Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: A Fast Find-Next.
You already know how to find information in an Excel worksheet by using the searching features built into the program. Using the Find tool (press Ctrl+F) you can search for just about anything in your worksheet. I find myself using Find quite often in the course of editing a worksheet, particularly if the worksheet is quite large.
There is one thing about Find that bothers me, however. I hate having the Find and Replace dialog box block part of my worksheet as I am stepping through occurrences of a search string. Clicking on Find Next works great, but that bothersome dialog box is still blocking my view.
To overcome this, I generally do the following when I am searching for something:
This procedure works the same as clicking Find Next repeatedly, and it is just as fast, but it gets rid of the annoying Find dialog box.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2117) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: A Fast Find-Next.
Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2013 For Dummies today!
Need to find that misplaced comment in your worksheet? It's easy to do using the Find and Replace capabilities of Excel.
Discover MoreIf you copy a cell that contains a reference to external data, do you get an error? It could be due to the complexity of ...
Discover MoreNeed to insert rows in your worksheet? Excel provides a few techniques you can use to do this. Here are some ideas you ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2017-12-02 09:30:27
JD Murphy
A Fast Find-Next
Excel 2016 doesn't give required reaction to Shift+F4.
Any way around it?
2015-07-10 00:10:24
Ander
Except that it sucks, because the standard shortcuts for Find Next are F3 and Ctrl+G. And apparently there's no way to change it to one of those—so we must remember a THIRD shortcut for this command? Sigh.
2013-03-27 00:41:03
SRINIVAS RAO
thanks a ton. wonderful tip
Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2020 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: 
Comments