Is it possible to use conditional formatting to format multiple columns based on a formula

Question

I'm currently making a spreadsheet with a bunch of parameters. However, some sets of data will not have to include these parameters, so I want to be able to apply a greyfill color to multiple columns based on a "No" appearing in a different column. So far, I've been able to only get this formatting to apply to one other column at a time, and I must duplicate the rule for every additional column I want it to apply to. I got it to work so far by using the formula rule =H1:H10000="N", but when I choose to apply this to $K:$Q it will only grey out the relative rows in column K

Answer 1

1. Select your range

2. check the row of the active cell (1 in this example):

   

3. Enter the following formula in your conditional formatting (replace 1 by the active cell's row):

    =$H1="N" 

And that should do what you need.