What functionality does 'Conditional Formatting' provide in Excel?

Conditional Formatting in Excel is a powerful feature that allows users to apply specific formatting to cells based on the values or criteria they meet. This means that if a cell's value satisfies a defined condition, Excel can automatically change its font color, fill color, or other formatting styles. This visual differentiation aids in quickly identifying important information, trends, or outliers in a dataset.

For instance, if one needs to highlight all sales figures that exceed a certain threshold, Conditional Formatting can be set up to automatically change the appearance of those cells, making it easy to spot high performers or areas needing attention.

The other options refer to different functionalities within Excel: creating formulas is a standard task, data validation ensures that entries meet certain criteria before being allowed, and analyzing data trends commonly utilizes charting or formulas rather than specific conditional formatting of cells.