Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. 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.

Cell Address of a Maximum Value

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 29, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021


1

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:

=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, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Cell Address of a Maximum Value.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Drop-Down List Font Sizes

Excel has several features that cannot be customized. The font size in the drop-down lists is one of them. If you need ...

Discover More

The EDATE Function

Want to figure a date a certain number of months in the future or past? The EDATE function may be just what you need for ...

Discover More

Returning Values to the Left of a VLOOKUP

VLOOKUP is a great function to use in accessing data based on a lookup value. Problem is, you can't easily return ...

Discover More

Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel 2013 Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Changing the Reference in a Named Range

Define a named range today and you may want to change the definition at some future point. It's rather easy to do, as ...

Discover More

Pulling a Phone Number with a Known First and Last Name

When using an Excel worksheet to store data (such as names and phone numbers), you may need a way to easily look up a ...

Discover More

Deriving a Secant and Cosecant

Two rather common trigonometric functions are secants and cosecants. Excel doesn't provide functions to calculate these, ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 6 - 6?

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


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.