple Ways to Copy Conditional Formatting in Google Sheets

Managing spreadsheets can be a real headache, especially when you have a large amount of data. Conditional formatting is the best option for quickly sorting cells based on their value in Google Sheets. This feature allows you to better understand the spreadsheet and track your goals at a glance.

However, there are situations where you need to copy the conditional formatting from one cell to another. For example, when you’re creating a sales table in a spreadsheet and using conditional formatting for the month of June. But July comes around and you need to update the spreadsheet and use the same formatting in that column.

Now, applying conditional formatting to a specific range of cells is easy. Copying that formatting to other cells or spreadsheets should also be simple. If you don’t know how to do it, this tutorial is for you.

Format Painter Tool

You may already be familiar with the Format Painter tool. It’s a simple tool that allows you to copy a specific format from one cell to another. This also applies to conditional formatting.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Select the cell with the conditional formatting you want to copy.
2. Then, click on the Format Painter tool in the toolbar, which will allow you to copy the format.
3. Select the cells to which you want to apply the formatting.

These steps are also applicable when copying conditional formatting from one spreadsheet to another.

Copy + Paste Special

You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to use this trick. It’s simply copying and pasting the format of a specific range of cells to another.

Here’s a more detailed explanation:

1. Select the range of cells whose conditional formatting you want to copy.
2. Right-click and choose the copy option (you can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C).
3. Select the cells to which you want to apply the conditional formatting.
4. Right-click on the selected cells.
5. Hover over “Paste special” and click on “Paste only the format” in the options (for simplicity, use CONTROL + ALT + V).

Note that if you copy conditional formatting from one cell to another cell within the same sheet, it will not create a new rule for the cells where you pasted it. However, if you copy cell formatting from one spreadsheet to another, it will create a new rule for the second spreadsheet.

Copying Conditional Formatting in Google Sheets

One of the simplest ways to copy conditional formatting in Google Sheets is to use the copy format function. Here are the steps:

1. Select the cell with the conditional formatting you want to copy.
2. Right-click on the cell and click Ctrl+C on PC or ⌘+C on Mac to copy.
3. Select the cells where you want to paste the copied conditional formatting.
4. Right-click on one of the selected cells and choose “Paste special” -> “Paste only the format”.
5. You can also click on the selected cells and click Ctrl+Alt+V on Windows and ⌘+Option+V on Mac to paste.

Your conditional formatting will be pasted into the highlighted cells in Google Sheets.

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