Rulequill: conditional borders for Google Sheets™
Sheets' conditional formatting can change colours but can't draw borders. Rulequill can: save a rule once and it draws real cell borders wherever the rule matches, then redraws them as your data changes.
What it does
- Group separators: a line under each group whenever the value in a column changes (month, customer, order, region), a line over each group, a line only where the value changes, or a box around each group.
- Box matching rows: a box around every row where Status is "Done", or a line under rows over a number, rows that contain a word, or rows that aren't empty.
- Border when a formula is true: write the rule like a conditional-format custom formula, for example
=AND($C2<TODAY(), $D2<>"Yes")for overdue, unpaid invoices. Over 40 functions are supported. - Group banding: alternate fill colours by group instead of by row.
- Any line: thin, medium, thick, dashed, dotted or double, in any colour.
How it works
- In Google Sheets, open Extensions > Rulequill > Open Rulequill.
- Pick the range (A2:F runs to the end of your data), the condition and the line style. Preview shows how many rows match.
- Save draws the borders. After the data changes, click Refresh, or turn on automatic refresh and they update by themselves.
The borders are ordinary cell borders, so they print, export and show for everyone who opens the file. Rulequill keeps a record of what it drew and only changes lines that need to move; borders you drew yourself outside a rule's range are never touched.
Free and Pro
One border rule per sheet, refreshed with the button, is free. Rulequill Pro costs $7.99, paid once, and is bought from inside the add-on: unlimited rules, automatic refresh, group banding and custom-formula conditions. There's no subscription and nothing renews.
Private by design
Rulequill can only see the spreadsheet you're using it in, and your data never leaves Google Sheets. There's no server, no tracking and no analytics; the only outside request is checking a Pro license key with Gumroad. Read the privacy policy and terms.
Questions: hello@frontporchpuzzlepress.com
Google Sheets™ is a trademark of Google LLC. Rulequill is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.