As you start working with more data in Google Sheets, you may feel a need to have a quick way to jump to a specific cell or a range. For example, you may want to quickly refer to a specific cell that has some relevant value or a specific row/column. I do this regularly and, fortunately, there are a few neat ways that allow you to do just that.

I made this tutorial to show two simple ways to quickly jump to a specific cell in Google Sheets (or jump to a specific range, row or column). Specifically, I cover how to use the “go to range” feature and how to use the keyboard shortcut. Ready? Let’s get started!

Jump to Cells Using the ‘Go To Range’ Option

In Google Sheets, there is a way to simply type the cell reference (or the range reference or row/column number) and quickly jump to it. This can be done using the ‘Go To Range’ feature in Google Sheets.

But the issue is that you will not be able to find it anywhere in the existing options. Let me show you two ways to get the ‘Go To Range’ option and then use it to jump to any cell/range in Google Sheets. Read on for my guide, or check out the video further down to watch me explain.

Using Help to Find ‘Go To Range’

Let’s say you want to quickly go to cell A1 in Google Sheets. Below are the steps to get the ‘Go To Range’ search box and jump to cell A1:

  1. Open the Google Sheets document
  2. Click on the Help option in the menuClick on the Help Option in the menu
  3. In the search bar that appears, type – ‘Go To Range’.
  4. Click on the Go To Range option. This will open the Go to search box at the top-right part of the Google Sheets worksheet.Type to Go To in the field and then click on Go To Range option
  5. In the search box, enter A1Click A1 in the Go To Range search box
  6. Hit the Enter key.

The above steps would take you to cell instantly. But what if you want to go to a range? I often want to get to a specific part of my data set, and for that I use the same process. Basically, you can follow the same steps to jump to any specific range or row/column.

Here’s how to do that.

  • To jump to a specific range (let’s say A1:A100), enter A:A100 in the search box
  • To jump to a specific row (let’s say the second row), enter 2:2 in the search box
  • To jump to a specific column (let’s say the B column), enter B:B in the search box

You can also create a named range and then jump to that named range by typing the name in the Go To search box. For example, if you have created a defined named range with the name Data, simply enter Data in the search box and hit enter.

Using Keyboard Shortcut (F5)

You know I love keyboard shortcuts. They save me so much time throughout the work week. You can use one for this, too. The shortcut for the “go to range” feature is F5. But you’ll need to make one quick update before you use it.

If you try to use it immediately, F5 will simply refresh the worksheet. To make sure it opens the ‘Go To range’ search box, you need to first enable the compatible spreadsheets shortcuts. I’m including how to do that with screenshots here.

Below are the steps to enable the F5 shortcut for Go to Range:

  1. Open the Google Sheets document
  2. Click on the Help option in the menuClick on the Help Option in the menu
  3. Click on Keyboard ShortcutsClick on Keyboard Shortcuts
  4. In the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box, enable the ‘Enable compatible spreadsheet shortcuts’ optionCheck the enbale compatiblity spreadsheet shortcuts

Now if you want to jump to a specific cell or row/column, simply hit the F5 key. This will show the ‘Go To range’ search box, and you can enter the cell reference (range reference here)

Note: When you enable compatible spreadsheet shortcuts, you may be able to use some of the keyboard shortcuts that are also available in other popular spreadsheet tools such as MS Excel.

Want to see this in action? I made this video to show the process. In it, I show you how I jump to a specific cell.

Creating Links to Jump to Cell/Range in the Same Sheet

You can also create links to a specific cell or range (even entire row or column). This is useful when you want to give the user the ability to click on a text string in a cell and jump to a specific cell or range. You can also use the same method to create the Table of Contents links.

Here is a step-by-step process to create a link and jump to specific cells:

  1. Select the cell where you want insert the link
  2. Right-click on the cell
  3. Click on Insert Link (you you can use the keyboard shortcut Control + K)Right click and then click on Insert Link
  4. In the dialog box that opens, enter the text that you want to show in the cellWrite text that you want in the cell
  5. Click on the Link field. You will notice that it shows a few options. You can link to any sheet in the document, any named ranges, or to a specific cell/range.
  6. Click on ‘Select a range of cells to link’.Click on Select a range of cells to link option
  7. Enter the cell reference or the range reference.Enter the cell address to which you want to jump to when clicked
  8. Click OK.

The above steps would add the specified text in the cell you selected and when you click on it, it will jump to the cell/range you mentioned in Step 7.

Creating Links to Jump to Cell/Range in the Other Sheet

The above two methods will allow you to jump to a cell or range in the same sheet. But what if you want to jump to a specific cell/range in some other sheet?

You can do that as well (quite easily). Suppose you have two sheets – Sheet1 and Sheet2, and you want to jump to cell A1 in Sheet2, when you’re in Sheet1. You can create a link in a cell, and when you click on that link, it will take you to cell A1 in Sheet2.

Below are the steps to click and jump to a cell/range in another sheet in Google Sheets:

  1. Open Sheet2 (i.e, the sheet where you want to come)
  2. Select the cell/range to which you want to jump to (when you’re in Sheet1)
  3. Right-click and then click on ‘Get link to this cell/range’ option. This will copy the link to cell/range in the clipboard
  4. Go to Sheet1 and select the cell where you want to create the hyperlink. This would be the link that, when clicked, will take to cell A1 in Sheet2
  5. Right-click and the click on Insert Link (or use the keyboard shortcut Control + K)
  6. In the dialog box that opens, paste the link and enter the text that you want to appear in cell.Enter link to the cell or range to which you want to jump to
  7. Click on Apply

That’s it!

Now when you click on the cell in Sheet1 (where you added in the link in Step 5 and 6), it will take you to cell A1 in Sheet2.

Conclusion

Just like there’s a CTRL + F in most programs to quickly find a term, there’s an easy way to quickly jump to a specific cell in Google Sheets. I showed you two easy ways to do it. The second way is my favorite. While it requires a tiny bit of setup, it removes the need for my mouse completely. I’m able to easily jump to any spot in my spreadsheet. I hope you found this tutorial useful. Please let me know if you have any questions or advice in the comments!

You may also like the following Google Sheets tutorials: