A nice extra coming to Excel 365 highlights the selected cell, row and column with a single click or use an Excel trick to get the same and even better look now.
Until now, that’s only been possible with some conditional formatting and a touch of VBA. Excel 365 will be able to do the same thing with a single click on a Focus Cell button.
Go to View | Show | Focus Cell
Focus Cell Color – choose from ten standard colors.
Show Auto-Highlight – means Focus Cell will work when Find & Replace is used.
For fast access, add Focus Cell to the Quick Access Toolbar. Right-click on the Focus Cell button and choose ‘Add to Quick Access Toolbar’.
We’ve found Focus Cell really useful and leave it on all the time. No need for a QAT button.
Limitation
Focus Cell won’t work when Freeze or Split Panes are on. That’s a shame because they are commonly used features.
Who gets it?
Excel 365 Beta Channel v2410 build 18118.20000 or later.
Microsoft says Focus Cell is coming ‘soon’ to Excel 365 for Mac and Excel on the web.
Alternative and better Focus Cell options
Improve on Microsoft’s Focus Cell or get an alternative that works for other Excel releases.
Our article Excel tricks to highlight selected row, column, heading and more shows how to get a Focus Cell like feature in Excel 2024. 2021 and earlier for both Windows and Mac.
AND there’s more … because our trick gives more control.
- Highlight column/row headings only
- Different colors for columns or rows
- Highlight the selected cell only
- Much wider range of colors
- Gradient effect instead of solid color
- Cell border changes
Excel tricks to highlight selected row, column, heading and more
