Excel error cells and broken references
Flags live Excel error values and formulas containing broken #REF! references.
What the workbook checker actually looks for.
A transparent guide to the checks behind your report. Stronger defect signals and lower-confidence review items are clearly labeled, with evidence and a practical next step.
High
Stronger defect signals that deserve prompt review.
Warning
Risk patterns that are often important but can be intentional.
Info
Context and lower-risk signals worth knowing about.
Confidence
Each finding also states how strongly the rule supports the conclusion.
01
Formula integrity
Checks intended to catch formulas that are broken, structurally inconsistent, or unexpectedly different from nearby formulas.
Vertical and horizontal formula drift
Finds a formula that breaks a repeated pattern above/below or across adjacent periods.
Formula gaps and hard-coded overrides
Finds blanks or literal values interrupting otherwise continuous formula sequences.
Formula runs that start or stop unexpectedly
Looks for table rows that continue while a copied formula column begins late or ends early.
Circular and self-referencing calculations
Detects direct dependency cycles and formulas whose ranges include their own cell.
Suspicious totals
Reviews possible SUM range omissions, duplicate counting, and totals that include labeled subtotals.
Blank direct precedents
Surfaces formulas that directly depend on an unexpectedly empty input cell.
02
Lookups and formula logic
Checks for fragile formula choices that can return plausible-looking but unintended results.
Approximate VLOOKUP / HLOOKUP behavior
Warns when legacy lookups omit the exact-match argument or explicitly request approximate matching.
Duplicate lookup source keys
Checks VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and XLOOKUP source ranges for duplicate key values.
Unguarded division
Finds divisions by referenced cells without an obvious zero/error guard.
Error masking
Highlights IFERROR and IFNA patterns that may hide an underlying workbook problem.
Volatile functions
Inventories functions such as OFFSET, INDIRECT, NOW, TODAY, RAND, and related volatile logic.
Whole-column references
Surfaces formulas that operate over entire worksheet columns and may create performance or maintenance risk.
Hard-coded assumptions
Finds numeric constants participating directly in formula logic and repeated assumptions embedded across formulas.
03
Dependencies and workbook behavior
Shows where a workbook relies on hidden content, other worksheets, other files, or external data sources.
Cross-sheet dependency map
Summarizes which worksheets feed formulas on other worksheets.
External workbook references
Inventories formulas and package parts that reference another Excel workbook.
External data and query tables
Detects connection definitions and query-table package parts without contacting the source systems.
Hidden data inside formula ranges
Flags formulas whose referenced ranges contain hidden rows or hidden columns.
Manual calculation mode
Warns when the workbook is configured for manual calculation, where displayed values may be stale.
Hidden sheets, rows, and columns
Inventories hidden structures and reports how much populated/formula content they contain.
04
Workbook controls
Reviews workbook-level rules that can break even when visible cell formulas look normal.
Defined names
Finds broken defined names and names that point to worksheets no longer present.
Data validation
Finds broken dropdown/input validation references and validation sources on missing sheets.
Conditional formatting
Finds broken references and missing-sheet references used by conditional-formatting rules.
Macro inventory
Reports the presence of VBA content. Macros are never executed by the checker.
05
Data quality and table structure
Looks for small data-shape problems that frequently break imports, filters, joins, lookups, and downstream reporting.
Duplicate and missing headers
Finds repeated column names and populated data columns that appear to have no header.
Duplicate likely-key values
Reviews columns that look like IDs, codes, invoice numbers, SKUs, emails, or similar key fields.
Numbers stored as text
Finds numeric-looking text inside columns that are otherwise mostly numeric.
Leading or trailing whitespace
Surfaces text whitespace that can cause failed matches, duplicate-looking values, and import problems.
Number-format drift
Finds isolated percent/currency/number formatting that differs from the surrounding numeric pattern.
Blank rows inside tables
Surfaces completely blank rows splitting otherwise populated table data.
Merged cells in data areas
Flags merged ranges that may interfere with sorting, filtering, imports, or copied formulas.
Coverage limits
What a static workbook scan cannot prove.
Being explicit about limitations is part of the product. A clean report narrows risk; it does not certify accounting, business logic, security, or regulatory correctness.
No Excel recalculation engine
The checker performs static workbook analysis. It does not run Excel or LibreOffice, so some value-dependent reconciliation errors cannot be proven.
VBA is not executed
Macro presence is reported, but VBA behavior and business logic are outside the scan.
External systems are not contacted
Linked workbooks, database connections, Power Query sources, and remote credentials are inventoried where possible but never fetched or refreshed.
Charts and Data Model logic are not validated
The scan can identify relevant package features, but chart correctness, DAX measures, relationships, pivot refresh results, and visual semantics require separate review.