Chapter 3: Performing Basic Worksheet Operations
3
Monitoring cells with a Watch Window
In some situations, you may want to monitor the value in a particular cell as you work. As
you scroll throughout the worksheet, that cell may disappear from view. A feature known
as a Watch Window can help. A Watch Window displays the value of any number of cells in a
handy window that’s always visible.To display the Watch Window, choose Formulas ➪ Formula Auditing ➪ Watch Window. The
Watch Window is actually a task pane, and you can dock it to the side of the window or
drag it and make it float over the worksheet.To add a cell to watch, click Add Watch and specify the cell that you want to watch. The
Watch Window displays the value in that cell. You can add any number of cells to the Watch
Window. Figure 3.9 shows the Watch Window monitoring four cells in different worksheets.FIGURE 3.9
Use the Watch Window to monitor the value in one or more cells.Double-click a cell in the Watch Window to select that cell immediately. This works only if the watched cell is in the
active workbook.
Working with Rows and Columns
This section discusses worksheet operations that involve complete rows and columns
(rather than individual cells). Every worksheet has exactly 1,048,576 rows and 16,384
columns, and these values can’t be changed.If you open a workbook that was created in a version of Excel prior to Excel 2007, the workbook is opened in
Compatibility Mode. These workbooks have 65,536 rows and 256 columns. If you would like to increase the number
of rows and columns, save the workbook as an Excel .xlsx or .xlsm file and then reopen it.