Active cell

Alternatively referred to as a cell pointer, an active cell is a rectangular box, highlighting the cell in a spreadsheet. It helps identify what cell is being working with and where data will be entered. In the below picture of Microsoft Excel, you can see that the active cell is A2. When a cell is an active cell, it will differ in appearance from other cells such as having a bold border around it. You can move the cell pointer by pressing the arrow keys or the Enter key on your keyboard, or you can click on any cell using your computer mouse. By default, the Enter key will move the cell pointer one cell down, but this behavior can be changed by going to Tools and then Options in the Excel menu. Click on the Edit tab and change the Move selection after Enter option, as shown below.

 

Also see: Absolute cell reference, Active, Cell, Name box