NEW - Excel Import: Conditional Formatting Support

The Excel import feature has been updated to better handle files that contain conditional formatting rules.

What Changed

Previously, uploading an Excel file that contained any conditional formatting (such as highlighted duplicate values or color-coded cells) would trigger an error message asking you to remove all conditional formatting before importing. This blocked many common Excel files that used simple formatting for visual clarity but were otherwise perfectly valid for import.

The import now distinguishes between harmless formatting rules and those that can interfere with the data analysis process:

- **Allowed formatting** — Duplicate value highlighting, unique value highlighting, text-based rules (contains, begins with, ends with), and blank cell rules. These are purely visual and do not affect your data
- **Blocked formatting** — Complex rules such as formulas, data bars, color scales, and icon sets that can interfere with file analysis. If your file contains these, you will still see the warning and need to remove them before importing

What You Need to Do

In most cases, nothing. If your Excel file was previously blocked due to simple highlighting rules (such as duplicate value formatting), it will now import successfully without any changes needed.

If you do see the conditional formatting warning, it means your file contains complex formatting rules. To resolve this:

1. Open your Excel file
2. Select all cells (Ctrl+A / Cmd+A)
3. Go to **Home** > **Conditional Formatting** > **Clear Rules** > **Clear Rules from Entire Sheet**
4. Save the file and re-upload it