• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

Excelypedia

The Excel Encyclopedia of The Internet

  • Tutorials
  • Functions
  • Formulas
  • Templates

Add Icon Sets in Excel

August 28, 2021 by Andrew Childress
Add icon sets in Excel

Icons are a great way to quickly add visual indicators to data in spreadsheets. Let’s learn how to add icon sets in Microsoft Excel.

Icons are a great way to quickly add visual indicators to data in spreadsheets. They’re easy to add, and they help you make your data easier to understand at a glance. Apply them to your data, and you’ll find that you’ve immediately brought helpful context to the table. Let’s learn how to add icon sets in Microsoft Excel.

How to Add Icon Sets in Excel

Icon sets are directional indicators. For example, they may take the form of “traffic lights” by using the same color palette. Green is positive, yellow is neutral, and red is negative. By adding icon sets to data, you can visually illustrate how values relate to each other, as well as to the overall dataset.

Consider a list of five numbers, ranging from $35,000 to $68,000. Icon sets can help you show which values are high, low, and in the middle.

To add an icon set to this data, click and drag your cursor to select the range of values. In this example, the range is D2:D6. Then, navigate to the Home tab, found on Excel’s ribbon.

Icon sets in Excel

On the right side of the menu, you’ll see the Conditional Formatting dropdown. Click here, and you’ll see a list of options displayed. These are grouped by category, and the one you want is labeled Icon Sets. Hover over it, and you’ll see icon set categories displayed.

Two common options are placed at the top: Directional icons and Shapes. Many options in both categories follow the green/yellow/red logic outlined above.

Add icon sets in Excel

For this example, click on the Shape category labeled 3 Traffic Lights (Unrimmed). Excel will immediately apply the formatting to your selected data. Based on their relative value, each cell will have a green, yellow, or red traffic light icon placed inside.

How to add icon sets in Excel

As you can see, icon sets in Excel are a quick and easy way to add visual context to your data.

Category: Excel FunctionsTag: Excel, How To, Instructions, Tutorial

About Andrew Childress

Previous Post:Change column width ExcelChange Column Width in Excel
Next Post:COMBIN in Excelcombina function in Excel

Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • How to Do a Contingency Table in Excel
  • Format Cell Alignment in Excel
  • Default Width in Excel
  • Translate in Excel
  • Switch Windows in Excel

Categories

  • Basics
  • Examples
  • Excel Formulas
  • Excel Functions
  • Excel Shortcuts
  • Excel Templates
  • Excel Tutorials
  • Uncategorized

Excelypedia

Master Excel to add a highly valuable asset to your employability portfolio. Learn how to analyze data in Excel.

    • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Learn

  • Functions
  • Formulas
  • Shortcuts

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Help

  • FAQ
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2023 · Excelypedia · All Rights Reserved

Back to top