Use the Remove Arrows option to turn off the display of the relationship arrows. If you are a veteran Excel user I guarantee you’ll use this tip a lot. The Trace Precedents works the same way, click in a cell with a formula and the cells that are used in that formula will be identified. Trace precedents to determine which cells impact a specific cell. Trace dependents to determine which cells are impacted by a specific cell. Remove precedent and dependent arrows. Check for errors frequently found in formulas. Module 3: Data Tools. Data Tools in Microsoft Excel are simply tools which make it easy to manipulate data. Excel: trace dependents: show other sheet it is referencing to Dear community, I just used the trace dependents feature. If the cell is used on a different sheet.
How to show trace dependents or precedents arrow in Excel?
Trace Precedents: When you click this button, Excel draws arrows to the cells (the so-called direct. The trace precedents tool finds any and all cells that provide information for the target cell. For example, if you summed up the totals in A1 and B1 into cell C1, both cells A1 and B1 would be precedents for C1. Some errors in Excel are related to one or more precedent cells giving information that throws off the formula.
In some cases, if there are many formulas in your sheet, you may want to clearly see the relationships among the cells in Excel. To show the trace dependents or precedents arrow will be a good way.
Show all trace dependents (precedents) arrow with Kutools for Excel
Show trace dependents (precedents) arrow
It is easy to show the trace arrows in Excel.
There are two trace arrow types, one is Trace Precedents arrow, and the other is Trace Dependents arrow.
To show Trace Precedents arrow:
Select cell you need and click Formulas > Trace Precedents.
To show Trace Dependents arrow:
Select cell you need and click Formulas > Trace Dependents.
Tip: You can only add a trace arrow at each time.
Show all trace dependents (precedents) arrow with Kutools for Excel
With Excel built-in function, you only can show one type of trace arrows once time, but with Kutools for Excel's Monitor of Dependents and Precedents, you can show all precedents or dependents or booth precedents and dependents in a range once time.
After installing Kutools for Excel, please do as below:(Free Download Kutools for Excel Now!)
1. Click Kutools > More (in the Formula gourp), and then enable one operation you need in the sub menu, See screenshot:
2. Then select a cell or a range that you want to show the trace arrows, and now the type of trace arrow you select are shown in the selection.
Monitor Dependents of Ranges
Excel Trace Precedents Table
Note: Click Kutools > More > Monitor Precedents of Ranges/Monitor Dependents of Ranges/Monitoer Precedents and Dependents again to disable it.
Tip. If you want to have a free trial of Kutools for Excel's multiple functions, please go to free download Kutools for Excel first, and then go to apply the operation according above steps.
Show All Formula Traces (Dependents and Precedents)
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Tracing Dependent and Precedent Cells
Excel 2013 includes a set of formula auditing tools in the Formula Auditing group of the FORMULAS ribbon. These tools allow users to see the relationships between formulas and cells.
Within the formula auditing section are the following tools:
Trace Precedents and Trace Dependents
The Trace Precedents and Trace Dependents options use arrows to show how an individual cell links to other cells, or is linked to from other cells.
Things are relatively straightforward when all the related cells are on the same worksheet. Excel will draw arrows from the active cell to the related cell or cells. However, even on the same sheet, there are a couple of capabilities that might not be immediately obvious.
Excel Trace Precedents Arrow
The first time you click the ‘Trace’ button the cells that link directly to/from the active cell will be ‘arrowed’. Here we have selected cell H9 and clicked the Trace Precedents button:
We can see that H9 includes a reference to the range of cells B4:B8
If we click on the button again, cells that link directly to the first set of precedent cells will gain arrows and so on through to the cells that link directly and indirectly to the active cell.
The arrows themselves can be double-clicked – this will toggle the selection between the cells at either end of the arrow. The arrows can be removed using the Remove Arrows button in the Formula Auditing group.
If a cell links to another sheet then, instead of pointing at an actual cell, the Trace Precedents and Trace Dependents arrows will be dotted and point to a small picture of a worksheet. To see the details of the cells that relate to the selected cell, double-click the arrow itself (not the worksheet icon). This will display the Go To dialog with the related cells listed. Double-clicking on one of the cells listed in the Go To list will select that cell:
Display formulae
Switching from the display of cell values to cell formulae can help reveal inconsistent use of formulae or formulae that have been overwritten. You can switch to the display of formulae using FORMULAS ribbon tab > Formula Auditing group > Show Formulas:
Trace Precedents In Excel 2013 Spreadsheet
Watch Window
The FORMULAS ribbon tab >Formula Auditing group, also includes the Watch Window option.
This lets you add cells from anywhere in the current workbook and displays their current values. The Watch Window is within Excel the application, so if you have multiple workbooks open you can switch workbooks and add cells from other workbooks to the Watch Window. You can’t switch to a different workbook from within the Add Watch window.
The window displays the ‘live’ value of all the cells, from whichever open workbook, that have been added to the window. As well as displaying cell values, the Watch Window also allows you to navigate to any of the watched cells just by double-clicking them:
Trace Precedent Excel Vba
Formula evaluator
Sometimes a formula might not give the result that you expect. If the formula is complex, maybe containing several functions, then it can be difficult working out just where the formula is going wrong. The FORMULAS ribbon tab > Formula Auditing section, includes the Evaluate Formula option. This evaluates each element of a formula individually:
Error Checker
Trace Precedents And Dependents In Excel 2013
Excel has a set of built-in rules to identify cells that might need attention. Some of the rules are obvious such as ‘Cells containing formulas that result in an error’ while others depend on slightly more subtle circumstances. The Error Checking settings and status of the individual rules can be accessed through FILE > Options > Formulas > Error Checking and Error checking rules sections:
The information icons next to each rule provide details of what the rule checks.
By default, cells that ‘contravene’ the rules are marked with a green indicator. Clicking on such a cell displays a warning icon which, when clicked, explains what the problem is and provides a series of possible resolutions.
Trace Precedents In Excel 2013 Pdf
If you are signed up to Skillsology check out our Excel course for more information on this: Section 5, Unit 7, Module 1 – Tracing Calculations.