The Excel hack you need to know to highlight due dates

How many times have you made a note of a due date only to overlook it?

Sure, you could set reminders on your Google or Outlook calendar, but those extra steps aren’t necessary. If you use Excel, there’s a simple hack that highlights due dates, so you never miss another one again.

It’s called conditional formatting, and once you learn it, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

You can use this Excel hack to highlight items due today or any specific date you set. Here’s how it works.

Highlighting due dates in Excel

Highlighting due dates in Excel is simple. Before you start, figure out what dates you want to be highlighted. Do you want to know which tasks are scheduled today, tomorrow, yesterday, next week, or some other date?

Now, create the rule.

Start by selecting the data by highlighting the column of due dates you want to format. On your home tab, select Conditional Formatting and New Rule. You’ll create the rule to highlight the due dates the way you want.

Set the style to ‘Classic’ and ‘Format only cells that contain.’ Next, select ‘dates occurring’ and choose from the dropdown box. Some options are:

• Yesterday
• Today
• Tomorrow
• In the last seven days
• Last week
• This week
• Next week

Choose how you want to format it, such as light-filled with dark red text, green filled with dark green text, red text, red border, or your custom format. Choose the fill, text color, or bordering that will grab your attention the quickest.

Click ‘ok,’ and you should see the formatting appear. Now you have your due dates highlighted according to how you need them.

What if you want to highlight the entire row, so you know what project is due today by quickly glancing at your spreadsheet? You’ll need to set up a formulaic rule.

Setting up a formulaic rule in Excel

Let’s say you only want to highlight due dates for tasks due today, and you want to highlight the entire row, so you know what’s expected of you quickly.

Highlight all the data on your sheet you want to be highlighted. It can be part of the sheet or the entire sheet. Click on Conditional Formatting on your home tab and select New Rule. Now you’ll create a formulaic rule.

Set the style to ‘Classic’ and ‘Use a formula to determine which cells to format.’ In the white box below this selection type:

=$A3=TODAY()

Substitute A3 for the first cell with the due dates in them on your spreadsheet. Choose your formatting option for the cells and click ‘ok.’

You’ll now have entire rows highlighted for any tasks due today.

Using this Excel highlighting hack, you can quickly see what you have to get done for the day. This eliminates the risk of overlooking due dates and opens up a dialogue with your superiors or team should be unable to complete the tasks due today.

It’s much better to know what you have due and to talk about it before you miss the due date rather than after. Most of the time, you’ll find people will jump in and help, or due dates can be rearranged, but communication is key.