excel - protect column & ifstatements

You are asking for two entirely unrelated things.

1. Select the column, bring up the Format Cells dialog box again (Ctrl+Shift+F), select the Locked box and then click OK, on the Review tab, in the Changes group, click Protect Sheet.
2. Use conditional formatting: http://www.excel-easy.com/data-analysis/conditional-formatting.html

hi macroshadow, ive had a look at the conditional formatting link you have posted in your comment but i cant see if in a range of cells you can apply multiple conditions for example if the date = or is 1 day less than what is shown in the cell then its hilited a certain color?

Yes, it is possible using a formula.
The formula must return true for the formatting to be applied.
https://exceljet.net/conditional-formatting-with-formulas

hi experts, could you tell me how i apply more than 1 condition to a range of cells through conditional formatting, so for example if cells a1:a40 = "to check" then hilite cell fill color as red, or if = "checked" then cell fill color to be green or if cell = any other value show as yellow fill color

If you want different formatting of the same cell depending on its contents, use multiple rules.

hi macroshadow, im using excel 2007 and i cant work out how to use multiple rules, could you assist?

hi, ive added 2 conditional formats into my wksht in column 'e' but its not working, could you please check why?
protect---ifstatements_2.xlsx

I don't understand your requirements. Please fill in the blanks:

If cell in column e = f1 then fill cell(s) _____________ red
If cell in column e = f1 -1 then fill cell(s) _____________ yellow
If cells in column h = "to check" then fill cell(s) _____________ red
If cells in column h = "checked" then  fill cell(s) _____________ green

Also note that both column e and f1 contain numbers not dates.

hi macroshadow,

If cell in column e = f1 then fill cell(s) _____________ red
If cell in column e = f1 -1 then fill cell(s) _____________ yellow
If cells in column h = "to check" then fill cell(s) _____________ red
If cells in column h = "checked" then  fill cell(s) _____________ green

yes these are the requirements above and if you open my conditional formatting/ manage rules the conditions dont work, there is obviously something missing, can you pick up the error/s?
I changed column e & f1 to number to see if my conditional formatting would work but still does not.

What cells should have the formatting applied to?

the range of cells the formatting applies to is e3:e7 as shown in the screenshot below.

here you go
protect---ifstatements_2.xlsx

there seems to be a misunderstanding, the formatting still applies to all cells in column 'e' but the conditions are 3;
1. if the cell value in col 'e' is = to or greater than the value in cell f1 then the background fill color is to be red
2. if the cell value in col 'e' is = to the value in cell f1 minus 1, then the background fill color is to be yellow
3. if the cell value in col 'e' doesnt meet condition 1 or 2 above then the background color is remain as normal, no formatting.

That is not what you wrote above, you mentioned checked and to check.
Anyway, is this what you want?
protect---ifstatements_2.xlsx

hi macroshadow, yes this is what i want but with cell values from numbers to dates. Ive attached the same workbook and the only change is the date values instead of numbers but it looks like all the conditional formats have been lost? i would have thought changing from numbers to dates wouldnt have changed the conditional formats?
protect---ifstatements_3.xlsx

hi macroshadow, ive checked your last worksheet but the only thing that works are the dates in the table if = or > F1 then col e changes to red, if col e value = the date before F1 then shows in yellow.
col h doesnt work at all.

I hope this is what you want.
protect---ifstatements_3.xlsx

No answer has been accepted by the OP, but this post does exactly what the OP requested.