What is Go To Special?

You may easily choose cells of a certain kind in your Excel worksheet by using the Go To Special feature in Microsoft Excel. You'll question how you managed to survive without it once you grasp its feature and its potential applications.

Where do I find Go To Special?

Shortcut: F5 or CTRL + G and then click on Special…
2003: Edit > Go To
2007 & 2010:Home > Find & Select > Go To Special on the Ribbon

Let's watch Go To Special in action.

This worksheet is essentially the same as the one we used in the Managing Spreadsheet Risk series, but it has been significantly altered to cover every aspect of the Go To Special function.

Here are the options on the Go To Special dialogue box:

Comments

Action: Selects all cells with comments

Benefit: A quick way of finding all cells with comments, particularly useful if you want to clear all comments from your worksheet

Constants

Action: Chooses every cell that has constants.

Choices:


Numbers: Chooses every cell containing a constant that is a number.

Text: Chooses all text-containing cells with constants

Logicals: Chooses every cell that has a logical constant (TRUE or FALSE).

Advantage: All of the numerical constants in your spreadsheet ought to be inputs. One excellent method to verify the structure of your spreadsheet is to highlight every constant. Typically, I format inputs using a blue font on a white background.

Formulas

t.Action: Chooses every cell that has a formula.

Choices:

Numbers: Chooses every cell that has a formula that yields a number.

Text: All cells with formulas that produce text are selected.

Logicals: Chooses any cell that has a formula that yields a logical result (TRUE or FALSE).

Benefit: You may evaluate the consistency and organization of your spreadsheet by highlighting every formula.

Blanks

Action: Chooses every empty cell

Advantage: Selecting all blank cells quickly. This can be used to identify cells that appear blank but actually contain a constant or formula (i.e., with white on white formatting) or to swiftly format all blank cells.

Current region

Action: Selects the current region

Comment: I would recommend using the shortcut CTRL + * instead