Trace cells that provide data to a formula (precedents)
- Select the cell that contains the formula for which you want to find precedent cells.
- To display a tracer arrow to each cell that directly provides data to the active cell, click Trace Precedents
on the Formula Auditing
toolbar. -
To identify the next level of cells that provide data to the active cell, click Trace Precedents
again. -
To remove tracer arrows one level at a time, starting with the precedent cell farthest away from the active cell, click Remove Precedent Arrows
. To remove another level of tracer arrows, click the button again.
Trace formulas that reference a particular cell (dependents)
- Select the cell for which you want to identify the dependent cells.
- To display a tracer arrow to each cell that is dependent on the active cell, click Trace Dependents
on the Formula Auditing
toolbar. -
To identify the next level of cells that depend on the active cell, click Trace Dependents
again. -
To remove tracer arrows one level at a time, starting with the dependent cell farthest away from the active cell, click Remove Dependent Arrows
. To remove another level of tracer arrows, click the button again.
To remove all tracer arrows on the worksheet, click Remove All Arrows
on the Formula Auditing
toolbar.
Note Red arrows show cells that cause errors. If the selected cell is referenced by a cell on another worksheet or workbook, a black arrow points from the selected cell to a worksheet icon 
.The other workbook must be open before Microsoft Excel can trace these dependencies, however.
-
To see the color-coded precedents for the arguments in a formula, select a cell and press F2.
-
To select the cell at the other end of an arrow, double-click the arrow. If the cell is in another worksheet or workbook, double-click the black arrow and then double-click the reference you want in the Go to list.
-
To see all the relationships on a worksheet, in an empty cell type = (equal sign), and then click the Select All button. Select the cell, and press Trace Precedents
twice.
