Alternating coloring groups of rows in Excel

calendar_today Asked Aug 25, 2008
thumb_up 29 upvotes
history Updated April 14, 2026

Direct Answer

I use this formula to get the input for a conditional formatting: =IF(B2=B1,E1,MOD(E1+1,2)) [content of cell E2] Where column B contains the item that needs to be grouped and E is…. This is an advisory response with reference links, ranked #35th of 303 by community upvote score, from 2008.


The Problem (Q-score 9, ranked #35th of 303 in the Excel VBA archive)

The scenario as originally posted in 2008

I have an Excel Spreadsheet like this

id | data for id
   | more data for id
id | data for id
id | data for id
   | more data for id
   | even more data for id
id | data for id
   | more data for id
id | data for id
id | data for id
   | more data for id

Now I want to group the data of one id by alternating the background color of the rows

var color = white
for each row
    if the first cell is not empty and color is white
        set color to green
    if the first cell is not empty and color is green
        set color to white
    set background of row to color

Can anyone help me with a macro or some VBA code

Thanks

Why community consensus is tight on this one

Across 303 Excel VBA entries in the archive, the accepted answer here holds elite answer (top 10 %%) status — meaning voters are unusually aligned on the right fix.


The Verified Solution — elite answer (top 10 %%) (+29)

Advisory answer — community consensus with reference links

Note: the verified answer below is a reference / advisory response rather than a copy-ready snippet.

I use this formula to get the input for a conditional formatting:

=IF(B2=B1,E1,MOD(E1+1,2))    [content of cell E2]

Where column B contains the item that needs to be grouped and E is an auxiliary column. Every time that the upper cell (B1 on this case) is the same as the current one (B2), the upper row content from column E is returned. Otherwise, it will return that content plus 1 MOD 2 (that is, the outupt will be 0 or 1, depending on the value of the upper cell).

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When to Use It — vintage (14+ years old, pre-2013)

Ranked #35th in its category — specialized fit

This pattern sits in the 91% tail relative to the top answer. Reach for it when your scenario closely matches the question title; otherwise browse the Excel VBA archive for a higher-consensus alternative.

What changed between 2008 and 2026

The answer is 18 years old. The Excel VBA object model has been stable across Office 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 365, and 2024/2026 LTSC, so the pattern still compiles. Changes that might affect you: 64-bit API declarations (use PtrSafe), blocked macros in downloaded files (Mark-of-the-Web), and the shift toward Office Scripts for web-first workflows.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is this answer the top decile of Excel VBA Q&A?
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Answer score +29 vs the Excel VBA archive median ~9; this entry is elite. The score plus 9 supporting upvotes on the question itself (+9) means the asker and 28 subsequent voters all validated the approach.

This answer links out — what are the reference links worth following?
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Read the first external link for the canonical reference, then search this archive for a top-10 entry in the same category — advisory answers are best paired with a ranked code snippet to close the loop.

This answer is 18 years old. Is it still relevant in 2026?
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Published 2008, which is 18 year(s) before today’s Office 2026 build. The Excel VBA object model has had no breaking changes in that window. Three things to re-test: (1) blocked macros on downloaded files (Mark-of-the-Web), (2) 64-bit API declarations (PtrSafe, LongPtr), (3) any shift toward Office Scripts for web scenarios.

Which Excel VBA pattern ranks just above this one at #34?
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The pattern one rank above is “Read an Excel file uploaded using FileUpload Control without saving it on the server”. If your use case overlaps, compare both before committing.

Data source: Community-verified Q&A snapshot. Q-score 9, Answer-score 29, original post 2008, ranked #35th of 303 in the Excel VBA archive. Last regenerated April 14, 2026.

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