How to Link a Text Box to a Cell in Excel

In this tutorial, you will learn how to link a text box to a cell in Excel.

 

 

Link a Text Box in Excel

In Excel, you can link a text box to a cell to show the content of the selected cell in the text box. By doing this, you are providing dynamically changing text on your sheet, because when the value in the linked cell is changed, the text box will update automatically. Start by inserting a new text box.

1. In the Ribbon, click on the Insert tab, and from the Text group choose Text Box.

 

 

2. As a result, the cursor will change to a black cross and you will be able to draw a Text Box in the size you want.

 

 

3. To link a text box to a cell, first (1) select the text box and then in the formula bar, (2) type the equal (=) symbol and (3) click on the cell you want to link. When done, press Enter.

 

 

As a result, the content of the selected cell is displayed in the text box.

 

 

Using a Text Box to Link a Sentence

The text box can also be used to link text from multiple cells into a sentence. For example, say you want to join the text contents of cells E3 and F3 into one string and link it to your text box.

First, enter the formula in cell E5:

=CONCATENATE(E3," ",F3)

 

 

The CONCATENATE Function joins the text into one sentence in cell E5. If you then link this concatenated cell to a text box as shown above (with “=$E$5” instead of “=$C$9”), it will display the contents of the first two cells (E3 and F3) as a single sentence.

 

 

If you change the values of cells E3 or F3, the text box content will update automatically.

 

 

In Google Sheets, you can only insert a text box as a drawing, so you can’t link it to a cell.