# Two MS Excel questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2021, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003 "2021-08-04T00:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/1 "2021-08-04T00:13:35Z")
Q 1: when I use the search function in Excel I find the highlight/indicator almost invisible and difficult to see in the middle of a spreadsheet. Is there a setting to adjust this so that it is more contrasting and visible? Q 2: If I want to pivot a table I can only paste/pivot if I’ve copied but not if I’ve cut. Is there a setting so that I can cut and pivot? ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/2 "2021-08-04T04:51:11Z")
1. I don’t believe you can make the find cell locator different, but Excel shows both the row and the column highlighted for the current cell as well as the displaying the Cell identifier right next to the formula field in the toolbar. 2. No, because copying and pasting a formula is handled differently than cutting and pasting a formula (beyond the obvious erasure of the previous contents) and Microsoft decided that wouldn’t be good for transposing data. To see this in action, put 123 in cell A1, 456 in cell B1, and =A1+B1 in cell C1. If you cut and paste C1 to D23, the formula will remain “=A1+B1”. If you copy and paste it to cell D23, it will be changed to “=B23 + C23”. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/3 "2021-08-04T05:46:24Z")
Re #1: agreed, just one of many horrible things about Excel. I often type garbage just so I can see the cell, then ESC to undo it. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/4 "2021-08-04T12:34:58Z")
Thanks DMC & phs3. That’s what I was afraid of. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/5 "2021-08-04T13:22:04Z")
For question 1 use conditional formatting. Ctrl A will select the entire sheet. Then _highlight cell rules_ and _text that contains_ will format the cells however you like. I don’t understand what you are trying to do in question 2. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/6 "2021-08-04T21:04:14Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I don’t understand what you are trying to do in question 2 So picture a column, for example, with Ford, Audi, Porsche, and Buick, from top to bottom. If I want to use the pivot function to make a row with Ford, Audi, Porsche, and Buick from left to right, I have to copy and paste when I want to cut and paste. I can’t seem to do that by cutting and pasting. Note: absolutely no sarcasm or snark intended here - does my example make sense to you? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/7 "2021-08-04T22:06:42Z")
I didn’t know the answer to this one off hand, but this may be the answer to your second question: > **[How To Cut And Paste Transpose | How To Excel](https://www.howtoexcel.org/how-to-cut-and-paste-transpose/)** ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/8 "2021-08-04T22:15:00Z")
Another possibillygoat for #2: > **[Need to CUT and transpose - instead of COPY.](https://www.mrexcel.com/board/threads/need-to-cut-and-transpose-instead-of-copy.115872/)** > > Hi > > I need to CUT and tranpose a range from AP21:CH35 to AN38:BB82. I'm using Excel 97, which only allows transpose on COPY, not CUT. But i need it cut because there's a ton of formula dependant on these cells, and the references need to reflect... Particularly **[post #6](https://www.mrexcel.com/board/threads/need-to-cut-and-transpose-instead-of-copy.115872/post-572263)** ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/9 "2021-08-05T00:28:14Z")
That’s OK. I see what you mean now. Funnily enough I use the copy/transpose function all the time when I am writing SQL for reports with Excel output, but had no idea that it wouldn’t work if you did a cut instead. Did my suggestion about using conditional formatting make sense? Again, it is something that I use fairly often, so it is almost my default find option unless I am doing a mass replace. ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/10 "2021-08-05T17:21:55Z")
Have you tried the theme setting in MS Office? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/11 "2021-08-05T21:41:37Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > If I want to use the pivot function That is not called the “pivot function.” That is confusing because there is something called a “pivot table.” You are talking about “Paste Transpose.” ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/12 "2021-08-05T21:44:07Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Did my suggestion about using conditional formatting make sense? No. Conditional formatting won’t work to highlight the currently selected cell. It is possible if you add a VBA function to return whether the cell is currently selected, but it would be a Volatile function and run for all cells every time there is a recalculation, so would be painfully slow. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/13 "2021-08-05T22:28:24Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > That is confusing because there is something called a “pivot table.” You are talking about “Paste Transpose.” Ignorance fought😀! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/14 "2021-08-05T23:13:03Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > No. Conditional formatting won’t work to highlight the currently selected cell. I thought the OP was asking about highlighting the cell found using the search function? ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/15 "2021-08-06T00:56:16Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I thought the OP was asking about highlighting the cell found using the search function? Yes I was. For example there are some spreadsheets I have to work with that have 20-some columns and maybe 2 or 3 hundred rows with cells populated by either serial numbers or acronym-heavy text. I could be looking for something like “ops” or “AN/SPS-49” among all this stuff and when using the Search function there is so little contrast to indicate a cell populated with the search term (nested among other text in the cell) that it is really, really hard to find. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/16 "2021-08-06T02:06:27Z")
So did my suggestion make sense? And more importantly does it work for you? ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/17 "2021-08-06T11:15:00Z")
Sorry about taking so long to respond don\_t\_ask but, holy crap - it’s wonderful and is the obvious solution. That sort of outcome is what the Find function _should_ produce. Thank you so much. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/18 "2021-08-06T12:44:58Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > . That sort of outcome is what the Find function _should_ produce. The Find function selects the cell that is found. I thought you wanted better highlighting on the selected cell. Is it enough just to color the cell without selecting it? ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-ms-excel-questions/948003/19 "2021-08-06T14:39:42Z")
Is there a way of doing both? Ideally I would get the Conditional Formatting result while selecting it and, if chosen, also replacing.