Google Sheets – Conditional Formatting ‘Is Equal To’ Value in Referenced Cell

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What do I add to the text field directly below the "is equal to" selection if I want the test to be the value of a specific cell?

I want the condition to pass and format a cell "IF" it is equal to the value in cell E1.

I've tried =E1 and E1, but they're not working.

I know this is a simple one and I'm just missing something basic, but I can't figure it out and I've looked around.

WA88996 question example

Best Answer

You need =E$1 there. (Or, =$E$1 if the formatted range spans multiple columns.)

Putting E1 would compare cells to the string "E1", which is not what you want.

Putting =E1 compares the first cell in your column range to E1, the second to E2, the third to E3, etc -- because the reference is relative. The dollar sign makes it an absolute reference.

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