Google Sheets: How to Highlight Max Value in Each Row

Often you may want to highlight the max value in each row in Google Sheets.

Fortunately this is easy to do using the custom formula function in Google Sheets.

The following example shows how to do so.

Example: Highlight Max Value in Each Row in Google Sheets

Suppose we have the following dataset that shows the number of points scored during four different games by various basketball teams:

Suppose we would like to highlight the highest scoring game for each team.

To do so, we can highlight the cell range B2:E8, then click the Format tab, then click Conditional Formatting from the dropdown menu:

In the Conditional format rules panel that appears on the right side of the screen, click the Format cells if dropdown, then choose Custom formula is, then type in the following formula:

=B2=MAX($B2:$E2)

Once you click Done, the max value in each row will now be highlighted:

Google Sheets highlight max value in each row

For example:

The max points in any game for the Mavs was 119.
The max points in any game for the Spurs was 117.
The max points in any game for the Rockets was 118.
The max points in any game for the Kings was 114.

And so on.

Note: In this example we chose to use a light green fill for the conditional formatting of the cells, but you can choose any fill color you’d like.