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: Using the COLUMN Function.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 26, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365
Excel includes a nifty little worksheet function that lets you determine the column number of a particular cell reference. Normally columns are designated as A, B, C, and so on, but the COLUMN function returns a numeric value that represents the column. Thus, column A is 1, B is 2, and so on.
The simplest way to use the function is in the following manner:
=COLUMN()
When used in this manner, COLUMN returns the column number of the cell in which the COLUMN function is used. Thus, if cell C5 contained =COLUMN(), then the function would return a value of 3.
You can also include a range reference as a parameter to the COLUMN function, in this manner:
=COLUMN(B4)
This usage would return 2, since column B is the second column in the worksheet. You could also, if desired, specify a range:
=COLUMN(B3:G3)
If you enter this formula in a cell, it still returns 2, since column B is the leftmost cell in the specified range. However, if you select a range of horizontal cells (say, the range of D18:I18) and enter this as an array formula, then D18:I18 will contain 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. In other words, COLUMN returns a horizontal array that reflects the column numbers of each cell in the initial range (B3:G3).
Another way to see how this works is the following formula:
=INDEX(COLUMN(B3:G3),1,3)
This formula returns 4 because you asked for the third element in the array returned by the COLUMN function. That element is the column number for column D, which is the fourth column.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10103) 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: Using the COLUMN Function.
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2022-11-29 12:32:49
J. Woolley
The COLUMN function returns an array. In Excel 365 and 2021+ the formula =COLUMN(B3:G3) returns a horizontal dynamic array that spills to 6 cells. The formula =@COLUMN(B3:G3) returns only the first element of that array. In earlier versions of Excel, either formula returns only the first element. In any version of Excel, the first formula can be entered as a legacy CSE array formula by first selecting several (optimally 6) adjacent cells in the same row, then entering =COLUMN(B3:G3) followed by Ctrl+Shift+Enter (CSE). The ROW function is vertically analogous.
In older versions of Excel that do not support dynamic arrays, you can use My Excel Toolbox's SpillArray function to simulate them; see UseSpillArray.pdf at
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HTw_rYNZR2I6dE9C__qFhbd8YtC7rv17
(The Google Drive PDF viewer does not support internal hyperlinks, but you can download the file to access them.)
2022-11-28 13:17:02
Debbie
It looks like there is a typo in this tip. Or I am missing an important detail. Perhaps it's the word ARRAY.
=COLUMN(B3:G3)
If you enter this formula in a cell, it still returns 2, since column B is the leftmost cell in the specified range.
contrast with
However, if you select a range of horizontal cells (say, the range of D18:I18) and enter this as an array formula, then D18:I18 will contain 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. In other words, COLUMN returns a horizontal array that reflects the column numbers of each cell in the initial range (B3:G3).
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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:
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