Highlight Top 10 Values using Excel Conditional Formatting

Share

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Highlight Top Values in Range using ExcelIn excel conditional formatting basics article, we have learned the basics of excel conditional formatting. In this and the next 4 posts, we will learn some more nifty uses of excel conditional formatting.

Let us see how we can highlight top 5 or 10 values in a list using excel as shown aside:

To do this, you need to learn the excel formula – LARGE (more on large formula)

Large formula is used to fetch the nth largest value from a range of numbers. Refer to the above link for easy to understand help on large (and SMALL too)

To highlight the top 10 values,

1. Select the range of values and launch conditional formatting dialog.

2. Assuming you have cells in the range c5: c30, In the formula we need to specify a condition that would be true only if a value is more than or equal to the top 10th value in the range c5:c30 – LARGE($C$5:$C$30,10), thus our formula will be, C5>=LARGE($C$5:$C$30,10)

3. Finally specify the formatting you want to apply. When you are done, press ok.
Conditional Formatting Rules for Highlighting Top 10 Values
That is all.

If you want to highlight the entire row instead of a cell, you should use $C5 instead of C5. Why so? That is your home work. Here is a little tip on using relative vs. absolute cell references in excel.

To highlight bottom 10 in a list, all you need to do is change the formula from LARGE to SMALL.

Download the example workbook and learn how to highlight top 10 values in a range.

In the next article

We will learn how you can search a spreadsheet full of data using conditional formatting. So stay tuned and if you havent already, join our newsletter.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Share this tip with your colleagues

Excel and Power BI tips - Chandoo.org Newsletter

Get FREE Excel + Power BI Tips

Simple, fun and useful emails, once per week.

Learn & be awesome.

Welcome to Chandoo.org

Thank you so much for visiting. My aim is to make you awesome in Excel & Power BI. I do this by sharing videos, tips, examples and downloads on this website. There are more than 1,000 pages with all things Excel, Power BI, Dashboards & VBA here. Go ahead and spend few minutes to be AWESOME.

Read my storyFREE Excel tips book

Overall I learned a lot and I thought you did a great job of explaining how to do things. This will definitely elevate my reporting in the future.
Rebekah S
Reporting Analyst
Excel formula list - 100+ examples and howto guide for you

From simple to complex, there is a formula for every occasion. Check out the list now.

Calendars, invoices, trackers and much more. All free, fun and fantastic.

Advanced Pivot Table tricks

Power Query, Data model, DAX, Filters, Slicers, Conditional formats and beautiful charts. It's all here.

Still on fence about Power BI? In this getting started guide, learn what is Power BI, how to get it and how to create your first report from scratch.

27 Responses to “9 Box grid for talent mapping – HR for Excel – Template & Explanation”

  1. Robert Clark says:

    Great stuff! I can understand how to add a slicer to the pivot table, but how do you implement the departmental selector on the 'Filter' formula scheme?

  2. Claus Andersen says:

    Just saw this on your Youtube channel, and it’s areat idea...!

    An easy way to overcome the "ugliness" of pivot tables and get it to look nice (in the format of the Output sheet), would be to simply build a sheet with the nice map at the top, a pivot underneath it and a slicer next to formatted map and then reference each of the 9 cells in the formatted map to the “related” cell in the Pivot.

    Keep up the good work!

    /Claus

  3. Madison Fry says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    This is great! Curious how to make additional columns operate the same as the Department column (ex. have a "manager column") that would allow you to sort a 9 box by manager, area, or team in addition to department?

    Feel free to email me if needed! mfry01@minnetronixmedical.com

    Happy New Year

    Madison Fry

    • Ed says:

      I am curious about the smae thing. I would like to populate the 9 box with other views as well by adding additional columns. IE., I would like to add location, region, etc. Thank you.

  4. Matt says:

    This is great, thank you!

  5. Al says:

    How can i see the whole data set of all the teams in the output table. Need a formula that will pick up all the employees

  6. Heather says:

    Hello,
    Love the template. Thank you. Question - the drop down to pick a department on the Output tab does not seem to work on the downloadable template. Am I doing something incorrectly?
    Thank you!

    • Chandoo says:

      Hi Heather... Thank you. I am using Excel 365 to make the calculations. If you are using an older version of Excel, then the drop-down filter won't work.

  7. Rose says:

    Hi
    I was able to follow your 9 box grid and modified based my needs. However, you tutorial did not show how to you create the filter for the "Pick a department. Can you kindly share how to create that filter that updated the grid. Thank you.

  8. Rose says:

    I am working on this project but I am struggling with the data validation for the department. I copy the worksheets data entry and output as the managers want to see different tabs for each managers.
    I updated the source reference for each tab but It does not update the grid based on the new source. The list was updated but it does not populate the grid based on the performance and potential listed.
    In addition the hyperlink Update Data and View Talent Map no longer works. Can you please help me.

  9. Emmanuel Jose Vasquez says:

    I keep getting this error message in the pivot table:

    This formula is invalid or incomplete: 'The expression is not valid or appears to be incomplete. Please review and correct the expression.
    The following syntax error occurred during parsing: Invalid token, Line 1, Offset 14, ‘.

  10. Hi, I used your 9-box excel template with excel 365. First off, thank you so very much. It is incredibly helpful!! My only question is that the boxes aren't big enough for all of the employees (specifically the middle which we call 'Core Employee'). Is there a way to make the boxes larger? Even though it is in excel, I am not able to increase row height (like I normally do in a speadsheet). Any ideas? Thanks again, Jody

  11. Prish says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    Thanks for the great content. Re. 9 box grid, pls advise how do I increase the size of the box to accommodate more names?

  12. Nabil says:

    Merci Chandoo pour le modèle proposé,
    j'ai une question et un souhait est il possible de développer davantage ce modèle en insérant la photo de chaque employé.

  13. Leah says:

    Hi Chandoo!

    Great tutorial and tool, thank you! Your tutorial didn't include how to create additional filters on the "Output" tab. Could you please share how you did it?

  14. Geno says:

    Can this be done exactly in google sheets?

  15. Joanne says:

    Hi Chandoo,
    Thanks for the video it was really helpful. Is there any way to multi select the dropdown to display multiple or all departments rather than just one at once?

  16. Dana says:

    Hello Prish

    I have Microsoft 365 and I am struggling to make the boxes larger/unable to increase row height; any idea how you made this work? Specifically in the Output tab where the map is?

    Many thanks

  17. Dana says:

    Hello Jody, I have Microsoft 365 and I am struggling to make the boxes larger/unable to increase row height; any idea how you made this work? Specifically in the Output tab where the map is? Many thanks

  18. Connie Richards says:

    Is there a way to change the 9 box wording descriptions, i.e. Work Horses, to our own internal langauge?

  19. Zee says:

    Hi Chandoo, this is awesome and has worked perfectly. Due to a big organisation the 9 box grid on the output file is too small. I tried adjusting using the row/width ribbon under the format ribbon however it doesn't seem to work. Is there an easier way to adjust this?

    Thanks!

  20. Huy Nghi?a says:

    When I drag the formula, it doesn't work, and the order I use with the data changes. In the beginning, the order is it is " candidates," " potential," and " performance," but when it goes to another column, it is " Potential," Performance," and "Candidates."Can you help me? Thank you very much, sending love from vietnam

  21. Lucia says:

    Hi- I am working on the 9 grid project and I am trying to expand the box since I have over 100 names on a few of the columns. How do I do that?

  22. Zara says:

    Hi, Thank you this is great stuff and really useful.

    As well as department as demonstrated on your clip, how can I display all candidates on the grid at once?

    Many thanks in advance

Leave a Reply