Excel sheet numbered columns

Auto number a column by AutoFill function Type 1 into a cell that you want to start the numbering, then drag the autofill handle at the right-down corner of the cell to the cells you want to number, and click the fill options to expand the option, and check Fill Series, then the cells are numbered.

Contents

  • 1 How do I number multiple columns in Excel?
  • 2 How do you label Excel columns with numbers?
  • 3 How do you create a number sequence in Excel without dragging?
  • 4 How do I change a number to a percent in Excel?
  • 5 How do I show columns and row numbers in Excel?
  • 6 How do I add a numbered column in numbers?
  • 7 How do I make a numbered list in numbers?
  • 8 How do I apply a formula to an entire column in numbers?
  • 9 How do I change the order of columns in Excel?
  • 10 How do you auto fill columns in Excel?
  • 11 How do you make a number into a percent?
  • 12 How do you change a number back to a percentage?
  • 13 How do you change a number into percentage?
  • 14 How do you show columns in Excel?
  • 15 Why can’t I see Row numbers in Excel?
  • 16 How are columns labeled in an Excel worksheet?
  • 17 How do I add numbers in columns in pages?
  • 18 What is a numbered list?
  • 19 How do I create a list style in pages?
  • 20 How do you format a list?

Fill a column with a series of numbers

  1. Select the first cell in the range that you want to fill.
  2. Type the starting value for the series.
  3. Type a value in the next cell to establish a pattern.
  4. Select the cells that contain the starting values.
  5. Drag the fill handle.

How do you label Excel columns with numbers?

To change the column headings to letters, select the File tab in the toolbar at the top of the screen and then click on Options at the bottom of the menu. When the Excel Options window appears, click on the Formulas option on the left. Then uncheck the option called “R1C1 reference style” and click on the OK button.

How do you create a number sequence in Excel without dragging?

The regular way of doing this is: Enter 1 in cell A1. Enter 2 in cell A2. Select both the cells and drag it down using the fill handle.
Quickly Fill Numbers in Cells without Dragging

  1. Enter 1 in cell A1.
  2. Go to Home –> Editing –> Fill –> Series.
  3. In the Series dialogue box, make the following selections:
  4. Click OK.

How do I change a number to a percent in Excel?

How to Apply the Percent Number Format in Excel 2010

  1. Select the cells containing the numbers you want to format.
  2. On the Home tab, click the Number dialog box launcher in the bottom-right corner of the Number group.
  3. In the Category list, select Percentage.
  4. Specify the number of decimal places.
  5. Click OK.

How do I show columns and row numbers in Excel?

On the Ribbon, click the Page Layout tab. In the Sheet Options group, under Headings, select the Print check box. , and then under Print, select the Row and column headings check box .

How do I add a numbered column in numbers?

Click the table. in the top-right corner of the table to add a column, or drag it to add or delete multiple columns. You can delete a row or column only if all of its cells are empty.

How do I make a numbered list in numbers?

Select the list items with the numbering or lettering you want to change. In the Format sidebar, click the Text tab, then click the Style button near the top of the sidebar. Click the disclosure arrow next to Bullets & Lists, then click the pop-up menu below Bullets & Lists and choose Numbers.

How do I apply a formula to an entire column in numbers?

Select that cell. You will see a small circle in the bottom-right corner of the cell. Click and drag that down and all cells below will auto-fill with the number 50 (or a formula if you have that in a cell). Works in a fill-right direction too.

How do I change the order of columns in Excel?

To quickly move columns in Excel without overwriting existing data, press and hold the shift key on your keyboard.

  1. First, select a column.
  2. Hover over the border of the selection.
  3. Press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard.
  4. Click and hold the left mouse button.
  5. Move the column to the new position.

How do you auto fill columns in Excel?

Click and hold the left mouse button, and drag the plus sign over the cells you want to fill. And the series is filled in for you automatically using the AutoFill feature. Or, say you have information in Excel that isn’t formatted the way you need it to be, such as this list of names.

How do you make a number into a percent?

To turn a percent into an integer or decimal number, simply divide by 100. That is the same as moving the decimal point two places to the left.

How do you change a number back to a percentage?

Step 1) Get the percentage of the original number. If the percentage is an increase then add it to 100, if it is a decrease then subtract it from 100. Step 2) Divide the percentage by 100 to convert it to a decimal. Step 3) Divide the final number by the decimal to get back to the original number.

How do you change a number into percentage?

Percentage Change | Increase and Decrease

  1. First: work out the difference (increase) between the two numbers you are comparing.
  2. Increase = New Number – Original Number.
  3. Then: divide the increase by the original number and multiply the answer by 100.
  4. % increase = Increase ÷ Original Number × 100.

How do you show columns in Excel?

How to show hidden columns that you select

  1. Select the columns to the left and right of the column you want to unhide. For example, to show hidden column B, select columns A and C.
  2. Go to the Home tab > Cells group, and click Format > Hide & Unhide > Unhide columns.

Why can’t I see Row numbers in Excel?

Step 1 – Click on “View” Tab on Excel Ribbon. Step 3 – Uncheck “Headings” checkbox to hide Excel worksheet Row and Column headings. Check “Headings” checkbox to show missing hidden Excel worksheet Row and Column headings, as explained in below image.

How are columns labeled in an Excel worksheet?

How are columns and rows labeled? In all spreadsheet programs including Microsoft Excel, rows are labeled using numbers (e.g., 1 to 1,048,576). All columns are labeled with letters starting with the letter A and then incrementing by a letter after the final letter Z.

How do I add numbers in columns in pages?

Inserting columns in Pages

  1. 1) Open your document or create a new one in Pages.
  2. 2) Click the Format button on the top right to open the formatting sidebar.
  3. 3) Click the Layout button and you should see the Columns settings right below it.
  4. 4) Use the arrows or pop in a number for the number of columns you want to insert.

What is a numbered list?

Numbered-list meaning. Filters. A list whose items are numbered, with various styles including Arabic numerals and Roman numerals. noun. 5.

How do I create a list style in pages?

In the Format sidebar, click the Style button near the top. If the text is in a text box, table, or shape, first click the Text tab at the top of the sidebar, then click the Style button. Click the pop-up menu next to Bullets & Lists, then choose a list style.

How do you format a list?

Format for Lists

  1. Use a colon to introduce the list items only if a complete sentence precedes the list.
  2. Use both opening and closing parentheses on the list item numbers or letters: (a) item, (b) item, etc.
  3. Use either regular Arabic numbers or lowercase letters within the parentheses, but use them consistently.
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How to Get a Column Number in Excel: Easy Tutorial (2023)

How to Get a Column Number in Excel: Easy Tutorial (2023)

An Excel sheet is two-dimensional – it has rows and columns. By default, row headers in Excel are numbers, and column headers are alphabets.

As the data in your Excel sheet starts to grow in width, the number of columns grows. And this might make it difficult for you to track down a column by its number.

The article below explains different methods of how you can get column numbers in Excel. Also, it focuses on how column numbers might help you in your Excel jobs.

So stay tuned till the end! 😀

Practice the examples shown in the article below by downloading the sample workbook here.

How to get column number with the COLUMN function

If you have never before heard of the COLUMN function, it’s alright. Most Excel users have not.

The COLUMN function of Excel is designed to return the number of a column in Excel.

To find the column numbers for different columns in Excel, see the example below.

Column numbers in Excel

1. Write the COLUMN formula.

=COLUMN()

And this is it!

The COLUMN function has just one argument – the reference argument. Interestingly, this argument is also optional.

If omitted, Excel deems it equal to the Cell reference where the formula is written.

The column number

We had omitted the argument, so Excel set it equal to Cell B2. Column B comes second in the sequence, so Excel returned ‘2’ as the Column number.

Let’s see this the other way around.

2. Set the reference argument to AAX10.

Column argument set to AAX10
The Excel column number

This time Excel returns column number 726. This means Column AAX is the 726th Column of Excel.

How many columns are there in an Excel Sheet?

The last column of an Excel worksheet is Column XFD. So how many columns are there in a single worksheet?

Let’s do it quickly!

  1. Press Ctrl + the right arrow button ➡️ to fast forward to the last column of Excel.
  2. Write the Column formula.

=COLUMN()

Column number of Column XFD

16384 Excel Columns to each worksheet.

Let’s double-check the same from Google! 😆

Number of Excel columns

Examples of uses for the COLUMN function

Why would anyone want to use the COLUMN function? The examples below tell why.

Example 1:

The image below shows the grades of a few students (to the left).

Grades of students

To the right side, we want to fetch out the grades for Henry. Easy solution = VLOOKUP.

1. Write the VLOOKUP function as follows.

= VLOOKUP (E1,

referring to the lookup value

The lookup_value is referred to as Cell E1 because it contains the name of the student to look the result for.

2. Refer to the table array where the lookup and the return values are.

= VLOOKUP (E1, A1:B4,

Referring to the table array

3. For the col_index num argument, nest in the COLUMN function as follows:

= VLOOKUP (F1, A1:B4, COLUMN(B1))

The col_index num argument refers to the column from where the value is to be returned.

And this has to be the number of the column starting from the first column of the table_array.

Nesting the COLUMN function

We want the Grades of Henry to be returned. Grades are listed in column B, so we have referred to Cell B1 (any cell from Column B).

Excel gives the value

Instead of manually counting the columns, let the COLUMN function do the job.

The VLOOKUP function needs the column number starting from the table array. If the table array starts from any column other than the first column, the above function might not work.

Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office Specialist

For example, what if the table array above started from Column B and not A?

Table array positioning

1. Write the VLOOKUP function as above, and it’d fail to function.

=VLOOKUP (G2, B1:C4, (COLUMN (C1))

It will take the col_index num argument as 3 (Column number of Column C).

Whereas, our table range has only two columns.

Table array positioning

2. Deal with such a situation by changing the COLUMN function as follows.

= COLUMN(C1) – COLUMN(A1)

Subtract the number of the column before the table array (Column A) from the return value column (Column C).

3. Rewrite the VLOOKUP function as below.

= VLOOKUP (G1, B1:C4, COLUMN(C1) – COLUMN(A1))

Here are the results!

Excel finds the grades

Example 2:

The COLUMN function is not only meant to find the number of a single column. You can also use it to find the number of multiple columns at once.

The data below shows the monthly utility bill of a household.

Monthly utility bill of a household.

To find the accumulated utility bill for each month, let’s apply the COLUMN function.

1. Write the COLUMN function as follows.

=COLUMN(A2:F2)

The array column functions

The range A2:F2 tells the number of months for which we need the accumulated bill.

Column function returns an array of column numbers

2. Multiply it with the particular cell of the monthly bill.

= H3 * COLUMN(A2:F2)

The cell reference is set to H3 as it contains the monthly bill.

Monthly utility bill of a household.
Excel Column function returns Monthly accumulated bills

It only takes a single click for Excel to compute the bills for all the months.

When the reference argument of the column function is defined as a range, the output is an array.

Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office Specialist

Caution! The SPILL Error:

If the cells of the array are not vacant before the array function operates, Excel gives the #SPILL! Error.

The #SPILL! error

Show column number instead of letter

Only if Excel labeled both the rows and columns with numbers and not alphabets – things would have been much easier!

If you think like that, let’s do it for you.

To change the column letter to numbers in Excel, continue reading.

1. Go to File > Options

2. This opens up the Excel options dialog box.

Excel Options dialog box

3. Go to Formulas.

4. Under the tab, ‘Working with Formulas’, check the box R1C1 Reference Style.

R1C1 (row number and column number) Style reference

And swish! Magic. The reference style of columns has changed. 😉

Excel Column letter changed to column number

Your Excel worksheet looks all new with a new reference style! Both columns and rows are labeled by numbers.

The R1C1 style reference indicates the Row number and Column number. Accordingly, the cell references will automatically change.

For example, the traditional Cell reference C5 has now become R5C3 (Row number 5 and Column number 3).

Cell reference under R1C1 reference style

This way, you can easily track down the number of columns.

That’s it – Now what?

By now, we have learned to find the column number in Excel through the COLUMN formula, to nest the COLUMN formula in VLOOKUP, and also to change the Column reference style in Excel.

But that’s all about basic Excel. To become an Excel pro you must master the VLOOKUP, SUMIF, and IF functions.

Where can you learn them? Click here to sign up for my free 30-minute email course that will help you master these functions (and more!).

Other relevant resources:

Finding the column number for a specific column or a group of columns can simplify your Excel jobs.

We suggest you also take a quick look into some shortcuts for adding, moving, splitting, clustering, and comparing columns. Once you have learned these shortcuts and tips, you’ll feel no less than an Excel whizz.

Kasper Langmann2023-01-19T12:23:31+00:00

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Leetcode Daily — August 10, 2020

Excel Sheet Column Number

Link to Leetcode Question

Lately I’ve been grinding Leetcode and decided to record some of my thoughts on this blog. This is both to help me look back on what I’ve worked on as well as help others see how one might think about the problems.

However, since many people post their own solutions in the discussions section of Leetcode, I won’t necessarily be posting the optimal solution.

Question

(Copy Pasted From Leetcode)

Given a column title as appear in an Excel sheet, return its corresponding column number.

For example:

    A -> 1
    B -> 2
    C -> 3
    ...
    Z -> 26
    AA -> 27
    AB -> 28 
    ...

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3:

Constraints:

  • 1 <= s.length <= 7
  • s consists only of uppercase English letters.
  • s is between «A» and «FXSHRXW».

My Approach(es)

I won’t go over all the code for all attempts but I will explain my approach(es) qualitatively.

Attempt 1 — Treat the string as a base 26 number

(Submission — Accepted)

After trying out some examples by hand, I realized that this column naming system is basically a base 26 number. The notable difference is that instead of having a zero digit, we start at 1 with A and end at 26 with Z. Then, 27 resets to AA, which is:

 27 = 1*26 + 1*1 
 27 = A*(26^1) + A*(26^0)

Similarly, ZY, which is 701, can be broken down as:

 701 = 26*26 + 25*1 
 701 = Z*(26^1) + Y*(26^0)

Even without the zero digit, we can be fairly confident in our conversion system. The numbers start counting at 26 to the zeroth power, just like how other number bases start at the zeroth power.

With this we can write our Javascript code, which starts at the right side of the string and starts iterating the powers of 26. I used a dictionary to convert the individual letters to numbers.

Submitted Code:

var titleToNumber = function(s) {
    // s is a string, but basically converts to a number in base 26 
    // also instead of zero we have 26 
    const dict = {
        A: 1, B: 2, C: 3, D: 4, E: 5, F: 6, G: 7, H: 8, I: 9, J: 10, K: 11, L: 12, M: 13, N: 14,
        O: 15, P: 16, Q: 17, R: 18, S: 19, T: 20, U: 21, V: 22, W: 23, X: 24, Y: 25, Z: 26
    }
    let number = 0;
    let power = 0;
    for (let i = s.length-1; i >= 0; i--) {
        number += Math.pow(26, power)*dict[s[i]];
        power ++;
    }
    return number;
};

Attempt 1A — Still Treating the string as a base 26 number

(Submission — Accepted)

I just wanted to try writing this but reading the string’s digits from left to right instead of right to left. Instead of adding the correct power of 26, this iterative method takes the previous number and multiplies all of it by 26 (because it’s all numbers from left to right so far), and then adds the specific digit.

Submitted Code:

var titleToNumber = function(s) {
    // s is a string, but basically converts to a number in base 26 
    // also instead of zero we have 26 
    const dict = {
        A: 1, B: 2, C: 3, D: 4, E: 5, F: 6, G: 7, H: 8, I: 9, J: 10, K: 11, L: 12, M: 13, N: 14,
        O: 15, P: 16, Q: 17, R: 18, S: 19, T: 20, U: 21, V: 22, W: 23, X: 24, Y: 25, Z: 26
    }
    let number = 0;

    for (let i = 0; i < s.length; i++) {
        number = number*26 + dict[s[i]];
    }
    return number;
};

Discussion and Conclusions

There is not much I want to say about this question. Once the naming/numbering system is understood, the conversion can be done as a numerical base 26 conversion, with the added step of parsing the string. Even though I’m sure there are ways to optimize the code, I believe this is sufficient understanding of the problem.

The time complexity is O(n) for n equal to the length of string s, but the length of s is constrained to be less than or equal to 7.

Bottom Line: Learn 4 different techniques for creating a list of numbers in Excel. These include both static and dynamic lists that change when items are added or deleted from the list.

Skill Level: Beginner

Watch the Tutorial

Watch on YouTube & Subscribe to our Channel

Download the Excel File

You can download the worksheet that I use in the video here:

Four ways to make numbered lists

If you have a list of items in Excel and you’d like to insert a column that numbers the items, there are several ways to accomplish this. Let’s look at four of those ways.

1. Create a Static List Using Auto-Fill

The first way to number a list is really easy. Start by filling in the first two numbers of your list, select those two numbers, and then hover over the bottom right corner of your selection until your cursor turns into a plus symbol. This is the fill handle.

Use fill handle to complete a numbered list

When you double-click on that fill handle (or drag it down to the end of your list), Excel will fill in the blanks with the next numbers in the sequence.

Fill handle

An alternate way to create this same numbered list is to type a 1 in the first cell and then double-click the fill handle. Because Excel doesn’t have a second number to identify a sequence or pattern, it will fill down the columns with 1s. But you will notice that a menu is available at the end of your column, and from that menu, you can select the option to Fill Series. This will change the 1s to a sequential list of numbers.

Fill Series for Numbered List

The numbered column we’ve created in both instances is static. This means it doesn’t change when you make additions or deletions to the corresponding list of items. For example, if I insert a new row in order to add another task, there is a break in the numbered column as well, and I would have to repeat the same steps to correct the list.

Static Numbered List problem

So, unless we want the numbers to always remain as they are, a better option would be to create a dynamic list.

2. Create a Dynamic List Using a Formula

We can use formulas to create a dynamic list where the numbers update when we add or delete rows from the list.

To use a formula for creating a dynamic number list, we can use the ROW function. The ROW function returns the row number of a cell. If we don’t specify a cell for ROW, it just returns the current row number of whatever is selected.

In our example, the first cell in our list doesn’t start on Row 1. It starts on Row 4. But we don’t want our list to start at 4; we want it to start at 1. To subtract the extra 3, our formula will include a minus sign and then the ROW function again, but this time pointed to the cell above our formula (which is in Row 3).

dynamic numbered list using a formula

We use the absolute values (dollar signs) in our cell selection because we don’t want that number to change as we copy the formula down the list. In other words, we always want to subtract 3 from the row number to give us our list number.

When we copy down the formula, we have a numbered list that will adjust when we add or delete rows. However, when adding a row, we will have to copy the formula into the newly inserted cell.

Add the formula to new cells in the dynamic list

This additional step of copying the formula into new rows can be avoided if we use Excel Tables.

3. Create a Dynamic List Using a Formula in an Excel Table

If we write the same formula but we use an Excel table, the only difference we will make in the formula is that we reference the column header instead of the absolute cell value.

Use the ROW Function in an Excel Table

Because we are using an Excel Table, the formula automatically fills down to the other rows. When we add a row to the table, the formula will automatically populate in the new cell.

Dynamic numbered list in an excel table

4. Create a Dynamic List Using Dynamic Array Formulas

Below, I have a table that is populated using Dynamic Array Formulas. The FILTER formula spills a range of results based on whatever name is selected in the orange cell.

spill range filter function

The Dynamic Array formula we will use is SEQUENCE. This will return a sequence for the number of rows we identify in the formula. To tell Excel how many rows there are, we will use the ROW function as the argument for sequence. The argument for ROW is just the spill range. The way to notate the spill range is to simply place a hashtag after the name of the first cell in the range. So our formula looks like this:

=SEQUENCE(ROWS(B5#))

Once we complete our formula and hit Enter, the list will be numbered.

Dynamic Array Numbered List

With this formula in place, if the size of the range changes when a new name is selected, the numbered column for the list will automatically adjust as well.

Dynamic Array Numbered List Adjusted Spill Range

Bonus Tip: Formatting Your Numbered List

If you want to add periods or other punctuation to your numbered list:

  1. Select the entire list and right-click to choose Format Cells. Or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + 1.
  2. Choose the Custom option on the Number tab.
  3. Then in the Type field, type in the number 0 with whatever punctuation you would like to surround your number.

Here, I’ve just added a period.

Custom format for numbered list

When you hit OK, you will have formatted the entire selection.

Related Posts

Here are a few similar posts that may interest you.

  • Excel Tables Tutorial Video – Beginners Guide for Windows & Mac
  • New Excel Features: Dynamic Array Formulas & Spill Ranges
  • How to Prevent Excel from Freezing or Taking A Long Time when Deleting Rows

Conclusion

I hope these four ways to create ordered lists are helpful for you. If you have questions or feedback, I would love to hear them in the comments. Have a great week!

Difficulty Level Easy
Frequently asked in Microsoft
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Problem Statement

In this problem we are given a column title as appear in an Excel sheet, we have to return the column number that corresponds to that column title in Excel as shown below.

Excel Sheet Column Number Leetcode Solution

Example

#1

"AB"
28

#2

"ZY"
701

Approach

To find column number for a particular column title we can think of it like converting from one number system to another number system.
Like in decimal number we have characters 0 to 9 to represent any number in decimal. Similarly in column title the characters are from A to Z to represent any number. There are total of 26 symbols for each place, therefore we can think of a number in a system whose base is 26.

Now question becomes very simple. Like we convert any binary or hexa-decimal number to its decimal form, we have to convert this title string into a decimal number.

For example, if we want to find the decimal value of string “1337”, we can iteratively find the number by traversing the string from left to right as follows:
‘1’ = 1
’13’ = (1 x 10) + 3 = 13
‘133’ = (13 x 10) + 3 = 133
‘1337’ = (133 x 10) + 7 = 1337

Now in this problem as we are dealing with base-26 number system. Based on the same idea, we can just replace 10s with 26s and convert alphabets to numbers.

For a title “LEET”:

L = 12
E = (12 x 26) + 5 = 317
E = (317 x 26) + 5 = 8247
T = (8247 x 26) + 20 = 214442

Implementation

C++ Program for Excel Sheet Column Number Leetcode Solution

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

int titleToNumber(string s)
{        
        int ans=0;        
        for(auto c:s)
        {
          ans= ans*26 + (c-'A'+1);    
        }
    
        return ans;
}

int main() 
{

   cout<<titleToNumber("AB") <<endl;

   return 0; 
}
28

Java Program for Excel Sheet Column Number Leetcode Solution

class Rextester{
    
  public static int titleToNumber(String s) 
    {             
        int ans=0;
        for(char c:s.toCharArray())
        {
          ans= ans*26 + (c-'A'+1);    
        }
        
        return ans;
    }
    
  public static void main(String args[])
    {
       	
    System.out.println( titleToNumber("AB") ) ;
    }
}
28

Complexity Analysis for Excel Sheet Column Number Leetcode Solution

Time Complexity

O(N) : Where N is the total number of characters in the input string. We iterated once along the characters, hence time complexity will be O(N).

Space Complexity 

O(1) : We just used one integer variable for storing the result.

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