🎨 How to Detect Cell Colors in Excel with GET.CELL | DAXified

🎨 How to Detect Cell Colors in Excel with GET.CELL

Unlock the hidden power of Excel 4.0 macro functions to analyze cell formatting like never before. Perfect for Internal Audit professionals and data analysts who need to work with color-coded spreadsheets.

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Excel today has hundreds of powerful functions — XLOOKUP, FILTER, LET, and more. But one thing modern Excel still cannot do directly is check a cell’s background color or font color with a formula.

This limitation is particularly challenging for professionals in Internal Audit and data analysis who frequently work with color-coded spreadsheets for risk assessment, compliance tracking, and data validation.

                💡 Pro Tip: This is where the hidden Excel 4.0 macro function GET.CELL comes in. Although it’s undocumented, it still works in 2025 and can give us metadata about a cell that formulas normally can’t access.
            

At DAXified, we’re always exploring these hidden Excel gems to help you work smarter, not harder. Let’s dive into this powerful technique!

1️⃣ Detect Cell Background Color

You can capture the fill (background) color index of a cell using GET.CELL(38, …).

Step 1 – Define a Named Formula

Go to Formulas → Name Manager → New and create a name, for example:

CellBackground

with the formula:

=GET.CELL(38, INDIRECT(“RC”,FALSE))

38 is the code for fill color.
INDIRECT("RC",FALSE) makes it work relative to the cell where you use it.

Step 2 – Use in Your Sheet

In a helper column next to your data:

=CellBackground

This will return a number corresponding to each cell’s background color. You can then filter or sort by this helper column – perfect for Internal Audit workflows where you need to identify cells marked with specific colors for review or exception handling.

2️⃣ Detect Cell Font Color

Similarly, you can check the font color using GET.CELL(24, …).

Step 1 – Define a Named Formula

Create a name, e.g. CellFont, with:

=GET.CELL(24, INDIRECT(“RC”,FALSE))

24 is the code for font color.

Step 2 – Use in Your Sheet

In the helper column:

=CellFont

This will return the color index of the text in the cell.

🚀 Practical Applications for Professionals

This technique is particularly valuable for:

Internal Audit & Compliance

Automatically identify exception items marked in red
Sort audit findings by color-coded priority levels
Create reports based on color-coded risk assessments

Data Analysis & Reporting

Filter datasets based on conditional formatting colors
Create pivot tables that group by formatting characteristics
Automate quality control processes for color-coded data

Have questions about implementing this in your workflow? Feel free to reach out at k.casatish@daxified.co.in for personalized guidance!

🔑 Key Takeaways

GET.CELL(38, …) → returns background fill color
GET.CELL(24, …) → returns font color
Results are numeric color indexes, not RGB codes
These values can be used to filter, sort, or audit formatting in your sheet
Essential tool for professionals working with color-coded compliance and audit reports

                👉 Bottom Line: Even though GET.CELL is from Excel’s legacy days, it’s still a unique tool in 2025 when you need to work with cell colors. No modern Excel function can replicate this functionality!
            

🔗 Explore More Excel 4.0 Magic

While GET.CELL helps you work with cell properties, there are other powerful Excel 4.0 functions that can unlock additional metadata:

GET.WORKBOOK for Sheet Navigation

Just like GET.CELL reveals cell properties, GET.WORKBOOK can extract worksheet names and create dynamic navigation systems. This is particularly useful for Internal Audit professionals managing complex workbooks with multiple sheets.

🎯 Deep Dive: Learn how to create clickable worksheet indexes and automate sheet navigation in our comprehensive guide: Master Excel Navigation: Create Clickable Index of All Worksheets

These legacy functions, when combined, give you unprecedented control over Excel’s metadata – perfect for advanced reporting and audit trail requirements.

🎯 Want to Master More Excel Secrets?

This is just one of many powerful Excel techniques we cover at DAXified. Whether you’re in Internal Audit, data analysis, or business intelligence, we help professionals unlock Excel’s full potential with practical, real-world applications.

From advanced DAX formulas to Power BI integration, our content is designed by professionals, for professionals who want to excel in their careers.

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How to Detect Cell Colors in Excel with GET.CELL | DAXified