Click on the square at the top left where row and column labels intersect:
this selects all the sheet
Use Format|Conditional Formatting
In left box, select Formula is, and enter this =MOD(ROW(),2)=1, now click
Format button and select a fill colour for odd rows
Click ADD and repeat but use =MOD(ROW(),2)=0 for the second formula and
chose a colour for even rows
best wishes
--
Bernard V Liengme
www.stfx.ca/people/bliengme
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"Ian James" wrote in message
.. .
I would like to set odd and even rows in Excel with clear and darker
background colors in order to better read long rows of numbers. I know I
can do this manually by setting background of rows individually.

My first question is whether there is a way to set this automatically for
an entire worksheet?

My second question is how those alternate shadows are called. Do we
usually talk about guidelines, grid lines or something else?