Want: cross hair highlit in my excel sheet

Question

Want: cross hair highlit in my excel sheet

Chaturvedi, Santosh 340

Hello - I want to install or cretate VBA for cross hair highlit in my excel sheet. please provide me the ways to do that i can see cross hair highlights when i open my ecel sheet.

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Answer accepted by question author

Nancy Vo (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 8,155 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello @Chaturvedi, Santosh .

Thanks for your question.

To make the crosshair highlight functional for all sheets within your selected workbook,I recommend moving your VBA code from a specific worksheet module into the ThisWorkbook module.

Using the Workbook_SheetSelectionChange event.


Private Sub Workbook_SheetSelectionChange(ByVal Sh As Object, ByVal Target As Range)

    Sh.Cells.Interior.ColorIndex = xlNone

 

    Target.EntireRow.Interior.Color = RGB(255, 200, 200)

    Target.EntireColumn.Interior.Color = RGB(255, 200, 200)

End Sub

How to install the code

Open your Excel workbook.
Press ALT + F11 to open the VBA Editor.
In the "Project" window on the left-hand side, look for your workbook's name.
Underneath it, double-click on the object named ThisWorkbook. (Do not paste this into Sheet1, Module1, ...)
Paste the code above into the large white code window on the right.
Close the VBA Editor and save your file as an Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (\*.xlsm).

Note: Applying cell interior colors via VBA like this will override and clear any custom background colors you have manually applied to cells. Additionally, running VBA macros automatically clears your "Undo" history. If you rely on manually color-coding cells or using the Undo button frequently, you may want to explore Conditional Formatting as an alternative approach.

I hope this addresses your question. If this response was helpful, please consider following the guidance to provide feedback.

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4 additional answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Chaturvedi, Santosh 340

MY workbook have 150 sheets with different names.

I want to the below VBA code applicable for the work book having 150 sheets.

How to the below VBA coomon to all 15o sheets at once.

The vba code is as shown below

Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)

Application.ScreenUpdating = False

' Clear existing highlights on this sheet

Cells.Interior.ColorIndex = 0

' Highlight the entire row and column of the active cell

With Target

    .EntireRow.Interior.ColorIndex = 36   ' light color for row

    .EntireColumn.Interior.ColorIndex = 36 ' same color for column

End With

Application.ScreenUpdating = True

End Sub

Nancy Vo (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 8,155 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-23T08:39:12.16+00:00
Hi @Chaturvedi, Santosh ,

Instead of putting it in a specific Sheet module, we will place it in the ThisWorkbook module so it monitors the entire file. You can refer to following steps:

Open your Excel workbook and press ALT + F11 to open the VBA Editor.

Look at the "Project" window on the left side. Find your workbook name, and underneath it, double-click on ThisWorkbook.

Paste the following updated code into the blank white window on the right:

Private Sub Workbook_SheetSelectionChange(ByVal Sh As Object, ByVal Target As Range) Application.ScreenUpdating = False Sh.Cells.Interior.ColorIndex = 0 With Target .EntireRow.Interior.ColorIndex = 36 .EntireColumn.Interior.ColorIndex = 36 End With Application.ScreenUpdating = True End Sub

Close the VBA Editor and save your file as an Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (*.xlsm).

Answer 2

Viorel 127.3K

Modern Excel has an option in the View tab of Ribbon: Focus Cell.

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Answer 3

Chaturvedi, Santosh 340

This VBA is working - But if i want to make functional for all sheets in the selected work book how to make it

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Answer 4

Use the Worksheet_SelectionChange event to draw a “cross hair” (row + column highlight) whenever a cell is selected.

Below is a simple example that:

Clears previous highlighting on each selection change.
Highlights the entire row and column of the active cell.
Runs automatically whenever the sheet is used (no button needed).

Steps

Open Excel and the workbook.
Press Alt+F11 to open the VBA Editor.
In the Project pane, double‑click the worksheet where the cross hair is needed (for example, Sheet1).
Paste this code into the code window for that sheet:

Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False

    ' Clear existing highlights on this sheet
    Cells.Interior.ColorIndex = 0

    ' Highlight the entire row and column of the active cell
    With Target
        .EntireRow.Interior.ColorIndex = 36   ' light color for row
        .EntireColumn.Interior.ColorIndex = 36 ' same color for column
    End With

    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

Close the VBA editor and return to Excel.
Save the workbook as a macro‑enabled file (.xlsm).
Reopen the workbook and enable macros when prompted.

Now, whenever a cell is selected on that worksheet, its entire row and column will be highlighted, creating a cross‑hair effect similar to the one shown in the image.

To change the highlight color, adjust the ColorIndex value (for example, 6 for yellow, 8 for turquoise, etc.).

References:

Highlight the Active Cell, Row, or Column