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How to use watch window to monitor formulas in Excel?

Author Sun Last modified

If you use Excel regularly, you may sometimes need to work with a large worksheet with hundreds of rows and columns of data, and having a tool to help you monitor important cells without scrolling back would be very helpful. Now I introduce the Watch Window which can do you this favor.

Watch formulas with Watch Window

arrow blue right bubble Watch formulas with Watch Window

For instance, you want to monitor all formulas in any time for confirming the calculations even scrolling to other cells in a large worksheet, you can apply the Watch Window by following these steps:

1. Press Ctrl + G to open Go To dialog, and then click Special to open the Go To Special dialog, and check Formulas option. See screenshot:
A screenshot of the Go To Special dialog in Excel with the Formulas option selected

2. Then click OK, and then all the formulas are selected, and then click Formulas > Watch Window. See screenshot:

3. Then in the Watch Window dialog, click Add Watch to open the Add Watch dialog. The selected formulas will automatically appear in the "Select the cells that you would like to watch the value of" textbox. See screenshot:
A screenshot of the Add Watch dialog in Excel showing selected cells added for monitoring

4. Click Add. Now the formulas in the sheet have been displayed in the list of the Watch Window. And wherever you scroll to, you can always inspect the formulas. See screenshot:
A screenshot of the Watch Window in Excel displaying monitored formulas and their values

Tip:

Sometimes, the floating Watch Window may obstruct data while scrolling. In such cases, you can dock the window to one side of the sheet to keep it out of the way. See screenshot:
A screenshot showing the Watch Window docked to the side in Excel for better visibility

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