Excel Annoyance #119: Sticky Click.
Every so often, my Excel gets into a state where no matter where or how I click, it highlights a range. That is to say, it anchors the current cell, then highlights a contiguous range from the anchored cell to wherever I’m clicking next. I call this Sticky Click.
If you’ve ever been caught in Sticky Click mode, you’ve probably killed Excel and restarted it, thinking it was some bug or glitch.
Surprise! It’s not a bug….it’s actually a feature.
This feature is called Extend Mode. To go into Extend Mode, you would simply click the F8 key on your keyboard.
I presume the purpose of this “feature” is to be able to quickly select a range without all that pesky, dragging.
To get out of Extend Mode, simply click F8 again.
In my opinion, this feature is about as useful as a football bat – only serving to confuse administrative assistants world-wide.
So if you have been bewildered by Sticky Click more than a few times, simply click F8 to turn it off. No more restarting Excel.
If you love this feature, care to tell us why?
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I love this feature because it gives you an opportunity to make a post that isn’t about Access or bacon.
And for those who think Extend Mode is a useful feature for the reason you stated, “to be able to quickly select a [large] range without all that pesky, dragging” (presumably across several scrolling pages of rows and/or columns), I just want to remind them that they can simply type the range they want to select into the Name Box (the blank field to the left of the Formula Bar) and press the Enter key. For example, type C3:F200 into the Name Box and hit the Enter key… voila, that range gets selected.
sometimes i see this when i’m debugging code and i have application.screenupdating = false. i set it to true and i’m back to normal.
It’s useful when selecting a range over someone’s shoulder without them having to move so you can use their mouse to select a range. Also avoids those uncomfortable “moments” when reaching across someone to use their mouse. If you know enough shortcut keys, you can do anything in Excel without the mouse. Amaze your friends!
Ah, but a real use of this feature comes by holding down the Shift key when you press the F8 key. You are then able to make and retain multiple non-adjacent selections. The “extend” feature is not enabled. As they say, give it a try.
@Jim…. Yes, Shift-F8 can be very useful; however, you have to remember to select your first range before pressing Shift-F8 or your currently active cell will become part of the selection.
Mike thanks so much for that tip! That has been the most frustrating thing that driven me nuts! My way to resolve this till now has been to thump and reboot my PC!
Mike, try as I might, I can’t get my mouse pointer to go beyond the lower edge of the screen to click the F8 key….
teylyn: try raising your mouse an inch or two and banging it on the keyboard at an angle of 45 degrees so one of its corners hits it
I get this effect at times, but I put it down to the Bacon Guacamole I’ve dribbled over my keyboard.
Many of those “don’t-use-the-mouse” shortcuts came into Excel to enable people with disabilities who can’t use the mouse to use Excel.
They are quite nice, if you sit somewhere without having enough room for the mouse. Like traveling on a train. Though I prefer Shift+Arrow keys to select a range.