Borders and background colors in Google Sheets - Dashboard Guide

Dashboard Mode - Borders and background colors

Dashboard Goal

This dashboard helps you see sales data clearly by using borders and background colors to highlight totals and important numbers.

Sample Data

Product	Region	Sales Q1	Sales Q2	Total Sales
Apples	East	100	150	=SUM(C2:D2)
Bananas	West	200	180	=SUM(C3:D3)
Cherries	East	120	130	=SUM(C4:D4)
Dates	West	90	110	=SUM(C5:D5)
Elderberries	East	80	95	=SUM(C6:D6)

Dashboard Components

• Sales Table: Shows product, region, quarterly sales, and total sales. Total Sales column uses formula =SUM(C2:D2) copied down.
• Total Sales Highlight: Background color light green for Total Sales column cells to make totals stand out.
• Borders: Thin black borders around all cells for clear separation.
• Grand Total Card: A cell below the table with formula =SUM(E2:E6) showing total sales for all products. Background color light blue and thick border to highlight.

Dashboard Layout

+---------------------------------------+
|           Sales Data Table             |
| +---------+--------+---------+---------+|
| | Product | Region | Sales Q1| Sales Q2||
| +---------+--------+---------+---------+|
| | Apples  | East   | 100     | 150     ||
| | Bananas | West   | 200     | 180     ||
| | Cherries| East   | 120     | 130     ||
| | Dates   | West   | 90      | 110     ||
| | Elderberries| East| 80      | 95      ||
| +---------+--------+---------+---------+|
| |           Total Sales (highlighted)  ||
| | 250     | 380    | 250     | 200     | |
| +-------------------------------------+|
| Grand Total Sales (blue background)   |
|               1255                    |
+---------------------------------------+

Interactivity

You can add a filter for Region to show only East or West sales. When you select a region, the sales table updates to show only products from that region. The Total Sales column and Grand Total card update automatically to reflect the filtered data. The background colors and borders remain to keep the data clear.

Self Check

If you add a filter for Region = East, which components update?

• The sales table shows only Apples, Cherries, and Elderberries rows.
• The Total Sales column recalculates totals for these rows.
• The Grand Total card updates to sum only East region sales.
• Borders and background colors remain the same to highlight totals.

Key Result

A sales dashboard that uses borders and background colors to highlight totals and improve readability.