Color coded dropdown lists

charlemjamSage 

Let's say your drop-down list has options One, Two and Three, and you want to color the cell red, yellow or green depending on the selected item.

Select the cell or cells with the drop-down.

On the home tab of the ribbon, click Conditional Formatting > New Rule...
Select 'Format only cells that contain'.
Leave the first drop down set to 'Cell Value'.
Select 'equal to' from the second drop down.
In the box next to it, enter the formula

="One"

Click Format...
Activate the Fill tab.
Select red as highlight color.
Click OK, then click OK again.

Repeat these steps, but with ="Two" as formula and yellow as fill color.

Repeat them again, with ="Three" as formula and green as fill color.