You could set the conditional formating

Format!conditional format
drop down box from "value" is to "formula is"
=NOT(ISBLANK(A1)) assuming your range starts in a1

As to your 48 hour removal of this format, it could be done if you
maintained a date on the entry of the cell, but excel doesn't automatically
manage that.

"suzi" wrote:

How do I set it up so that if I enter text into a cell a colour then fills
the cell to highlight it? I would also like the colour to go back to white
after a set period, say 48hrs, can this be done?