thanks mike pretty straightforward. similar question in that i need to add a
second condition to the cell to show that if the ship date has been confirmed
(i record that date in another column) is it possible to write a condition
that says if a date hasn't been confirmed the cell stays red but if it has it
turns green?

"Mike" wrote:

select cell

click format - conditiona formating

cell calue is
equal to
today()+5
then select a format colour
this will set the cell to a colour if the date is 5 days from today

or put your agreed shipping date in a cell (say) b1 and type
b1+5

"joe" wrote:

Novice Excel user needs to know how to flag/ highlight a cell that contains a
future date to show when it is within 5 days of this date. I need this to
prompt me to chase a supplier if shipping hasn't been confirmed on the agreed
shipping date.