In this DataSherpas quick tip we show you how to highlight every other row in excel. Although row highlighting is mainly used for presentation purposes, highlighting alternate rows in an Excel worksheet can also help usability and help to highlight important data.
The process for highlighting every other row in Excel is very simple and will take just a few seconds. Let’s get started.
First open the Excel workbook and worksheet you want to apply the formatting to.
In our example below we have a simple set of data containing two columns where we would like to make every other row a different colour.
In ninety nine percent of circumstances one of these pre-built options will probably suit your requirements (we show you how to customize further a little later in this article).
Choose the styling, from the options provided, that is most appropriate for your needs. Note that some of the pre-defined styles do not highlight every other row by default.
In our example we will choose a style that highlights every other row in our data with a blue background.
When you click on the style you wish to apply, a new dialogue box will appear asking you to choose the range of cells you wish to apply the styling to.
Simply click your mouse in the top left cell of the range of cells you want to apply the styling to and then, with your left mouse button held down, drag your mouse across and down to select all the cells to be formatted.
These options give you an almost infinite set of styling possibilities.
How to highlight every other row in the entire worksheet (not just a selection of cells)
If you want to highlight every other row in the entire Excel worksheet, and not just a small range of cells, you can easily do this but the method is slightly different. Instead of using table formatting we use conditional formatting.
First choose the worksheet you would like to apply the highlighting to and then click the square above the top left row number. This selects all cells in the worksheet.
In the dialogue box that follows choose the “Classic” option for “Style”
Note: We are using Excel for Mac. Excel for Windows options may look slightly different but all options are available in both Excel for Mac and Windows.
We hope you found this DataSherpas quick tip useful. If you have any questions, or something is not working as expected, drop us a note in the comments or via our contact form and we will try our best to help.
Resources:
The DataSherpas video with a step by step walk through of the process.