Excel 2010 reinvents the conditional format for data bars. We now have more control over the conditional formatting as a whole and not only databars; however, with data bars we now have the option to plot negative values as well.

Here’s how it looks like:

Figure 1: Excel 2010 Conditional Format Data Bars

Once we apply one of the built-in conditional formats for data bars, we can access the Conditional Format Manage Rules dialog box in order to edit the new conditional format rule:

Figure 2: Determining Negative Value and Axis...


Finally, you can determine various aspects of how the value are displayed as well as the axis:

Figure 3: Determining data bars aspects such as axis settings

Excel 2007 introduced Icon Sets to Excel Conditional Formatting. Excel 2010 introduces No Cell Icon to Conditional Formatting. In Excel 2007, after applying your Icon Set Conditional Format, you would get something like this:

Figure 1: Icon Set Conditional Format

The problem, of course, is that the whole this is a mess. If the idea is to identify poor grades, you’d need to create extra Conditional Formats so that you could hide the undesired icons. Excel 2010 introduces No Cell Icon which removes the need for extra formulas and extra Conditional Formats. Here’s how it looks like:

Figure 2: No Cell Icon

By choosing No Cell Icon, Excel 2010 will omit the icons for the selected conditions saving you all the hassle of extra conditioning:

Figure 3: Result after applying No Cell Icon