Selecting Cells in Excel Using Comments

Comments are like post it notes for cells. They are a great documentation feature because you can add cell-specific notes to help you and other users understand the spreadsheet better. There are also a few “outside the box” uses for cell comments.

One such technique allows you to quickly select certain cells in one step.

To add a comment to a cell you can right click the cell and choose Insert Comment, or you can use Shift + F2. Click outside the comment box or press Esc to get out of the comment box.

The F5 function key opens the Go To dialog (Ctrl + g will do it too). On the dialog there is a Special button which opens the GoTo Special dialog. This dialog allows you to select certain types of cells in one step. Comments is the default option – see image below. When you clcik OK all the cells with comments will selected. So you can format them, delete them or do what you want with them.

Comments1_1
Adding comments to a group of cells is a quick, easy and flexible way to enable you to quickly select those cells using the above technique. You don’t even need to enter a comment into the comment box, just add the comment to the cell and press Esc.

 

Click here to see another use for cell comments.

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

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