So, I have an excel sheet listing every costume piece, and I want to be able to sort it by character or by other things, but I also want it to print a little easier to read.

My initial sheet might look like this, and that’s how I want it to look eventually as well, but to make sure everything sorts correctly – I secretly want it to have the following data:

So, first I need to get that data into excel quickly.

JUMP TO: Do this in Google Sheets

	So I’m going to highlight a column I want (“Role” or “D”) → “Find and Select” →
	Go To Special → Blanks.
	Then I’ll take the first cell below the first entry which is also the active cell (in this case D8) and set it to equal the one above it (D7), then click CONTROL + ENTER and it fills them all down:
	But those names are still formulas if you click on them, so now I need to turn them into data
	So I select my row (“D”) and Copy it (⌘C) and then “Paste Values”

And the data that I need is now there. But I want it to go back to looking like it’s not. So I’m going to turn all the repeats to white so they don’t show up.

	Highlight the data from the row you want (Shortcut: Click on the top cell, the SHIFT+⌘+ DOWN ARROW)
	Conditional Formatting → New Rule
	Select “Classic” and “Use a formula to determine which cells to format”
	Then select the first time your item shows up (D7).
	It will come up with “$” for absolutes. You DO NOT want this. You have to click F4 three times to make it just say “D7”
	Your formula needs to read: = (top item) = (item above), in this case: =D7=D6
	Then choose “Format With” Custom Format. And choose white for the font color.

Voila.

Now, let’s try again but in google sheets…

GOOGLE SHEETS

First of all, you can’t highlight and fill blanks as nicely. You could use a weird array function, but unless the list is thousands of rows. I think it’s faster to double click on the bottom corner of each time a name appears. It will fill down all blank cells directly below.

	Double click the bottom right corner of the highlighted cell, and it will fill “Ever” down until you hit “Senga”
	Just do this until your sheet is filled. Annoying, but not the end of the world. P.S. This only works if the data to the left is fully filled out (in this case, page #s)

Now you do the conditional formatting, which is actually slightly easier in Google Sheets. Go Figure.

	Highlight the data you want to format (Same as excel, Select top cell, and SHIFT + COMMAND + DOWN ARROW)
	Format → Conditional Formatting
	Custom Formula Is: =(top cell)=(one above it) (in this case:) =D7=D6 Font color: WHITE

Voila x2.