Excel – Can one list everything that uses a particular cell in Excel 2010

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I've been tasked with making changes to an Excel 2010 spreadsheet I know little about.

One of the biggest changes the client wants is to remove numerous cells that are no longer needed by his business. Most of these cells do not have other dependent cells or formulas, but I don't know how to check that for sure.

How can one check to see which cells or formulas or functions or whatever are associated with a particular cell?

How do I get a list of excel objects that are dependent on the existence of a particular cell?

Best Answer

In Excel 2007 there is the ability to have Excel show or trace the dependents. I'm not sure how to activate this feature in Excel 2010, but if it should help here is the process for Excel 2007.

  • Select the cell you wish to view all dependents for
  • Go to the Formulas tab
  • In the Formula Auditing section click the button Trace Dependents

This will activate a blue arrow to every dependent cell in the same worksheet as well as a black arrow to an icon of a spreadsheet if there are any dependent cells in other worksheets/workbooks. To view the dependent cells just double click the arrow (in the case of the black arrow to other sheets/book a window will open with a listing of the external links).

When done, deactivate the arrows with the button Remove Arrows in the Formula Auditing section.

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