Focus Cell Missing in Excel? Build Your Own with This Simple Trick!

Ever get lost in a huge Excel sheet and can’t figure out which line you’re looking at? Many people are talking about the new “Focus Cell” feature, but most of us don’t have it in our Excel version yet. Don’t worry—you don’t need to upgrade your PC or buy a new license. In this post, I’ll show you a simple “jugaad” to make your own Focus Cell using a very easy trick that works on any Excel.

If you work with big data in Excel, you know the struggle. One wrong click and you lose track of the row. Microsoft finally added a “Focus Cell” feature to highlight the row and column automatically, but it’s only for the latest versions.

If you don’t see it on your Ribbon, don’t take tension! We can make it ourselves in just 2 minutes.

Method 1: The VBA + Conditional Formatting Way

This is the most “stable” way to do it because it doesn’t destroy your existing cell colors.

Step 1: Set up the Conditional Formatting

1. Select your entire sheet (click the triangle in the top-left corner).
2. Go to Home > Conditional Formatting > New Rule.
3. Select “Use a formula to determine which cells to format”.
4. Enter this formula for row and column highlighting: =OR(CELL("row")=ROW(), CELL("col")=COLUMN())
5. Click Format, go to the Fill tab, pick a light color (like light blue or yellow), and click OK.

Step 2: Add the VBA “Trigger”

1. Conditional formatting only updates when the sheet recalculates. This macro forces that to happen every time you click a cell.
2. Right-click the Sheet Tab at the bottom (e.g., “Sheet1”) and select View Code.
3. Paste this exact code into the window:

Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
    Target.Calculate
End Sub

Close the VBA window and go back to Excel. Now, as you move your cursor, the row and column will follow you.

Method 2: The Pure VBA Way (No Formatting Needed)

If you don’t want to mess with Conditional Formatting, you can use this macro. Warning: This will clear any existing manual background colors you have in your sheet.

1. Right-click the Sheet Tab > View Code.
2. Paste this code:

Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
    'Clear previous highlighting
    Cells.Interior.ColorIndex = xlNone

    'Highlight entire row and column
    Target.EntireRow.Interior.Color = RGB(230, 240, 255)
    Target.EntireColumn.Interior.Color = RGB(230, 240, 255)
End Sub

Important Notes
Undo Function: Using VBA macros (especially Method 2) will clear your “Undo” history every time you click a cell. Method 1 is generally better for daily work.

File Format: You must save your file as an Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (.xlsm) for the feature to work next time you open it.

Why is helpful?

In our busy offices, we often have to check long lists of accounts or inventory. Using this trick, your eyes won’t get tired because the “crosshair” will follow your mouse everywhere. It’s a total life-saver for data entry!