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Auditing Worksheets with Inquire

June 10, 2022 - by

Auditing Worksheets with Inquire

Problem: I have to compare two versions of a workbook to find what changed.

Strategy: Some editions of Excel ship with the Inquire add-in. This add-in includes the following tools:

  • Analyze workbook for risks, such as hidden cells, hidden sheets, circular references, and more.
  • Map relationships from one workbook to other linked workbooks
  • Map relationships from one worksheet to other worksheets
  • Map which cells are related to the current cell
  • Compare two versions of a workbook
  • Repair the Too Many Cell Formats error
The Inquire ribbon includes Workbook Analysis, Workbook Relationship, Worksheet Relationship, Cell Relationship, Compare Files, and Clean Excess Formatting.
Figure 510. Tools in the Inquire add-in.

Inquire is included in Pro Plus and Enterprise E3 versions of Office 2013 and with the Professional, Pro Plus, and E3 versions of Excel 2019 and Office 365. It is rarely enabled by default. To see if you have Inquire, select File, Options, Add-Ins. From the bottom of the Excel Options dialog, open the Manage drop-down and choose COM Add-ins and click Go.... If Inquire is shown in the list, select it and click OK. The Inquire tab will appear on the right side of the Ribbon.

Inquire is often installed but rarely enabled. Find it in the list of COM Add-ins.
Figure 511. Inquire is never enabled by default.

This article is an excerpt from Power Excel With MrExcel

Title photo by Raquel Martínez on Unsplash