Clever Clogs tip # 748
3 December 2024


Highlight the column and row of the cell you're working in (Excel 365) *

Hello and welcome to the first Tuesday of the month - it's Clever Clogs Tip Time!

For those of you in the States, I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving. And for my subscribers in the Netherlands, enjoy Thursday's festivities!

Now, on to the tip! Microsoft has recently introduced a new Focus Cell feature in Excel for Microsoft 365 users. (Don't hit delete just yet ... I've got a handy workaround at the bottom. And don't unsubscribe ... next month's tip is all about Outlook!)

It highlights the row and column of the active cell to help you keep track of your position in a spreadsheet. I particularly like it to easily spot the row I'm in. And I love how it helps the search experience when using CTRL + F to find text or numbers!

Here are some snippets that I hope you'll find useful.

  1. Click the Focus Cell button on the View tab.
  2. Click the drop-down arrow next to the Focus Cell button to change the colour.
  3. Right-click its button and add it to your Quick Access Toolbar.
  4. It currently doesn't work when you have Freeze Panes or Split Panes on. Microsoft has promised to fix this "in the near future". (Don't hold your breath.)

And as promised for those of you who don't have the new Focus Cell option but are intrigued ... you can use Conditional Formatting or VBA. See How to highlight active row and column in Excel.

That's it for today. I'll be back later this month with your favourite, most commented on, tips from the last 12 months. Is this one of them?

Related tips

  1. Display an input message when you select a column or cell: tip_729.php
  2. Have your favourite buttons easily accessible: tip_664.php

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Karen Roem

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* Unless stated otherwise this tip is written for Microsoft 365 desktop apps and Windows 11 users, but might also be useful in Office 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019.