Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Cell Address of a Maximum Value.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 15, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365
Barry has a worksheet with several thousand rows. They are unsorted and must remain unsorted. He can use the MAX function on the column and get the maximum value in that column. However, he also wants to know the address of the first cell in the column that contains this maximum value.
There are a number of ways that you can determine the address of the maximum value. One way is to use the ADDRESS function in conjunction with the MAX function, in the following manner:
=ADDRESS(MATCH(MAX(A:A),A:A,0),1,4)
The MATCH function is used to find where in the range (column A) the maximum value resides, and then the ADDRESS function returns the address of that location. A shorter version of the macro leaves off the ADDRESS function, instead being "hardwired" to return an address in column A:
="A"&MATCH(MAX(A:A),A:A,0)
Still another way to get the desired address is with a formula such as this:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here:
=CELL("ADDRESS",INDEX(A:A,MATCH(MAX(A:A),A:A,0)))
This formula uses the CELL function, in conjunction with INDEX, to return the address of the cell that matches the maximum value in the column.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11441) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Cell Address of a Maximum Value.
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2025-08-15 07:55:31
jamies
Beware of Spill, where there are multiple entries in the selected range,
and not only getting multiple responses (array in the cell), but the possibility of having not the row number, or the actual value but the sum of the row numbers, or values returned.
So get the max, and then check for multiple occurrences -
lookup that value from the end of the range, sumproduct(), countifs() where the result will indicate if there are multiple (qualifying) cells with that value..
and also using tests where Excel may be using floating point, displaying, or or showing truncated, or rounded values where the actual value is not exactly equal to the tested for wanted one
2022-01-29 14:59:01
Bryan
A different way is to break in into 2 things. One is what being searched for and the other result. The listed NSWER is good but is harder to expand.
Example imagine one cell for chose, in this case MAX, but other choices like MIN or user MANUAL input value would allow additional options.
Since the originator only wanted the first match, the 2nd cell would be First Match is still good. A third cell for count would allow knowing how many different cells have the same value.
Bryan
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