Highlight current date in expense manager in Excel 2010

Question

I have an expense manager spread sheet in Microsoft Excel 2010. A row contains (from B2 to AF) sequence of dates(from 1 to 31). How can I write formula field to highlight the current date cell. I tried Applies To =$A$5:$S$18, Formula =TODAY() but it does not work.

My excel sheet is look like

Answer 1

This should work:

• Select the range you want to highlight
• Click on Conditional Formatting / Highlight Cells Rules / More rules
• Rule Type: Format only cells that contain
• Format only cells with: 1st box: Dates Occurring, 2nd box: Today
• Click on the Format button to choose the formatting you want to apply

Alternatively, if you want to use a formula:

• Select the range you want to highlight and note the cell that is selected within that range on the left hand side of the formula bar (typically the first cell of the range) - I assume it is B2 from now on, adjust accordingly.
• Click on Conditional Formatting / New rule
• Rule Type: Use a formula to determine which cells to format
• Format values where this formula is true: =B2=TODAY() (don't forget the initial equal sign)
• Click on the Format button to choose the formatting you want to apply

Answer 2

I can't be sure about your Applies To range without seeing your data (though it should certainly contain the cell that will be highlighted), but you need to change the Formula to

=A5=TODAY()

where A5 is the top-left cell in the range to which you want to apply the formatting. Just remember, conditional formatting formulas need to return a boolean value.