How do I remove highlight in Excel?

There are several ways to remove highlighting (cell fill color) in Excel, depending on how the highlighting was applied. Here's a breakdown of the most common methods:

1. Removing Manual Highlighting

This is the simplest scenario where you directly applied a fill color to cells.

Steps:

1. Select the cell(s) or range with the highlighting you want to remove.
2. Go to the Home tab on the Excel ribbon.
3. In the Font group, find the Fill Color button (it looks like a paint bucket).
4. Click the dropdown arrow next to the Fill Color button.
5. Choose No Fill.

2. Removing Highlighting Applied Through Conditional Formatting

If the highlighting is applied automatically based on certain conditions, you'll need to remove or modify the conditional formatting rule.

Steps:

1. Select the cell(s) or range where the conditional formatting is applied.
2. Go to the Home tab.
3. Click on Conditional Formatting in the Styles group.
4. Choose Clear Rules. You have two options:
   • Clear Rules from Selected Cells: Removes rules only from the currently selected cells.
   • Clear Rules from Entire Sheet: Removes all conditional formatting rules from the entire worksheet.

OR

1. Select the cell(s) or range where the conditional formatting is applied.
2. Go to the Home tab.
3. Click on Conditional Formatting in the Styles group.
4. Choose Manage Rules....
5. In the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager, you can:
   • Delete the rule: Select the rule and click "Delete Rule".
   • Modify the rule: Select the rule and click "Edit Rule..." to change the conditions or formatting applied.

3. Highlighting Due to Formula or Instruction

As the YouTube video excerpt suggests, the highlighting might be the result of a formula or instruction within the Excel file. This is more advanced.

Steps:

1. Examine the formulas: Check the formulas in the cells, especially if they use functions like IF, ISBLANK, or other logical functions. The highlighting might be tied to the result of these formulas.
2. Look for VBA code (Macros): Press Alt + F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor (VBE). Look for any VBA code that might be applying the highlighting. If you find code, you'll need to understand it and modify it to remove the highlighting functionality.
3. Review data validation rules: Go to the Data tab, and click on Data Validation. Check if any validation rules are configured to highlight cells that don't meet certain criteria.

Example:

A formula like =IF(ISBLANK(A1),"",IF(A1>10,TRUE,FALSE)) might be used in conjunction with conditional formatting. If A1 is blank or greater than 10, a conditional formatting rule could be set to highlight the cell. To remove the highlighting, you'd need to modify the formula and the conditional formatting rule (or just the rule if you want to keep the formula).

Summary

Removing highlighting in Excel involves understanding how the highlighting was initially applied. Start by checking for manual highlighting. If that's not the case, investigate conditional formatting rules and then explore the possibility of formulas or VBA code controlling the highlighting.