I want to format the whole row depending on if a particular cell in that is empty or not. I want conditional formatting to go through all rows and say add a background color if column C in that row is not empty.
How do I fix this?
For illustration assuming "whole row" is ColumnsA:Z inclusive, please try Format - Conditional formatting..., Custom formula is:
=$C1<>""
with formatting of your choice and Range: A:Z.
I was able to do this by selecting the range I want the conditional formatting to apply to (for instance, A:P if you want to apply colour to columns A through P), and then selecting "Custom formula is" and adding =LEN($C:$C)>0. Then you just need to select the colour you want to apply.
The new Google Sheets can do some of this. Follow the instructions here: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/78413?hl=en
Summary: Format menu => Conditional formatting => "Text contains" drop down menu, select "Custom formula is" => Type "=isblank(C2)" => Add background color => Add range (like: A2:D2)
Although it does not solve completely the question, you will be able to define one rows color based on a cell's value.
Hope it helped.
P.s: While I was testing it I have encountered some bugs in this feature so it may very well happen that it won't be really useful. We'll see...
Little late of an answer but hopefully it will help anyone searching:
=IF(a2="",false,true)
And select your range to format, with A2 being something in the range (not sure if this matters).
Works for conditional formatting.
来源：https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22170130/format-entire-row-if-a-particular-cell-in-the-row-is-not-empty