Go To Special

What is the Go To Special function in Excel?

The Go To Special function in Excel allows you to quickly select all cells that meet certain criteria, such as cells containing:

• Formulas (numbers, text, logicals, errors)
• Constants (numbers, text, logicals, errors)
• Blank cells
• Objects
• Precedents and dependents

There are three ways to access Go To:

• Press the F5 key
• Press Ctrl + G
• On the Home ribbon under “Find and Select” choose “Go To”

To see a video tutorial of Go To Special, check out our free Excel Crash Course.

Example of Go To Special in Excel

Below is an example of how to select all hardcoded (constant) numbers in a financial model.

Step 1: Press F5, click Special, then select constants and check only the numbers box

Step 2: Click OK and you will see all constants (hardcoded numbers) selected

Why use Go To Special?

There are lots of great reasons to use this function when performing financial modelingWhat is Financial ModelingFinancial modeling is performed in Excel to forecast a company's financial performance. Overview of what is financial modeling, how & why to build a model..  Not only does it allow you to speed up your navigation – it also allows you to thoroughly audit a spreadsheet or workbook.

Here is a list of all Excel shortcutsExcel Shortcuts PC MacExcel Shortcuts - List of the most important & common MS Excel shortcuts for PC & Mac users, finance, accounting professions. Keyboard shortcuts speed up your modeling skills and save time. Learn editing, formatting, navigation, ribbon, paste special, data manipulation, formula and cell editing, and other shortucts to speed up your modeling.

One great example of the function is to select all hardcoded numbers in a spreadsheet. This allows for easy formatting of all selected cells with one click.  It also implies that all unselected cells are formulas, and therefore you can quickly make sure the model is set up properly in terms of assumptions, calculations, and outputs.

Another great reason to use the function is for organizing large amounts of data.  It can be helpful to select all blank cells and delete them all at once.

Free Excel Crash Course

Learn Go To Special (F5) with CFI’s Free Excel Crash Course.   This course gives you the most important spreadsheet formulas, Excel keyboard shortcuts (Mac and PC)Excel Shortcuts PC MacExcel Shortcuts - List of the most important & common MS Excel shortcuts for PC & Mac users, finance, accounting professions. Keyboard shortcuts speed up your modeling skills and save time. Learn editing, formatting, navigation, ribbon, paste special, data manipulation, formula and cell editing, and other shortucts, and functions, all in one concise tutorial.

More Excel tutorials

Thank you for reading this CFI guide to Go To Speical (F5) in Excel!  To keep learning and developing your Excel skills, check out these additional CFI resources:

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• Excel formulas listExcel Formulas Cheat SheetCFI's Excel formulas cheat sheet will give you all the most important formulas to perform financial analysis and modeling in Excel spreadsheets. If you want to become a master of Excel financial analysis and an expert on building financial models then you've come to the right place.
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