If Excel is not highlighting cells in the formula, enable 'Allow editing directly in cells' and 'Enable fill handle and cell drag-and-drop' in Excel options.

For instance, to cause Excel to highlight any cell that contains the word "profit," press "Ctrl-A" to select all cells and follow the steps described to navigate to the "Format Cells" text box.

How to highlight values Excel has a built-in conditional rule that highlights unique values. You don’t have to come up with a special formula—you just run though a few clicks.