How to Quickly Select a Far-off Excel Cell or Range

What do we do when we have to go to an Excel Cell in some other worksheet (or a cell far away in the same worksheet).

Normally, we select the worksheet tab, then spot the cell (which may involve scrolling) and then click on it. In this blog post, learn 2 quick methods to do this.

#1 – Using Excel Watch Window to Monitor an Excel Cell

Excel Watch Window enables you to keep a track of the values in selected cells.

It is a handy feature if you have a couple of cells that you want to monitor as you work with your data.

An additional benefit of Excel Watch Window is that can quickly take you to the cell/cells that you are monitoring.

Using Excel Watch Window

1. Go to Formulas –> Formula Auditing –> Watch Window
   
2. In the Watch Window dialogue box, Click Add Watch
   
3. In the Add Watch pop-up, select the cell that you want to monitor. Note that if you select a range instead of a single cell, all cells would be added as separate cells.
   
4. As the watch is added, you can see the cell value and formula (if any), and changes can be monitored in real-time
   
5. To go to a cell quickly, simply double-click on the cell in the watch window

Note that double-clicking on the watch window to go the cell would not work if you are in some other workbook.

Also read: Copy Visible Cells Only in Excel

#2 – Storing the Excel Cell Reference in Temporary Memory

Did you know?? Excel can store up to 4 temporary cell address, which you can use to quickly select that cell. This could be useful if you have data spread across various tabs and you have to refer to a few important cells again and again.

1. Select a cell (or range) that you want to store as a temporary location (this could be in the same or other worksheets)
2. Go to Name Box (left of Formula bar)
   
3. Click in the Name Box and press Enter

These steps store the cell reference in temporary memory.

Going to The Cell Reference

1. To go to the cell reference stored in temporary memory, press F5 (or Go To Home –> Editing –> Find & Select –> Go To)
   
2. In the Go To Dialogue box, double-click on the cell reference to go to that cell

Note that Excel can store a maximum of 4 cell references at a time. If you add more references by using the above method, you would only see the latest four references.

Also, since this is in the temporary memory of Excel, it gets erased when you close the workbook.

If your data has named ranges, their names would also show up in the Go To dialogue box. While there can only be 4 temporary cell references at a time, there is no restriction on the number of named ranges.

You May Also Like the Following Excel Tutorials:

• How to Deselect Cells in Excel
• How to Quickly Select Blank Cells in Excel.
• How to Move Rows and Columns in Excel.
• How to Select Every Third Row in Excel (or select every Nth Row).
• How to Select 500 cells/rows in Excel (with a single click).
• How to Switch Between Sheets in Excel?