If I have a cell like this…
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…I can apply any font color I want. A nice soothing Orange:
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But if I apply a number formatting where negatives show up Red, my Orange font coloring is ignored.
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This is because my chosen number format applies a custom number color (note the RED in brackets).
See my post on custom number color formatting if you're not familiar with this concept.
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If I add on top of this, some conditional formatting to make all negative numbers Blue…
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…my number adopts the Conditional formatting rule.
This, despite the fact that its number format clearly shows it should be RED.
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What's the moral of the story?
Conditional Formatting trumps Custom Number formatting.
Custom Number formatting trumps regular old font coloring.
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I guess I'll go eat some simple sugars now.
Well, I guess somebody had to do the research. Thanks for your contribution to Excel trivia.