Change the colour of an excel row using power automate

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Posted on by LB-20090315-0

Hi,

Question, is possible to change the colour of a row in excel using power automate. I don't want to change any of the text in the row, just the colour.

Situation: When we receive an email that a job has been done we colour the row the job is listed on in our to do list (in an excel sheet) blue as our indicator it's done. Is it possible to create a flow where, when the new email is received the row is automatically coloured blue?

I've heard you might need excel script to do this so I had a check, our organisation doesn't have excel script sadly, so if I do need this, I may need some help getting the script.

Kind Regards,

Lauren

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Power Automate Desktop

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trice602 15,404 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi,

You don't need a script to do this, just use Power Automate for Desktop, shown below. Goes without saying, you can also use conditional formatting in your workbook and do this natively inside excel by change the row color to blue if a cell or column is equal to "Completed".

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Always glad to help! 💯💯💯💯💯

Tom

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LB-20090315-0 76 on at

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@trice602

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately my company does not allow us to have Microsoft for Desktop. Is there no way to do it through the web app?

Thank you.

Lauren

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trice602 15,404 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi,

Yes, you don't need PA for this, use conditional formatting in your workbook, shown below.

Here, when the status changes to "Complete" the row is blue.

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⭐ If this was helpful, please like and/or mark as a verified answer to help others find this too!

Always glad to help! 💯💯💯💯💯

Tom

Follow me on LinkedIn - Thomas Rice, PMP | LinkedIn

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LB-20090315-0 76 on at

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@trice602

Sorry, feel like I'm being difficult now but we don't have a column for status or anything like that. Colouring the row is how we mark it complete.

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ronaldwalcott 3,847 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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I used GPT to expand and expound upon my response as using colours to indicate status is such a bad idea that I couldn't express all the reasons why it is.

You have a process problem. Coloring a row should never be used as a primary means of marking a task as complete for several reasons:

Lack of Standardization: Colors are subjective and may not be universally understood by all team members. What one person sees as "complete," another might interpret differently, leading to confusion and miscommunication.

Accessibility Issues: People with color blindness or other visual impairments may not be able to distinguish between different colors. This can exclude them from important information, making the process less inclusive.

Scalability: As the number of tasks grows, relying on colors to indicate status can become overwhelming and difficult to manage. You could run out of distinguishable colors, making it harder to track the status of tasks effectively.

Data Analysis: Colors do not lend themselves well to sorting, filtering, or reporting. With a status column, you can easily generate reports, track progress, and perform data analysis to improve efficiency.

Auditability: Maintaining a history of changes is essential for accountability and continuous improvement. Using colors makes it challenging to track who marked a task as complete and when it happened.

Tool Compatibility: Many project management and collaboration tools are designed to work with status columns, allowing for better integration and automation. Relying on colors may limit your ability to leverage these tools effectively.

Implementing a status column with clear, standardized labels like "Pending," "In Progress," and "Complete" ensures everyone is on the same page, improves accessibility, scalability, data analysis, auditability, and tool compatibility. By adopting a more structured approach, you can streamline your processes and enhance overall productivity.

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LB-20090315-0 76 on at

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@ronaldwalcott you're right of course.

Sadly, I am just the support officer so I do not have authority to change the process. I have to do what the manager says. Also there's only three of us in the team so we never have any confusion. All three of us know the system. Auditing and analysis are not required for these particular tasks.

Thanks for the advice. Shall I assume these responses I am receiving mean it is not possible to change the colour using power automate (web)?

thank you,

Lauren

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trice602 15,404 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hey there!

I am following up on this post change the colour of an excel row using power automate in this category power automate desktop from 11/20/2024. I know the post is a little older, but it is a common question here so wanted to take a moment and follow-up. I see there have been 6 replies and 2 likes and asking if your question has been answered. If so, please help the community out by completing one or more of the following actions! Thanks in advance!

Easy as 1-2-3 ‼️💯⭐😎🆒🙏

1) Mark a reply as a verified answer - this is essential, and it helps others with the same general question find this thread. ✅

2) You can also mark one of more replies as a verified answer. Please take a moment and give the author credit for volunteering their time. ✌️

3) Like one or more replies. Kudos always greatly appreciated! 👍

Pro tip: if you found your own solution or workaround, feel free to add a reply to your own post and mark it as the solution too! The goal is to get this thread marked with a verified answer by anyone that finds one or more replies helpful!

Again, thanks in advance for reading and responding, always glad to help! Tom 💯💯💯💯💯

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trice602 15,404 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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If I can help with anything else please let me know or tag me in a future post, I enjoy reading and answering questions. Always glad to help! Tom 💯💯💯💯💯

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LB-20090315-0 76 on at

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@trice602 No, I'm afraid no solution was found for this. I am still doing this process manually.

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