Coloring cells based on text in another cell.

[andrewb90]

So I have cell 'A3' that may have a variety of words or phrases typed into it. if the term 'unused' appears I want cells B3:D3 to have a background color filled in. I think this is probably really simple and I am just missing it.
Thanks,
Andrew

 

[jbeaucaire]

1) Highlight columns B:D
2) Select Format > Conditional Formatting
3) Use these settings:

Condition1:

Formula Is:
=ISNUMBER(SEARCH("unused", $A1))

Format...Pattern:
Select a color

 

[Eric Livesay]

to piggy back on this subject how could i change the formula to format A1 to change colors based on if B1 is Blank?

 

[jbeaucaire]

1) Highlight column A
2) Select Format > Conditional Formatting
3) Use these settings:

Condition1:

Formula Is:
=ISBLANK($B1)

Format...Pattern:
Select a color

 

[Peter_SSs]

Andrew

A couple of points about your first question.

1. You don't need the ISNUMBER when used in Conditional Formatting. This should do the same thing
=SEARCH("unused",$A3)

2. It may not occur with "unused" but suppose you are interested in the word "his" and A3 contained "This is clever". The suggested CF formula structure would highlight the cells. If you only want to highlight when the word itself is found, try this sort of formula in your CF

=SEARCH(" his "," "&$A3&" ")