Formula for cell number excel

The CELL function returns information about the formatting, location, or contents of a cell. For example, if you want to verify that a cell contains a numeric value instead of text before you perform a calculation on it, you can use the following formula:

=IF(CELL(«type»,A1)=»v»,A1*2,0)

This formula calculates A1*2 only if cell A1 contains a numeric value, and returns 0 if A1 contains text or is blank.

Note: Formulas that use CELL have language-specific argument values and will return errors if calculated using a different language version of Excel. For example, if you create a formula containing CELL while using the Czech version of Excel, that formula will return an error if the workbook is opened using the French version.  If it is important for others to open your workbook using different language versions of Excel, consider either using alternative functions or allowing others to save local copies in which they revise the CELL arguments to match their language.

Syntax

CELL(info_type, [reference])

The CELL function syntax has the following arguments:

Argument	Description
info_type    Required	A text value that specifies what type of cell information you want to return. The following list shows the possible values of the Info_type argument and the corresponding results.
reference     Optional	The cell that you want information about. If omitted, the information specified in the info_type argument is returned for cell selected at the time of calculation. If the reference argument is a range of cells, the CELL function returns the information for active cell in the selected range. Important: Although technically reference is optional, including it in your formula is encouraged, unless you understand the effect its absence has on your formula result and want that effect in place. Omitting the reference argument does not reliably produce information about a specific cell, for the following reasons: In automatic calculation mode, when a cell is modified by a user the calculation may be triggered before or after the selection has progressed, depending on the platform you’re using for Excel.  For example, Excel for Windows currently triggers calculation before selection changes, but Excel for the web triggers it afterward. When Co-Authoring with another user who makes an edit, this function will report your active cell rather than the editor’s. Any recalculation, for instance pressing F9, will cause the function to return a new result even though no cell edit has occurred.

info_type values

The following list describes the text values that can be used for the info_type argument. These values must be entered in the CELL function with quotes (» «).

info_type	Returns
«address»	Reference of the first cell in reference, as text.
«col»	Column number of the cell in reference.
«color»	The value 1 if the cell is formatted in color for negative values; otherwise returns 0 (zero). Note: This value is not supported in Excel for the web, Excel Mobile, and Excel Starter.
«contents»	Value of the upper-left cell in reference; not a formula.
«filename»	Filename (including full path) of the file that contains reference, as text. Returns empty text («») if the worksheet that contains reference has not yet been saved. Note: This value is not supported in Excel for the web, Excel Mobile, and Excel Starter.
«format»	Text value corresponding to the number format of the cell. The text values for the various formats are shown in the following table. Returns «-» at the end of the text value if the cell is formatted in color for negative values. Returns «()» at the end of the text value if the cell is formatted with parentheses for positive or all values. Note: This value is not supported in Excel for the web, Excel Mobile, and Excel Starter.
«parentheses»	The value 1 if the cell is formatted with parentheses for positive or all values; otherwise returns 0. Note: This value is not supported in Excel for the web, Excel Mobile, and Excel Starter.
«prefix»	Text value corresponding to the «label prefix» of the cell. Returns single quotation mark (‘) if the cell contains left-aligned text, double quotation mark («) if the cell contains right-aligned text, caret (^) if the cell contains centered text, backslash () if the cell contains fill-aligned text, and empty text («») if the cell contains anything else. Note: This value is not supported in Excel for the web, Excel Mobile, and Excel Starter.
«protect»	The value 0 if the cell is not locked; otherwise returns 1 if the cell is locked. Note: This value is not supported in Excel for the web, Excel Mobile, and Excel Starter.
«row»	Row number of the cell in reference.
«type»	Text value corresponding to the type of data in the cell. Returns «b» for blank if the cell is empty, «l» for label if the cell contains a text constant, and «v» for value if the cell contains anything else.
«width»	Returns an array with 2 items. The 1st item in the array is the column width of the cell, rounded off to an integer. Each unit of column width is equal to the width of one character in the default font size. The 2nd item in the array is a Boolean value, the value is TRUE if the column width is the default or FALSE if the width has been explicitly set by the user.  Note: This value is not supported in Excel for the web, Excel Mobile, and Excel Starter.

CELL format codes

The following list describes the text values that the CELL function returns when the Info_type argument is «format» and the reference argument is a cell that is formatted with a built-in number format.

If the Excel format is	The CELL function returns
General	«G»
0	«F0»
#,##0	«,0»
0.00	«F2»
#,##0.00	«,2»
$#,##0_);($#,##0)	«C0»
$#,##0_);[Red]($#,##0)	«C0-«
$#,##0.00_);($#,##0.00)	«C2»
$#,##0.00_);[Red]($#,##0.00)	«C2-«
0%	«P0»
0.00%	«P2»
0.00E+00	«S2»
# ?/? or # ??/??	«G»
m/d/yy or m/d/yy h:mm or mm/dd/yy	«D4»
d-mmm-yy or dd-mmm-yy	«D1»
d-mmm or dd-mmm	«D2»
mmm-yy	«D3»
mm/dd	«D5»
h:mm AM/PM	«D7»
h:mm:ss AM/PM	«D6»
h:mm	«D9»
h:mm:ss	«D8»

Note: If the info_type argument in the CELL function is «format» and you later apply a different format to the referenced cell, you must recalculate the worksheet (press F9) to update the results of the CELL function.

Examples

Need more help?

You can always ask an expert in the Excel Tech Community or get support in the Answers community.

See Also

Change the format of a cell

Create or change a cell reference

ADDRESS function

Add, change, find or clear conditional formatting in a cell

In this example, the goal is to test the passwords in column B to see if they contain a number. This is a surprisingly tricky problem because Excel doesn’t have a function that will let you test for a number inside a text string directly. Note this is different from checking if a cell value is a number. You can easily perform that test with the ISNUMBER function. In this case, however, we to test if a cell value contains a number, which may occur anywhere. One solution is to use the FIND function with an array constant. In Excel 365, which supports dynamic array formulas, you can use a different formula based on the SEQUENCE function. Both approaches are explained below.

FIND function

The FIND function is designed to look inside a text string for a specific substring. If FIND finds the substring, it returns a position of the substring in the text as a number. If the substring is not found, FIND returns a #VALUE error. For example:

=FIND("p","apple") // returns 2
=FIND("z","apple") // returns #VALUE!

We can use this same idea to check for numbers as well:

=FIND(3,"app637") // returns 5
=FIND(9,"app637") // returns #VALUE!

The challenge in this case is that we need to check the values in column B for ten different numbers, 0-9. One way to do that is to supply these numbers as the array constant {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}. This is the approach taken in the formula in cell D5:

=COUNT(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},B5))>0

Inside the COUNT function, the FIND function is configured to look for all ten numbers in cell B5:

FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},B5)

Because we are giving FIND ten values to look for, it returns an array with 10 results. In other words, FIND checks the text in B5 for each number and returns all results at once:

{#VALUE!,4,5,6,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!}

Unless you look at arrays often, this may look pretty cryptic. Here is the translation: The number 1 was found at position 4, the number 2 was found at position 5, and the number 3 was found at position 6. All other numbers were not found and returned #VALUE errors. 

We are very close now to a final formula. We simply need to tally up results. To do this, we nest the FIND formula above inside the COUNT function like this:

=COUNT(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},B5))

FIND returns the array of results directly to COUNT, which counts the numbers in the array. COUNT only counts numeric values, and ignores errors. This means COUNT will return a number greater than zero if there are any numbers in the value being tested. In the case of cell B5, COUNT returns 3.

The last step is to check the result from COUNT and force a TRUE or FALSE result. We do this by adding «>0» to the end of formula:

=COUNT(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},B5))>0

Now the formula will return TRUE or FALSE. To display a custom result, you can use the IF function:

=IF(COUNT(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},B5))>0, "Yes", "No")

The original formula is now nested inside IF as the logical_test argument. This formula will return «Yes» if B5 contains a number and «No» if not.

SEQUENCE function

In Excel 365, which offers dynamic array formulas, we can take a different approach to this problem.

=COUNT(--MID(B5,SEQUENCE(LEN(B5)),1))>0

This isn’t necessarily a better approach, just a different way to solve the same problem. At the core, this formula uses the MID function together with the SEQUENCE function to split the text in cell B5 into an array:

MID(B5,SEQUENCE(LEN(B5)),1)

Working from the inside out, the LEN function returns the length of the text in cell B5:

LEN(B5) // returns 6

This number is returned to the SEQUENCE function as the rows argument, and SEQUENCE returns an array of numbers, 1-6:

=SEQUENCE(LEN(B5))
=SEQUENCE(6)
={1;2;3;4;5;6}

This array is returned to the MID function as the start_num argument, and, with num_chars set to 1, the MID function returns an array that contains the characters in cell B5:

=MID(B5,{1;2;3;4;5;6},1)
={"a";"b";"c";"1";"2";"3"}

We can now simplify the original formula to:

=COUNT(--{"a";"b";"c";"1";"2";"3"})>0

We use the double-negative (—) to get Excel to try and coerce the values in the array into numbers. The result looks like this:

=COUNT({#VALUE!;#VALUE!;#VALUE!;1;2;3})>0

The math operation created by the double negative (—) returns an actual number when successful and a #VALUE! error when the operation fails. The COUNT function counts the numbers, ignoring any errors, and returns 3. As above, we check the final count with «>0», and the result for cell B5 is TRUE.

Note: as you might guess, you can easily adapt this formula to count numbers in a text string.

Cell equals number?

Note that the formulas above are too complex if you only want to test if a cell equals a number. In that case, you can simply use the ISNUMBER function like this:

=ISNUMBER(A1)

This Tutorial demonstrates how to use the Excel CELL Function in Excel to get information about a cell.

CELL Function Overview

The CELL Function Returns information about a cell. Color, filename, contents, format, row, etc.

To use the CELL Excel Worksheet Function, select a cell and type:

(Notice how the formula inputs appear)

CELL function Syntax and inputs:

=CELL(info_type,reference)

info_type – Text indicating what cell information you would like to return.

reference – The cell reference that you want information about.

How to use the CELL Function in Excel

The CELL Function returns information about the formatting, location, or contents of cell.

=CELL(D3,$B$3)

As seen above, the CELL Function returns all kinds of information from cell B3.

If you type =CELL(, you will be able to see 12 different types of information to retrieve.

Here are additional outputs of the CELL Function:

Overall View of Info_types

Some of the info_types are pretty straightforward and retrieves what you asked for, while the rest will be explained in the next few sections because of the complexity.

Info_type	What it retrieves?
“address”	The cell reference/address.
“col”	The column number.
“color”	*
“contents”	The value itself or result of the formula.
“filename”	The full path, filename, and extension in square brackets, and sheet name.
“format”	*
“parentheses”	*
“prefix”	*
“protect”	*
“row”	The row number.
“type”	*
“width”	The column width rounded to the nearest integer.

* Explained in the next few sections.

Color Info_type

Color will show all results as 0 unless the cell is formatted with color for negative values. The latter will show as 1.

=CELL("color",B3)

Format Info_type

Format shows the number format of the cell, but it might not be what you expect.

=CELL("format",B3)

There are many kinds of different variations with formatting, but here are some guidelines to figure it out:

• “G” is for General, “C” for Currency, “P” for Percentage, “S” for Scientific (not shown above), “D” for Date.
• If the digits are with numbers, currencies, and percentages; it represents the decimal places. Eg. “F0” means 0 decimals in cell D4, and “C2-” means 2 decimals in cell D6. “D1” in cell D8 is simply a type of date format (there are D1 to D9 for different kinds of date and time formats).
• A comma at the beginning is for thousand separators (“,0” in cell D5 for eg).
• A minus sign is for formatting negative values with a color (“C2-” in cell D6 for eg).

Here are other examples of date formats and for scientific.

Parentheses Info_type

Parentheses shows 1 if the cell is formatted with parentheses (either or both positive and negative). Otherwise, it shows 0.

=CELL("parentheses",B3)

Prefix Info_type

Prefix results in various symbols depending on how the text is aligned in the cell.

=CELL("prefix",B3)

As seen above, a left alignment of the text is a single quote in cell C3.
A right alignment of the text shows double quotes in cell C4.
A center alignment of the text shows caret in cell C5.
A fill alignment of the text shows backslash in cell C6.
Numbers (cell C7 and C8) show as blank regardless of alignment.

Protect Info_type

Protect results in 1 if the cell is locked, and 0 if it’s unlocked.

=CELL("protect",B3)

Do note that all cells are locked by default. That is why you can’t edit any cells after you protect it. To unlock it, right-click on a cell and choose Format Cells.

Go to the Protection tab and you can uncheck “Locked” to unlock the cell.

Type Info_type

Type results in three different alphabets dependent on the data type in the cell.

“l” stands for label in cell C3.
“v” stands for value in cell C4.
“b” stands for blank in cell C5.

Create Hyperlink to Lookup Using Address

You can use the CELL Function along with HYPERLINK and INDEX / MATCH to hyperlink to a lookup result:

=HYPERLINK("#"&CELL("address",INDEX(C3:C6,MATCH("mango",B3:B6,0))),INDEX(C3:C6,MATCH("mango",B3:B6,0)))

The INDEX and MATCH formula retrieves the price of Mango in cell C5: $3.95. The CELL Function, with “address” returns the cell location. The HYPERLINK function then creates the hyperlink.

Retrieve File Path

To retrieve the file path where the particular file is stored, you can use:

=LEFT(CELL("filename"),FIND("[",CELL("filename"))-1)

Since the filename will be the same using any cell reference, you can omit it. Use FIND function to obtain the position where “[“ starts and minus 1 to allow LEFT function to retrieve the characters before that.

Retrieve File Name

To retrieve the file name, you can use:

=MID(CELL("filename"),FIND("[",CELL("filename"))+1,FIND("]",CELL("filename"))-FIND("[",CELL("filename"))-1)

This uses a similar concept as above where FIND function obtains the position where “[“ starts and retrieves the characters after that. To know how many characters to extract, it uses the position of “]” minus “[“ and minus 1 as it includes the position of “]”.

Retrieve Sheet Name

To retrieve the sheet name, you can use:

=MID(CELL("filename"),FIND("]",CELL("filename"))+1,LEN(CELL("filename")))

Again, it’s similar to the above where FIND function obtains the position where “]“ starts and retrieves the characters after that. To know how many characters to extract, it uses the total length of what “filename” info_type returns.

CELL Function in Google Sheets

The CELL function works similarly in Google Sheets. It just doesn’t have the full range of info_type. It only includes “address”, “col”, “color”, “contents”, “prefix”, “row”, “type”, and “width”.

Additional Notes

The CELL Function returns information about a cell. The information that can be returned relates to cell location, formatting and contents.

Enter the type of information you want then enter the cell reference for the cell you want information about.

Return to the List of all Functions in Excel

How to get the row or column number of the current cell or any other cell in Excel.

This tutorial covers important functions that allow you to do everything from alternate row and column shading to incrementing values at specified intervals and much more.

We will use the ROW and COLUMN function for this.  Here is an example of the output from these functions.

Though this doesn’t look like much, these functions allow for the creation of powerful formulas when combined with other functions.  Now, let’s look at how to create them.

Get a Cell’s Row Number

Syntax

This function returns the number of the row that a particular cell is in.

If you leave the function empty, it will return the row number for the current cell in which this function has been placed.

If you put a cell reference within this function, it will return the row number for that cell reference.

This example would return 1 since cell A1 is in row 1.  If it was =ROW(C24) the function would return the number 24 because cell C24 is in row 24.

Examples

Now that you know how this function works, it may seem rather useless.  Here are links to two examples where this function is key.

Increment a Value Every X Number of Rows in Excel

Shade Every Other Row in Excel Quickly

Get a Cell’s Column Number

Syntax

This function returns the number of the column that a particular cell is in.  It counts from left to right, where A is 1 and B is 2 and so on.

If you leave the function empty, it will return the column number for the current cell in which this function has been placed.

If you put a cell reference within this function, it will return the column number for that cell reference.

This example would return 1 since cell A1 is in row 1.  If it was =COLUMN (C24) the function would return the number 3 because cell C24 is in column number 3.

Examples

The COLUMN function works just like the ROW function does except that it works on columns, going left to right, whereas the ROW function works on rows, going up and down.

As such, almost every example where ROW is used could be converted to use COLUMN based on your needs.

Notes

The ROW and COLUMN functions are building blocks in that they help you create more complex formulas in Excel.  Alone, these functions are pretty much worthless, but, if you can memorize them and keep them for later, you will start to find more and more uses for them when working in large data sets.  The examples provided above in the ROW section cover only two of many different ways you can use these functions to create more powerful and helpful spreadsheets.

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