Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: Conditionally Highlighting Cells Containing Formulas.
You probably already know that you can select all the cells containing formulas in a worksheet by pressing F5 and choosing Special | Formulas. If you need to keep a constant eye on where formulas are located, then repeatedly doing the selecting can get tedious. A better solution is to use the conditional formatting capabilities of Excel to highlight cells with formulas.
Before you can use conditional formatting, however, you need to create a user-defined function that will return True or False, depending on whether there is a formula in a cell. The following macro will do the task very nicely:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: 
Function HasFormula(rCell As Range) As Boolean
Application.Volatile
HasFormula = rCell.HasFormula
End Function
To use this with conditional formatting, select the cells you want checked, and then follow these steps:
Figure 1. The New Formatting Rule dialog box.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9900) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Conditionally Highlighting Cells Containing Formulas.
Save Time and Supercharge Excel! Automate virtually any routine task and save yourself hours, days, maybe even weeks. Then, learn how to make Excel do things you thought were simply impossible! Mastering advanced Excel macros has never been easier. Check out Excel 2010 VBA and Macros today!
Conditional formatting is a great tool for changing the format of cells based on whether certain conditions (rules) are ...
Discover MoreConditional formatting is a great tool. You may need to use this tool to tell the difference between cells that are empty ...
Discover MoreSometimes you want whatever is displayed in one cell to control what is displayed in a different cell. This tip looks at ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2016-06-21 07:39:04
Willy Vanhaelen
If you have an Excel version prior to 2013 you can do it without a user defined function as well.
See: http://spreadsheetpage.com/index.php/tip/identify_formulas_by_using_conditional_formatting/
2016-06-21 02:25:52
Peter Watson
apparently "isformula" is new in Excel 2013
2016-06-21 02:23:44
Peter Watson
think there's an easier way - one that does not use a macro - you can use the excel formula-function "isformula".
refer http://www.contextures.com/excelisformulafunction.html
for how
worked for me
2016-01-29 09:51:32
Marti Jordan
I think I was confused because of the title. This doesn't mean it will conditionally format any cell with any formula. I believe this will identify only the cells with a specific formula. Am I correct?
I'd like to conditionally format a sheet in my workbook to highlight any cell that contains any formula.
2016-01-29 09:27:38
Marti Jordan
I've tried it multiple times to multiple cells, single cells... nothing is highlighted.
2015-03-18 12:23:01
Matt W
Using Application.Volatile here means all this conditional formatting will be recalculated whenever any cell on the sheet changes.
This can cause slowness, and I even managed to cause some sort of bizarre interactions with editing the text on form controls.
I suggest using this function minus the Application.Volatile line, it seems to work just as well without it (in Excel 2013).
2015-02-07 11:36:11
Willy Vanhaelen
You can do it without a user defined funtion. See: http://j-walk.com/ss/excel/usertips/tip045.htm
2015-02-06 18:21:43
Gave it a red hot try but does not seem to work for Excel 365
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments