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Changing the colors used on the spreadsheet

Setting up the spreadsheet layout

Highlighting and tagging cells in the spreadsheet

You can highlight and tag individual cells and groups of cells on the spreadsheet, making them easier to find, later.

Example: You might need to adjust a calculated factor to reflect a sudden change in productivity, but you're not yet certain how to quantify that change. You know you'll need to revisit the factor after validating your assumptions, so you highlight the cell with a different color to set it off from other cells on the spreadsheet, and tag it to remind you about the information you wanted to validate.

The ability to highlight cells has a multitude of uses during takeoff, pricing, and review. You can highlight cells to mark start and end points, unusual items, changes, elements that represent an advantage in the bidding process, incomplete work, and more.

After highlighting items on the spreadsheet, click the [Show Only Highlights] (on the Home tab of the ribbon) to display only rows that include a highlight.

To highlight cells:

  1. Select a cell or a group of cells that you want to highlight, and then right-click.

    You can also select a row or a number of rows to highlight, and then right-click.

  2. From the shortcut menu, click Edit Highlight.

  3. In the Highlight Color window, select a highlight color for the cell or group of cells, and then click [OK].

    The selected cells display the background color you specified.

    If you selected a row, or rows, the color of the row header changes to the color you specified.

Tip: You can use the [Scan Estimate] button in the ribbon to find highlighted cells quickly.

To tag a highlight for easy reference, later:

  1. Right-click a highlighted cell, and then select Tag Highlight from the shortcut menu.

  2. In the Set Highlight Tag cell, type a name to provide some significance to the highlight color (for example "Review factor override"), and then click [OK].

To clear highlights and tags when you no longer need them:

  • Right-click the highlighted cell (or select the group of cells and then right-click), and then click Clear Highlight on the shortcut menu.
  • Right-click the Select All button (in the top left corner of the spreadsheet), and then click Clear All Highlights on the shortcut menu.