When you’re working with a large spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel, it can be difficult to keep track of which cell contains the data you’re looking for. To make it easier to find your data, you can use tracer arrows to show the relationships between cells. Tracer arrows are blue lines with arrows in Excel that connect cells that contain related data. Tracer arrows make it easy to see which cells are referenced by a formula, and which cells reference other cells. In this article, I’ll show you to add and remove a blue line with arrows in Excel with ease.
Download Practice Workbook
You can download the Excel file from the following link and practice along with it.
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Tracer Arrows.xlsx
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What Is Blue Line with Arrows in Excel?
The blue lines with arrows are basically the tracer arrows. The tracer arrows show the relationship between cells used in a formula. Tracer arrows are of 2 types. There are:
- Trace Precedents Arrow: These blue lines with arrows show which cells are connected with the formula in the active cell. Here’s an example of the precedent arrows:
- Trace Dependents Arrow: These blue lines with arrows show the cells that used the active cell. Here’s an example of the dependent arrows:
How to Add Blue Line with Arrows in Excel
1. Add Precedent Arrows
In cell D8, I used the formula. Which is,
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=$D$4*C8
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Thus, cell D8 is precedented by cells D4 and C8. However, we can see this relation using the Trace Precedents command. This command will display a blue line with arrows to show the dependency.
To show the precedent cells using blue lines with arrows,
❶ Select cell D8.
❷ Then go to the Formulas tab in the ribbon.
❸ In the Formula Auditing group, click on the Trace Precedents command.
This will show all the precedents of the formula used in cell D8 using a blue line with arrows.
Read More: How to Add Trend Arrows in Excel (3 Suitable Ways)
2. Add Dependent Arrows
The value of cell C8 is used in the formula in cell D8. The formula is,
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=$D$4*C8
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Thus, cell D8 is dependent on cells D4 and C8. However, we can see the relationship between cells C8 and D8 using the Trace Dependents command. This command will display a blue line with arrows to show the dependency.
To show the dependent cells using blue lines with arrows,
❶ Select cell C8.
❷ Then go to the Formulas tab in the ribbon.
❸ In the Formula Auditing group, click on the Trace Dependents command.
This will show all the dependent cells of cell C8 using a blue line with arrows.
Read More: How to Add Up and Down Arrows in Excel (4 Easy Ways)
How to Remove Blue Line with Arrows in Excel
1. Remove All Tracer Arrows
Removing all the tracer arrows is quite simple whether it is precedent lines or dependent lines.
To remove all the tracer arrows,
❶ Go to the Formulas tab first.
❷ Then click on the Remove Arrows command in the Formula Auditing group.
This will remove all the blue lines with arrows whether they are lines line Trace Precedents or Trace Dependents command.
2. Remove Precedent Arrows
To remove all the blue lines created by the Trace Precedents command,
❶ Go to the Formulas tab first.
❷ Then click on the Remove Arrows drop-down in the Formula Auditing group.
❸ Finally, click on the Remove Precedent Arrows.
This command will remove all the precedent blue arrows created by the Trace Precedents command.
3. Remove Dependent Arrows
To remove all the blue lines created by the Trace Dependents command,
❶ Go to the Formulas tab first.
❷ Then click on the Remove Arrows drop-down in the Formula Auditing group.
❸ Finally, click on the Remove Dependent Arrows.
This command will remove all the dependent blue arrows created by the Trace Dependents command.
Read More: How to Remove Drop Down Arrow in Excel (6 Methods)
Practice Section
You will get an Excel sheet like the following screenshot, at the end of the provided Excel file where you can practice all the topics discussed in this article.
Conclusion
To sum up, we have discussed the process to add or remove a blue line with arrows in Excel. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions in the comment section below. We will try to respond to all the relevant queries asap. And please visit our website Exceldemy to explore more.
