Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 20, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Many of the options you undertake in Excel are done using a specific region of the screen. For instance, if you sort data, Excel first selects a region that it will sort. By definition, a region is the area surrounding an active cell that is bounded by blank columns and rows. Sometimes people refer to a region as a table or a list.
If you want to see what Excel considers to be the region surrounding a cell, simply select the cell and press Shift+Ctrl+* (that's the asterisk.) The region is selected.
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