Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Counting Precedents and Dependents.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 24, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365
Because Excel allows you to create formulas that refer to other cells, it stands to reason that cells can be dependent on each other. In fact, Excel has two technical terms that are used to define the relationship between cells: precedents and dependents.
Precedents are those cells on which a formula is based. Thus, if cell A5 contains the formula =A3 + A4, then both A3 and A4 are precedents for cell A5. Dependents are the reverse of precedents. Thus, in this example, cell A5 is a dependent of cells A3 and A4. You can use the auditing tools in Excel to graphically depict these relationships between cells, as described in other issues of ExcelTips.
What if you want to know how many dependents and precedents there are in a worksheet, however? There is no Excel command that displays this information. You can use a macro to calculate and display this information, however. The following macro will do just that:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here:
Sub CountDependentsPrecedents()
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim lDep As Long
Dim lPre As Long
On Error GoTo err
For Each ws In Worksheets
ws.Select
lDep = 0
lPre = 0
lDep = Range("a1:xfd1048576").Dependents.Count
lPre = Range("a1:xfd1048576").Precedents.Count
MsgBox "Worksheet: " & ActiveSheet.Name & vbCr & _
"Dependents: " & lDep & vbCr & _
"Precedents: " & lPre
Next ws
Exit Sub
err:
Resume Next
End Sub
When you run this macro, it steps through each worksheet in your workbook and displays the number of dependents and precedents in each.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6196) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Counting Precedents and Dependents.
Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!
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