A cell reference or cell address is a combination of a column letter and a row number that identifies a cell on a worksheet. For example, A1 refers to the cell at the intersection of column A and row 1; B2 refers to the second cell in column B, and so on.
Contents
- 1 What is the function of cell address?
- 2 What is the cell address in a formula called?
- 3 What is the cell address of the first cell in Excel?
- 4 What is cell address give example?
- 5 What is a cell reference?
- 6 What are the three types of cell references in Excel?
- 7 How do you reference a cell reference in Excel?
- 8 What is the cell address of the last cell in a worksheet?
- 9 Is the address of column 27 and 30?
- 10 What is the first and last cell address in Excel?
- 11 What is cell address explain its types?
- 12 What is the difference between cell and cell address?
- 13 What is a cell reference class 9?
- 14 What is cell referencing Class 7?
- 15 What is cell and cell reference?
- 16 What is address example?
- 17 How is an address formatted?
- 18 What is referencing and its types?
- 19 What is B $3 in Excel?
- 20 What are Excel cell references by default?
What is the function of cell address?
The ADDRESS function returns the address for a cell based on a given row and column number. For example, =ADDRESS(1,1) returns $A$1. ADDRESS can return a relative, mixed, or absolute reference, and can be used to construct a cell reference inside a formula.
What is the cell address in a formula called?
cell reference
Answer. The cell address in a formula is also called cell reference.
What is the cell address of the first cell in Excel?
=ADDRESS(1,1) – returns the address of the first cell (i.e. the cell at the intersection of the first row and first column) as an absolute cell reference $A$1. =ADDRESS(1,1,4) – returns the address of the first cell as a relative cell reference A1.
What is cell address give example?
A reference is a cell’s address. It identifies a cell or range of cells by referring to the column letter and row number of the cell(s). For example, A1 refers to the cell at the intersection of column A and row 1. The reference tells Formula One for Java to use the contents of the referenced cell(s) in the formula.
What is a cell reference?
A cell reference refers to a cell or a range of cells on a worksheet and can be used in a formula so that Microsoft Office Excel can find the values or data that you want that formula to calculate.
What are the three types of cell references in Excel?
Relative, Absolute and Mixed
A key element of a formula is the cell reference, and there are three types: Relative. Absolute. Mixed.
How do you reference a cell reference in Excel?
Use cell references in a formula
- Click the cell in which you want to enter the formula.
- In the formula bar. , type = (equal sign).
- Do one of the following, select the cell that contains the value you want or type its cell reference.
- Press Enter.
What is the cell address of the last cell in a worksheet?
Answer: The intersection of row 1048576 and column XFD is called XFD1048576.
Is the address of column 27 and 30?
So, it will be called AA33.
What is the first and last cell address in Excel?
Answer: =ADDRESS(1,1) – returns the address of the first cell (i.e. the cell at the intersection of the first row and first column) as an absolute cell reference $A$1. =ADDRESS(1,1,4) – returns the address of the first cell as a relative cell reference A1.
What is cell address explain its types?
There are two types of cell references: relative and absolute. Relative and absolute references behave differently when copied and filled to other cells. Relative references change when a formula is copied to another cell. Absolute references, on the other hand, remain constant no matter where they are copied.
What is the difference between cell and cell address?
A cell is a single box in the excel spreadsheet which has only one row and one column address. In Excel, the rows are listed as numbers and the columns are named as letters.For example, if we select a 3×3 area in excel starting from the cell B2, the address of the cell range will be shown as B2:D4.
What is a cell reference class 9?
Cell Reference
A reference identifies a cell or a range of cells on a worksheet and tells MS Excel where to look for value or data to be used in a formula. Using reference, we can use data present in different parts of a worksheet or on a different worksheet or another workbook.
What is cell referencing Class 7?
Cell referencing helps us to identify the behaviour of a cell address in a formula when it is copied from one to another cell. The three types of the referencing are: i. RELATIVE REFERENCING: In this type of referencing both parts of the cell address are not fixed. For example: B3*C3.
What is cell and cell reference?
A cell reference in Excel refers to the value of a different cell or cell range on the current worksheet or a different worksheet within the spreadsheet. A cell reference can be used as a variable in a formula.
What is address example?
Frequency: The definition of an address is a written or verbal statement, or the physical location of something. An example of an address is the President’s Inaugural speech. 123 Main Street, New York, NY 10030 is an example of an address.
How is an address formatted?
The name of the sender should be placed on the first line. If you’re sending from a business, you would list the company name on the next line. Next, you should write out the building number and street name. The final line should have the city, state and ZIP code for the address.
What is referencing and its types?
Explanation:
- Relative referencing : In relative referencing, both column part and row part are not fixed .
- Absolute referencing : In absolute referencing, both column part and row part are fixed.
- Mixed referencing : In mixed referencing,either column part or row part is fixed.
Otherwise, it does change. That is, the $ sign “anchors” a row number or column letter when you copy it.
How to Use Absolute and Relative Cell References in Excel Formulas.
=B3 | tap {F4} to get: |
---|---|
=B$3 | tap {F4} to get: |
=$B3 | tap {F4} to get: |
=B3 | (etc) |
What are Excel cell references by default?
By default, a cell reference is a relative reference, which means that the reference is relative to the location of the cell. If, for example, you refer to cell A2 from cell C2, you are actually referring to a cell that is two columns to the left (C minus A)—in the same row (2).
Provide a cell reference by taking a row and column number
What is the Cell ADDRESS Function?
The cell ADDRESS Function[1] is categorized under Excel Lookup and Reference functions. It will provide a cell reference (its “address”) by taking the row number and column letter. The cell reference will be provided as a string of text. The function can return an address in a relative or absolute format and can be used to construct a cell reference inside a formula.
As a financial analyst, cell ADDRESS can be used to convert a column number to a letter, or vice versa. We can use the function to address the first cell or last cell in a range.
Formula
=ADDRESS(row_num, column_num, [abs_num], [a1], [sheet_text])
The formula uses the following arguments:
- Row_num (required argument) – This is a numeric value specifying the row number to be used in the cell reference.
- Column_num (required argument) – A numeric value specifying the column number to be used in the cell reference.
- Abs_num (optional argument) – This is a numeric value specifying the type of reference to return:
Abs_num | Returns this type of reference |
---|---|
1 or omitted | Absolute |
2 | Absolute row; relative column |
3 | Absolute column; relative row |
4 | Relative |
4. A1(optional argument) – This is a logical value specifying the A1 or R1C1 reference style. In R1C1 reference style, both columns and rows are labeled numerically. It can either be TRUE (reference should be A1) or FALSE (reference should be R1C1).
When omitted, it will take on the default value TRUE (A1 style).
- Sheet_text (optional argument) – Specifies the sheet name. If we omit the argument, it will take the current worksheet.
How to use the ADDRESS Function in Excel?
To understand the uses of the cell ADDRESS function, let us consider a few examples:
Example 1
Suppose we wish to convert the following numbers into Excel column references:
The formula to use will be:
We get the results below:
The ADDRESS function will first construct an address containing the column number. It was done by providing 1 for row number, a column number from B6, and 4 for the abs_num argument.
After that, we use the SUBSTITUTE function to take out the number 1 and replace with “”.
Example 2
The ADDRESS function can be used to convert a column letter to a regular number, e.g., 21, 100, 126, etc. We can use a formula based on the INDIRECT and COLUMN functions.
Suppose we are given the following data:
The formula to use will be:
We get the results below:
The INDIRECT function transforms the text into a proper Excel reference and hands the result off to the COLUMN function. Then, the COLUMN function evaluates the reference and returns the column number for the reference.
A few notes about the Cell ADDRESS Function
- If we wish to change the reference style that Excel uses, we should go to the File tab, click Options, and then select Formulas. Under Working with formulas, we can select or clear the R1C1 reference style checkbox.
- #VALUE! error – Occurs when any of the arguments are invalid. We would get this argument if:
- The row_num is less than 1 or greater than the number of rows in the spreadsheet;
- The column_num is less than 1 or greater than the number of columns in the spreadsheet; or
- Any of the supplied row_num, column_num or [abs_num] arguments are non-numeric or the supplied [a1] argument is not recognized as a logical value.
Click here to download the sample Excel file
Additional Resources
Thanks for reading CFI’s guide to important Excel functions! By taking the time to learn and master these functions, you’ll significantly speed up your financial analysis. To learn more, check out these additional CFI resources:
- Excel Functions for Finance
- Advanced Excel Formulas Course
- Advanced Excel Formulas You Must Know
- Excel Shortcuts for PC and Mac
- See all Excel resources
Article Sources
- ADDRESS Function
The ribbon, tabs, commands gridlines, control buttons, etc. that a user can see and interact with on the screen after opening an Excel spreadsheet are called User Interface Environment in MS Excel.
Excel is an electronic spreadsheet program, developed by Microsoft Corporation. An Excel Spreadsheet is used to record, validate and analyze the numeric data for maintaining Payrolls, Selling and purchasing product orders, Progress Reports, family budgets, and more.
These are calculated whether using general, financial, logical, statistical, engineering or other functions and formulas. The features in the excel environment are explained below in the screenshot.
Table of Contents
- User Interface to MS Excel
- Quick Access Toolbar:
- File Menu:
- Tell me:
- Title Bar:
- Sign in:
- Share:
- Control Buttons:
- Ribbon:
- Ribbon Display Options:
- Tabs:
- Groups:
- Commands
- Name Box:
- Insert Functions:
- Formula bar:
- Row and Column Headings:
- Vertical/Horizontal Scrollbar:
- Page View Options:
- Zoom Slider/Toolbar:
- Click to Select All:
- Gridlines:
- Cell in Excel:
- Cell Address:
- Active Cell:
- Active Sheet/sheet tab:
- Range of cells:
- Sheet tabs:
- Insert New Worksheet:
Quick Access Toolbar:
The Quick Access Toolbar appears at the top left corner of the Excel application and other MS Office suites. The default commands of the Quick Access Toolbar are Save, Undo and Redo.
In the graphical user interface environment in MS Excel, the File menu is also known as the File Tab, used to control and access the file functions of the MS Office suite.
Officially, it handles files using the file menu commands such as new, open, save, save, print, share, export, publish, close, account and options. To read the File menu features in an Excel environment click here.
Tell me:
In the user interface of Microsoft Excel, the tell me to search box helps you search the command quickly and easily without going to the ribbon tab or group. Here you can type any command name you want to use or apply to the Sheet/Document.
Title Bar:
You can see the title bar at the top of the excel spreadsheet application (MS Office suites) with the name currently being used. The name of the workbook appears in the middle of the title bar. The name of the workbook here we called is a title.
Sign in:
Microsoft’s free account is used to purchase, activate, and access Microsoft services. You can save and receive your documents from anywhere using the service. You can also use this account to use and access OneDrive, Skype, and Microsoft store.
This option appears at the top right corner, underneath the close button, you can save your work on different platforms by sharing with caring. These Platforms are Google Cloud, One Drive, E-mail, Blogs, people, etc.
Control Buttons:
The Minimize, Restore Down/Maximize and Close buttons are called Control Buttons. These appear at the top right corner of the (MS Office Suite of Applications) Excel Spreadsheet.
Ribbon:
The Ribbon is a collection of groups, commands and functions and locates under each Tab such as Home, Insert, Design, Layout, References, Mailings, Review and View, It is designed to help you quickly and easily find the groups and commands to complete a task you want.
Ribbon Display Options:
The Ribbon Display options are located at the right corner of the title bar and the 4th position on the left of the Control buttons. The Ribbon Display Options include Auto-Hide Ribbon, Show Tabs, Show Tabs and Commands.
Tabs:
Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review, and view are called Tabs. Each tab is a form of group. Similarly, each Group is a form of the command.
Groups:
Each tab is a form of group. Similarly, each group is a form of the command. For example, Groups on the Home tab include Clipboard, Font, Alignment, Number, Style, Cells, and Editing.
Commands
A command is part of a group. And access to a specific piece of work. For example, the Font group commands include bold, italic, underline, etc.
Name Box:
It is the reference (address) for a specific cell or range of cells or you can set the name for a particular cell or range of cells in an excel spreadsheet.
Insert Functions:
It helps to get the result by using a particular function based on its arguments. This is one of the features of Excel.
Formula bar:
In the Formula bar, you can view and modify the function or formula that applies to any cell in the sheet for any calculation.
Row and Column Headings:
The column is a collection of Vertical light grey coloured lines containing the letters used to identify each column in a worksheet.
The column heading appears on the top of it (above the first row). The row is a collection of Horizontal light grey coloured lines containing the number used to identify each row in a worksheet. The Row Heading appears at the beginning of it (left of the first column).
Without Row and Column Headings in excel you cannot perform an autofill feature.
Vertical/Horizontal Scrollbar:
The scrollbar is used to view the worksheet in any part by using the Vertical or Horizontal scrollbar whether by moving up, down, left or right.
Page View Options:
Page View Options appear at the right but one on the taskbar. These are
Normal: Normal is a default view and is easier to work in this mode in the worksheet.
Page Layout: In the Page Layout mode, the worksheet is divided into more page sizes for print preview.
Page Break Preview: The Page Break Preview shows the worksheet as separate pages where there are the contents to see how a page look likes.
Zoom Slider/Toolbar:
To zoom in and out excel spreadsheet in the desired size, use the Zoom slider, which appears at the bottom right corner of the workbook.
Click to Select All:
Click on the top left of the common area (Under the Name Box) of the Column and Row Headings to select the entire worksheet. Just like Ctrl + A.
Gridlines:
The Gridlines are the collection of Horizontal and Vertical light grey coloured lines in a worksheet.
Cell in Excel:
In the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Environment, A cell is an Intersection of Rows and columns to form like a rectangle in a worksheet.
Cell Address:
The location of a cell is identified by its column letter and the row number is called, cell address or cell reference.
Active Cell:
An Active Cell in the graphical user interface is where it is bold with a dark outline. An Active cell is an identifiable mark that can be accepted to enter and edit the content.
Active Sheet/sheet tab:
For a selected worksheet that is currently being used, the name of the sheet tab is in bold and appears at the bottom left corner of the workbook.
Range of cells:
In the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Environment, More than two cells that are selected horizontally or vertically are called a range of cells.
Sheet tabs:
In the user interface environment in MS Excel, The name of the sheets that appears from the bottom left corner of the worksheet are called sheet tabs.
Insert New Worksheet:
To insert more worksheets in a workbook, click the insert sheet tab button, located right to the sheet tabs.
-
What is an Active cell in Excel?
An Active Cell is where it is bold with a dark outline. An Active cell is an identifiable mark that can be accepted to enter and edit the content.
-
What is an active Sheet?
For a selected worksheet that is currently being used, the name of the sheet tab is in bold and appears at the bottom left corner of the workbook.
-
What is the range of cells in excel?
In the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Environment, More than two cells that are selected horizontally or vertically are called a range of cells.
-
What is the sheet tab in excel?
In the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Environment, The name of the sheets that appears from the bottom left corner of the worksheet is called sheet tabs.
-
What is a cell Address in Excel?
The location of a cell is identified by its column letter and the row number is called, cell address or cell reference.
-
What are Gridlines in Excel?
The Gridlines are the collection of Horizontal and Vertical light grey-coloured lines in a worksheet.
-
What is Formula Bar in Excel?
In the Formula bar, you can view and modify the function or formula that applies to any cell in the sheet for any calculation.
-
What is Insert Function in Excel?
It helps to get the result by using a particular function based on its arguments. This is one of the features in excel.
-
What is Name Box in Microsoft Excel?
If you can see the reference (address) for a specific cell or range of cells or you can set the name for a particular cell or range of cells in an excel spreadsheet.
Cell Address
The cell address in a spreadsheet identifies the specific location where information is stored.
Rows (going down the screen) and columns (going across the screen) make up a spreadsheet – like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
Rows use a number (1 – 1,048,576 in Excel).
While columns, to be different, are referred to by letters (A-XFD). That’s a total of 16,384 columns.
Note: Col 26 is Z, from Col 27 it goes to AA, AB etc.
Where a row and column intersects (meets), they create a cell. It’s the cell that stores and displays the information that we enter.
To uniquely identify a single cell we use the row number and column letter – known as the cell address.
In reality, the address is actually the column letter, followed by the row number.
Usefully, when you click on a cell (to select it), the program shows the cell address in the top left above the sheet. D6 is the selected cell in the example above.
Using the cell address in a formula
Now we know what an address refers to (in a spreadsheet), how do we make use of it?
Question: What does 3 equal?
I get it, you’re looking at your screen in a funny way – 3 is 3!
And you’re right, a number is fixed, they don’t change.
However, in the real world, what might be 3 today, could be 9 tomorrow – for example if you’re creating a budget, do your costs stay the same? No, they change over time (usually going up).
In terms of writing our calculations we need them to be flexible, so that we can easily update the information (number) as needed.
Here’s where the cell address comes in.
Replace the fixed number, in the calculation, with the cell address where it can be found.
This means that you’re (for example) adding the contents of cell A1 to cell A2, instead of saying 2 plus 3.
If you need to change the number, then you can, easily without editing the details all the time.
Look at the example above.
Do you want to edit the calculation in column A, or in Column B?
Hopefully, you answered B – because all you need to do is change the numbers in B1 or B2.
Solution
Type the numbers for your calculation into separate cells.
In the calculation, replace the fixed number with the cell address.
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Don’t forget to look at the previous Learning Blog – new blogs out each Wednesday.
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How to Get Cell Address in Excel (ADDRESS + CELL functions)
To obtain information about any cell in Excel, we have two functions: the CELL and the ADDRESS function.
Using these functions, you can get the address, the reference, the formula, the formatting (and much more) of a cell.
These are some of Excel’s most underrated functions, and it’s about time you learn why🤷♂️
So jump right into the guide below. And don’t forget to download our free sample workbook here as you scroll down.
How to use the ADDRESS function
The Excel ADDRESS function returns the cell address for a given row number and column letter.
It has a large but simple syntax that reads as follows:
=ADDRESS(row_num, column_num, [abs_num], [a1], [sheet_text])
In order to address the first cell (Cell A1):
- Write the ADDRESS function as follows:
=ADDRESS(1,1)
- Hit Enter to reach the following result.
The first argument represents the row number (Row 1). The second argument represents the column number (Column 1). And so the resulting ADDRESS is $A$1.
That’s all that you need – the rest of the arguments are only optional ✌
- Now write the ADDRESS function with the third argument (abs_num) set to 4.
=ADDRESS(1,1,4)
- Press Enter and here are the results:
By adding 4 as the [abs_num] argument, Excel changes our result to a relative cell reference. Something completely different from what we saw earlier.
That’s because different values for the abs_num argument return different address types.
Pro Tip!
For the [abs_num] argument:
- If you enter 1, the address type will be an absolute cell reference ($A$1).
- If you enter 2, the address type will be a mixed cell reference. (A$1 – An absolute row reference, and a relative column reference).
- If you enter 3, the address type will be a mixed cell reference. ($A1 – An absolute column reference, and a relative row reference).
- If you enter 4, the address type will be a relative cell reference (A1).
In the first example, we omitted the abs_num argument and Excel set it to 1 by default. The result was, therefore, an absolute cell reference.
But the formula doesn’t just stop here🚀
- Include the fourth argument [a1] to modify this formula further.
=ADDRESS(1,1,4,0)
Here, 0 represents the reference style.
Note that the result is in a different style from our previous example. That’s because we opted for the R1C1 reference style in which columns and rows are represented by numbers.
- To get the result in A1 reference style, add 1 as the [a1] argument :
=ADDRESS(1,1,4,1)
Note that we got the same result for our second example too.
That’s because if we omit the [a1] argument, Excel, by default, sets it to 1.
And what if you want the cell address from a different Excel sheet than the one you are currently on?
For this, you need to use the last optional argument of the ADDRESS function, i.e., [sheet_text].
It identifies the worksheet you want the cell address for 👀 Let’s try it out here:
- Write the [sheet_text] argument of the ADDRESS function as below:
=ADDRESS(1,1,4,1,”Sheet1″)
With the sheet_text argument as above, Excel generates an external reference. It returns the name of the worksheet with the cell address.
Like in the above example, Excel returns the address of the cell from Sheet 1. The Cell address is therefore prefixed by the worksheet name “Sheet1”.
If this argument is omitted, the resulting cell address won’t contain the worksheet name. And the address of the cell will be of the current sheet, by default.
How to use the CELL function
Until now we’ve seen how the ADDRESS function helps you find the address of a cell in Excel.
But what if you want to know about the location, format, formula, and content of a cell too🤔
The CELL function of Excel will help you fetch all these (and even other details about a cell). The syntax of this function reads as follows:
=CELL(info_type, [reference])
Starting with info_type, write the CELL function like this:
=CELL (
As you start writing the CELL function, Excel launches a drop-down menu of options for the argument “info_type“.
You can select from any of the 12 options in the drop-down menu above.
For example, select the option “Address” as the info_type argument. And Excel would return the address of the active (or the referred) cell.
= CELL (“Address”)
Note that we omitted the second argument of the CELL Function in the above example, i.e., [reference].
And so, the function returned the address of the active cell (Cell A2).
Pro Tip!
As the reference argument, you can refer to a single or a range of cells.
That’s not it – we still have 11 more info types to try and test.
So let’s change the arguments of our function as follows:
=CELL (“col”, A3)
Note that here we have created a reference to Cell A3 as the [reference] argument.
In this example, “col” represents the column number of cell A3 (the referred cell). The result given by Excel is 1 (the Column number for Cell A3).
Similarly, you can try different info_types to get different information about a cell. Like the following:
=CELL (“type”, A4)
“Type” returns the type of the referred cell.
Excel returned the value “B” indicating that the cell is blank. This is because we have referred to Cell A4 which is an empty string.
Pro Tip!
Under the “type” mode, if your cell contains a text constant, the result will be “I“. “B” if the cell is blank and “V” if the cell has any other data type.
The CELL function offers a wide variety of info types that you might fetch for a cell. Here’s a short tabular summary of them all 👇
The format info_type returns the format of the referred cell. It gives different results for different cells which are in the form of codes.
The image below shows a list of some common format codes along with their meanings and results. This should help clear out any confusion 🔍
That’s it – Now what?
In the above guide, we learned how to use two of the least-known yet very useful functions of Excel – the CELL and the ADDRESS function.
Finding information about a cell is no more a difficult task – thanks to the CELL function.
The ADDRESS function is also an excellent tool when used the right way. But it’s not the only one. Excel has a wide variety of functions that are equally or even more useful💪
To mention a few, the VLOOKUP, SUMIF, and IF functions of Excel. Register for my 30-minute free email course to master these right away.
Other resources
If you enjoyed reading this article, we bet you’d love to read our other blogs too. There’s certainly a lot more to learn about cell addresses and references in Excel.
Like how to use the ROW function to find the row number in Excel. Or how to use the COLUMN function to find the column number in Excel.
Kasper Langmann2023-02-23T11:17:47+00:00
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