Find Fragmented Rules Behind Unpredictable Cell Colors

Look for fragmented copies of the same instruction

The source describes conditional-formatting rules multiplying in the Rules Manager until the workbook becomes difficult to maintain. Copying and pasting can bring the formatting layer along with the values, creating separate rules for new addresses. Changes such as deleting rows can also split the areas to which a rule applies. What appears to be random formatting may therefore be a collection of overlapping or fragmented instructions.

Review the rules as well as the visible cells

Open the rule list and inspect the conditions and ranges instead of trying to fix every odd-looking cell manually. Determine whether repeated instructions describe the same intended behavior and whether their scope still matches the dataset. The article's practical lesson is to maintain the rule structure as the workbook changes. Formatting is easier to trust when a clear set of instructions replaces an accumulation of copied treatments.