Why is conditional formatting not working in Google Sheets

Usually is conditional formatting not working comes down to settings, permissions, locale, or how the data is typed (text vs numbers vs dates). Check Format → Number, Data → Data validation, and whether the sheet is filtered or protected. Compare a working cell next to a broken one to spot the difference faster than rewriting everything.

Steps

  1. 1

    Reproduce the issue on a tiny sample.

  2. 2

    Check number/date formats and filters.

  3. 3

    Check share permissions and protected ranges.

  4. 4

    Fix the cause, then reapply to the full range.

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Why is my conditional formatting not working in Google Sheets

Usually is my conditional formatting not working comes down to settings, permissions, locale, or how the data is typed (text vs numbers vs dates). Check Format → Number, Data → Data validation, and whether the sheet is filtered or protected. Compare a working cell next to a broken one to spot the difference faster than rewriting everything.

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