How can you apply conditional formatting to a cell in Excel?

Applying conditional formatting to a cell in Excel begins with selecting the cell or range of cells you want to format. After selecting the desired cell(s), you navigate to the Home tab on the ribbon. Here, you will find the Conditional Formatting button, which opens a menu that allows you to choose various formatting rules based on your criteria, such as highlighting cells that meet a certain condition.

This functionality is a powerful feature in Excel because it enables you to visually emphasize data trends, outliers, or specific values, making your data analysis more effective and intuitive. The other options do not directly lead to the conditional formatting feature. For instance, right-clicking and choosing 'Format Cells' generally gives access to standard formatting options but not conditional formatting. Inserting a new worksheet does not pertain to formatting existing data. Lastly, the formula bar is primarily for entering or editing data and functions, not for applying conditional formatting directly.