SheetCompareConditional formatting
An Excel feature that automatically applies cell formatting, color, bold, icons, based on rules, so values stand out without manual styling.
Conditional formatting changes how a cell looks based on its value or a formula: highlight negatives in red, shade the top 10%, add data bars or color scales. The formatting is dynamic, it updates as the values change, which makes it a lightweight way to surface outliers and trends directly in the grid.
Because it is formatting rather than data, it travels with the workbook in formats like XLSX but is lost entirely when you export to CSV or TSV, which carry no styling at all. It's also a common source of confusion in comparison: two cells can show different colors while holding identical values, because the difference is a formatting rule, not the data.