Today let’s look at how to use Excel keyboard shortcuts to see Precedent or Dependent Excel cells in an Excel workbook. I use these two commands to easily audit my Excel formulas.

Cells that are referenced to in a formula or provide a value for a formula in another cell are called PRECEDENTS- you can see them below in this simple formula by selecting the cell that contains our formula in cell D3, then selecting Formulas Tab – Formula Auditing – Trace Precedents.

Alternatively cells that contain a formula that references your current cell or cells known as DEPENDENTS.

For more information you can see my previous blog post on Tracing Precedents and Dependents

A Great Couple of Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

So, instead of using the Excel Tab, we can use a great couple of Keyboard Shortcuts to achieve the same result.

Ctrl+[ will move your cursor to the precedent(s) of the current cell, that is, the cell or cells that a formula in the current cell refers to.

Ctrl+] will move your cursor to the dependent(s) of the current cell, that is, the cell or cells with a formula that uses the current cell.

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