Excel conditional formatting based on a formula

Based on this Superuser question I was able to solve my problem.

Here's the solution that actually works. Replace the formula with this one:

=NOT(OR(ISNUMBER($D1);$C1="End"))

And it will work. Row number will get recalculated for each row, but columns are statically set so they'll refer to correct ones.

Even simpler

But if we consider that ISBLANK() function returns FALSE where there's a formula in a cell as well, we can simplify this even further by using this formula only:

=ISBLANK($D1)

Here is a simpler formula that does what you have asked for:

=OR($C1="End",$D1="")

To answer your question on limitations: There appear to be a few things wrong with the formula you posted

• The semi-colon should be a comma
• INDIRECT() is a problem in conditional formulas, and you don't need to use it anyway.
• It doesn't appear to actually do exactly what you have specified that it should do?!