SharePoint conditional formatting: show a value only when another column matches

Keep a column quiet until it matters — the blocker note only when Status is Blocked, the reason only when a request is rejected — with one expression on the display property.

Some columns are only relevant in one situation. A Blocker notes column matters when the item is blocked and is clutter the rest of the time; a Rejection reason only means something once someone has said no. SharePoint and Microsoft Lists can't hide a column per row, but column formatting JSON can read another column in the same row and decide whether to draw anything at all.

The mechanism is a single style property: display. Set it to none when the condition fails and to a normal value when it passes, and the cell is empty or filled accordingly. The column header stays — this is a display rule, not a permission — but the row-level noise is gone.

Before and after

What the SharePoint conditional visibility JSON looks like

The generator produces JSON like the example below. It formats the Notes column, but the test inside it reads Status:

{
  "$schema": "https://developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/sp/v2/column-formatting.schema.json",
  "elmType": "div",
  "inlineEditField": "[$Notes]",
  "txtContent": "[$Notes]",
  "style": {
    "padding": "3px 8px",
    "border-radius": "3px",
    "background-color": "#fff4ce",
    "color": "#323130",
    "font-size": "12px",
    "cursor": "pointer",
    "display": {
      "operator": "?",
      "operands": [
        { "operator": "==", "operands": ["[$Status]", "Blocked"] },
        "inline-block",
        "none"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Everything except the last line is ordinary styling — a soft yellow note chip. The display expression is the switch: when [$Status] equals Blocked the chip renders as inline-block, otherwise it's none and the cell is blank. It's written in SharePoint's object form (? with three operands) rather than =if(…) because the string syntax can't escape a quote — a condition value like Client's review would never match — while an object operand is a plain JSON string. Both forms mean the same thing, and the =if(…) spelling in the questions below is fine to hand-edit when your values have no apostrophes. The formatter is applied to the Notes column, so inlineEditField still lets people click and edit the note when it's visible.

One rule governs every cross-column reference, and it's the cause of nearly every "it never shows" report: the column you read must be in the same view. Microsoft's documentation states it plainly — references to other fields work only if they're included in the view. If Status is hidden from the view, [$Status] has no value, the comparison fails, and the note stays hidden on every row. Add the column to the view; you can make it narrow, but it has to be there.

Conditions can be as rich as you need. && and || combine tests; @me is the current user's email, so [$Owner.email] == @me shows a value only to the item's owner — Microsoft's own examples use exactly that pattern for a per-user hide. And you don't have to hide: put the same if() on txtContent instead and show a dash, a hint, or a different field when the condition isn't met.

How to apply it

1. Open the generator and pick the Conditional Visibility template (or use the button above).
2. Enter the internal name of the field to show, the condition field to test, and the condition value it must equal.
3. Click Copy.
4. In SharePoint, open the settings of the column you want to show or hide (not the condition column): Column settings → Format this column → Advanced mode.
5. Delete what's in the box, paste, click Preview, then Save.
6. Make sure the condition column is in the view, or nothing will ever show.

Common questions