How can you apply conditional formatting in Excel?

To apply conditional formatting in Excel, you would select the cells you want to format, then navigate to the Home tab on the Ribbon, where you will find the Conditional Formatting option. This feature allows you to highlight cells based on specific criteria, such as values that are above or below a certain threshold, duplicates, or even custom formulas.

By using this pathway, you have access to a variety of pre-defined formatting rules and the ability to create custom rules that suit your needs. This built-in functionality is essential for visually analyzing data and making important trends or patterns more noticeable.

The alternative choices do not provide the correct method for applying conditional formatting. For instance, right-clicking the cells and selecting Format Cells primarily allows for basic formatting like text style and number formatting, but does not address the conditional aspect. The Data tab does not contain Conditional Formatting as a feature; it is specifically located under the Home tab. Lastly, selecting cells and pressing Ctrl + C is used for copying content and does not pertain to formatting at all. Thus, the method outlined in the first choice is the only correct way to apply conditional formatting in Excel.