How to get Excel out of Select Cell mode

Looking for a tip on Microsoft Excel (2003):

If you click on a cell containing a formula, click into the formula, and click away, Excel will enter the cell or range you next select into the formula at the cursor. This is fine and dandy a lot of times, but right now I am working with a spreadsheet that has a lot of really long formulas. If I click into a cell and it goes into the state where it wants to enter a reference to the next cell I click into the formula, I can't always get out of it, and if I click on something, I don't always even know what the change was (these are really long formulas).

So my question is, is there a keystroke I can press or some other action to immediately get out of "input the next thing you click" mode and be sure there are no side effects? Ctrl-Z doesn't do it.

Erika

Posted 2009-08-27T21:13:38.953

Reputation: 123

As a side note, try using "Named ranges" and "constants" it helps make formulas more readable, and will reduce their length too! – Matt 'Trouble' Esse – 2009-08-27T21:46:05.113

If only the original programmer of this spreadsheet had had this advice. Though to be fair it's really pushing Excel to its limits. I am converting it to a program. – Erika – 2009-08-28T14:27:09.053

Matt's advice is good, and you can still replace ranges with defined names going forward – datatoo – 2009-11-24T04:45:14.980

Answers

Hit Esc or Enter I believe.

wahle509

Posted 2009-08-27T21:13:38.953

Reputation: 1 066

1Esc will cancel what you've typed, and Enter will save it. – Jeffrey – 2009-08-27T21:21:07.473

3The inverse to this is if you have a cell selected and want to start typing in it, press F2 to begin editing it. – mandroid – 2009-08-27T21:37:52.010

Ooh, the F2 thing is great, too. – Erika – 2009-08-28T14:29:25.507

Hit the escape key.

Carling

Posted 2009-08-27T21:13:38.953

Reputation: 229

Ctrl + Enter

... at least, that’s the answer as far as my understanding of your question goes:

… to immediately get out of “input the next thing you click” mode and be sure there are no side effects?

, which is rather vague.

Jay Kvam

Posted 2009-08-27T21:13:38.953

Reputation: 1

1But this will save any changes you might have made, which seems to be counter to the "no side effects" requirement. – Scott – 2019-06-21T23:58:11.900

Perhaps. The question is vague; however, generally, a side effect is an effect secondary to a main effect. The requirement was to avoid side effects. Presumably, one would want to save changes made; otherwise, why would the changes have been made, unless erroneously? Esc; Enter; or Ctrl + Enter; or yet still Tab; or even Shift + Enter all could work, depending on the task. – Jay Kvam – 2019-06-23T04:00:58.773