Hi Helenharry,
Thanks for contacting Syncfusion Support.
We have checked the reported query “cell background color without using QueryCellStyle” from our side. We would like to let you know that SfDataGrid is designed based on column-oriented architecture and it is not a cell-based grid. It is impossible to change the back color of any specific cell in SfDataGrid without using QueryCellStyle event.
However you can achieve your requirement by maintaining RowColumIndex in dictionary and apply background color to particular cell in QueryCellStyle event by invalidating the particular cell. You can refer the following forum to achieve your requirement.
Please let us know if you would require further assistance.
Regards,
Jayaleshwari N