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How to check if / find cells contains formulas in Excel?

Author Xiaoyang Last modified

If you have a large worksheet which contains some formulas, and now, you want to find or check if the cells contain formulas. In Excel, are there easy ways to find or check which cells contain formulas?

Check if cells contain formulas with Function

Find and select all cells with formulas with Go To Special command

Highlight all cells with formulas with VBA code

Automatically highlight all formulas within whole workbook with Kutools for Excel

arrow blue right bubble Check if cells contain formulas with Function

By default, there is a simple function for you to check if a cell contains formula in Excel, please do as follows:

1. Enter this formula: =ISFORMULA(A1) (where A1 is the cell that you want to check if it is a formula) into a blank cell to check if it contains a formula or not, then press Enter key to get the result, FALSE indicates that is not a formula, TRUE stands for containing a formula. See screenshot:

A screenshot showing the ISFORMULA function result in Excel

2. Then you can drag the fill handle to the range of cells that you want to check the corresponding cells if are formulas, see screenshot:

A screenshot of ISFORMULA function applied across a range

arrow blue right bubble Find and select all cells with formulas with Go To Special command

If you want to find and select the formula cells, you can also apply the Go To Special command to deal with this task.

1. Select the range that you want to select the formula cells.

2. Click Home > Find & Select > Go To Special, see screenshot:

A screenshot of the Go To Special option in Excel ribbon

3. In the Go To Special dialog box, select Formulas and check all options under the Formulas, see screenshot:

A screenshot of the Go To Special dialog with formula selection options

4. Then click OK, all the cells with formulas have been selected at once. See screenshot:

A screenshot showing cells with formulas selected

arrow blue right bubble Highlight all cells with formulas with VBA code

The following VBA code may help you to highlight all the formula cells to make them standout.

1. Hold down the ALT + F11 keys to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.

2. Click Insert > Module, and paste the following code into the Module Window.

VBA code: Highlight all cells with formulas

Sub FindFormulaCells()
'Updateby Extendoffice
    Dim xRg As Range
    On Error Resume Next
    Set xRg = Application.InputBox("please select a range:", "Kutools for Excel", Application.ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Address, , , , , 8)
    If xRg Is Nothing Then Exit Sub
    Set xRg = xRg.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeFormulas, 23)
    If xRg Is Nothing Then Exit Sub
    xRg.Interior.Color = vbYellow
End Sub

3. Then press F5 key to run this code, and then select the data range that you want to find the formulas from the prompt box, see screenshot:

A screenshot showing the VBA prompt box to select a range for finding formulas

4. Click OK button, and all the formula cells have been highlighted with yellow color as following screenshot shown:

A screenshot of cells with formulas highlighted in yellow using VBA

Note: In the above code xRg.Interior.Color = vbYellow, you can change the highlight color-Yellow to your like, such as Red, Green, Blue and so on.

arrow blue right bubble Automatically highlight all formulas within whole workbook with Kutools for Excel

Kutools for Excelā€™s Highlight Formulas feature can help you highlight the formulas in the whole workbook automatically, and the highlighted cells will be changed as the cell changes dynamically.

Kutools for Excel offers over 300 advanced features to streamline complex tasks, boosting creativity and efficiency. Itegarate with AI capabilities, Kutools automates tasks with precision, making data management effortless. Detailed information of Kutools for Excel...         Free trial...

After installing Kutools for Excel, please do as follows:

1. Click Kutools Plus > Worksheet Design, and a new Design tab will be displayed in the ribbon, click Highlight Formulas under the Design tab, see screenshots:

A screenshot of the Worksheet Design button under Kutools Plus tab
Arrow
A screenshot of the Kutools Highlight Formulas option under Design tab

2. And then all the formula cells within all worksheets have been highlighted at once.

Kutools for Excel - Packed with over 300 essential tools for Excel. Enjoy permanently free AI features! Download now!

Related articles:

How to highlight / conditional formatting cells with formulas in Excel?

How to highlight entire / whole row while scrolling in Excel worksheet?

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