Mar 20 2022 01:22 PM
So cell A1 says:
Alex
if I go to A2 and put in the formula "=A1"
This will give me: Alex
However I want to keep the color red and the background color if there is one as well as "bold" or underscore or anything else to do with the formatting.
Is there a way to to that within a formula?
Mar 20 2022 01:52 PM
No, formulas don't work that way.
You can use the Camera Tool to create a "live" picture of a cell (or range). It will automatically be updated when you change the value or formatting of the source cell, but it will be just a picture: you won't be able to use it in formulas.
Mar 20 2022 02:58 PM
As @Hans Vogelaar has already said, there's not a formula-based way to do what you're asking, especially if the formatting you're wanting to copy with the formula is random or arbitrary.
However, if the colors/background/etc --the formatting -- is not arbitrary, but very systematic, i.e., if you're original cell's format is created following rules in the Conditional Formatting way, then you could just use the same rules and Conditional Formatting.
And if I could be an Excel consultant for a moment, and ask a question I'd be sure to ask were we meeting face-to-face, that question would be "Why?" Asked more completely, "Why are you wanting to do this in the first place?"
Adding more complete context to the question, having viewed many many spreadsheets over the course of recent years, unless formatting is used consistently and in a rule-based fashion, it can make a spreadsheet look chaotic. Even used consistently and in a rule-based fashion, excessive use of text color, bold and varied fonts, background color, etc, can draw attention to itself in a way that distracts from the functionality that people usually want, and can make ongoing maintenance a pain.
So that's why I ask. You don't have any obligation to answer, of course, but I do think it's a legitimate question, meant to help, and based on experience helping others design spreadsheets.
Mar 21 2022 05:26 PM
Mar 22 2022 08:07 AM