Remove Columns from Conditional Formats in Smartsheet

SSFeatures provides buttons for removing columns from your conditional formats in Smartsheet.

The Problem with Smartsheet Conditional Formats

Smartsheet does not allow you to delete a column if it’s used in any conditional formatting rules. As a result, you’re forced to manually review every conditional format, identify where the column is used, and update or remove each instance by hand.

This process is time-consuming, error-prone, and especially frustrating for sheets with many or complex conditional formats. The challenge grows significantly if you need to make these changes across multiple sheets, potentially costing hours of tedious work.

Users have been requesting a simpler way to remove columns from conditional formats since 2019.

• Feature Request (~40 votes) (2024)
• Feedback (2023)
• Feedback (2019)
• Feedback (2019)
• Feedback (2023)

The Solution with SSFeatures

SSFeatures makes this process easy with a Remove Columns from Rules button in the SSFeatures menu. Clicking this button opens a popup where you can select the columns you want to remove from your conditional formatting rules.

SSFeatures will automatically update all affected rules and remove the selected columns. If a rule no longer contains any columns after the update, SSFeatures will delete that rule for you, saving time and preventing errors.

When you try to delete a column that's used in a conditional format, Smartsheet displays a popup blocking the deletion. SSFeatures adds a Fix with SSFeatures button to that popup, allowing you to instantly remove the column from all conditional formatting rules, so you can delete it without the hassle.

Demo Video

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can you tell me more about the security and privacy of this feature?

  • Absolutely. SSFeatures operates entirely within your browser and directly interacts with Smartsheet's application code. None of your row, column, or cell data is ever sent to our servers, ensuring complete privacy and security.

  • For this feature, SSFeatures uses Smartsheet’s own in-browser JavaScript code to modify your conditional formatting rules. It scans each rule, identifies the columns you selected for removal, and automatically updates the rules to exclude those columns.