First of all, when describing cell references, get rid of the colons

A:1 is just A1 A1:A5 is a range from A1 through A5

On to the question.

Select A1:A5 and FormatConditional Formatting.

Condition 1Formula is: =$A$3="T" format to green pattern.

Click on "Add" to add Condition 2

Condition 2 and 3 will be set up with the other two letters and different
colors.

Note the $ signs in $A$3 which locks that cell as the trigger cell.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP


On Sun, 29 Jul 2007 08:36:01 -0700, DBane
wrote:

I am working in the cell range of A:1 thru A:5. If cell A:3 contains the
letter T, I would like to have the whole range A:1 thru A:5 turn green. If
cell A:3 contains the letter D, the range turn brown. And last if A:3
contains the letter S, the range turn purple.