• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

My Online Training Hub

Learn Dashboards, Excel, Power BI, Power Query, Power Pivot

  • Courses
  • Pricing
    • Free Courses
    • Power BI Course
    • Excel Power Query Course
    • Power Pivot and DAX Course
    • Excel Dashboard Course
    • Excel PivotTable Course – Quick Start
    • Advanced Excel Formulas Course
    • Excel Expert Advanced Excel Training
    • Excel Tables Course
    • Excel, Word, Outlook
    • Financial Modelling Course
    • Excel PivotTable Course
    • Excel for Customer Service Professionals
    • Excel for Operations Management Course
    • Excel for Decision Making Under Uncertainty Course
    • Excel for Finance Course
    • Excel Analysis ToolPak Course
    • Multi-User Pricing
  • Resources
    • Free Downloads
    • Excel Functions Explained
    • Excel Formulas
    • Excel Add-ins
    • IF Function
      • Excel IF Statement Explained
      • Excel IF AND OR Functions
      • IF Formula Builder
    • Time & Dates in Excel
      • Excel Date & Time
      • Calculating Time in Excel
      • Excel Time Calculation Tricks
      • Excel Date and Time Formatting
    • Excel Keyboard Shortcuts
    • Excel Custom Number Format Guide
    • Pivot Tables Guide
    • VLOOKUP Guide
    • ALT Codes
    • Excel VBA & Macros
    • Excel User Forms
    • VBA String Functions
  • Members
    • Login
    • Password Reset
  • Blog
  • Excel Webinars
  • Excel Forum
    • Register as Forum Member

Excel ADDRESS Function

You are here: Home / Excel Formulas / Excel ADDRESS Function
March 22, 2018 by Mynda Treacy

The Excel ADDRESS Function returns a cell address for specified row and column coordinates.  Optional arguments allow you to specify the style of address (A1 or R1C1), the sheet name it refers to and whether the reference is absolute or relative.

Excel ADDRESS Function Syntax

Syntax: =ADDRESS(row_num, column_num, [abs_num], [a1], [sheet_text])

Note: Arguments in square brackets are optional.

At its most basic the ADDRESS Function requires two arguments, the row and column numbers:

=ADDRESS(1,1)
=$A$1
row_num Numeric value that specifies the cell reference's row number
column_num Numeric value that specifies the cell reference's column number
[abs_num] Numeric value that specifies whether the reference returned is absolute or relative. An absolute reference is returned if this argument is omitted. See table below.
[abs_num] Returns a reference that is:
1 or omitted Absolute
2 Absolute row; relative column
3 Relative row; absolute column
4 Relative
[a1] Specifies the reference style; A1 or R1C1:
TRUE or 1 returns the A1 reference style where rows are numbered, and columns labeled alphabetically.
FALSE or 0 returns R1C1 reference style where rows and columns are numbered..
[sheet_text] A text value that allows you to specify the sheet the reference is on.
e.g. =ADDRESS(1,1,1,1,"Sheet4") returns Sheet4!$A$1. If this argument is omitted the address returned refers to a cell on the current sheet.

Download the Workbook

Enter your email address below to download the sample workbook.

By submitting your email address you agree that we can email you our Excel newsletter.
Please enter a valid email address.

Download the Excel Workbook. Note: This is a .xlsx file please ensure your browser doesn't change the file extension on download.

Excel ADDRESS Function Examples

The table below contains examples with varying abs_num and style [A1] arguments (notice the sheet_text argument is omitted in these examples):

Excel ADDRESS Function

The references above all assume they refer to the current sheet, but if you want to return an address that refers to a different sheet or a different workbook, then you can use the sheet_text argument like so:

Excel ADDRESS Function Examples

Return the Cell ADDRESS of a Named Range

It can be handy to keep a record of the cell references your named ranges refer to, particularly if they’re dynamic. For example, cells B53:C58 in the image below are named Rng.

Return the Cell ADDRESS of a Named Range

I can use the ADDRESS function to document the first cell in the range

=ADDRESS(ROW(Rng),COLUMN(Rng),1,1)
=ADDRESS(53,2,1,1)
=$B$53

The last cell in the range:

=ADDRESS(ROW(Rng)+ROWS(Rng)-1,COLUMN(Rng)+COLUMNS(Rng)-1,1,1)
=ADDRESS(53+6-1,2+2-1,1,1)
=$C$58

Or the complete range:

=ADDRESS(ROW(Rng),COLUMN(Rng),1,1)&":"&ADDRESS(ROW(Rng)+ROWS(Rng)-1,COLUMN(Rng)+COLUMNS(Rng)-1,1,1)
=ADDRESS(53,2,1,1)&":"&ADDRESS(53+6-1,2+2-1,1,1)
=$B$53:$C$58

The row and column number vales are calculated using the ROW, ROWS, COLUMN and COLUMNS functions.

  • ROW returns the row number
  • ROWS returns number of rows in a range
  • COLUMN returns the column number
  • COLUMNS returns the number of columns in a range

More on the ROW, ROWS, COLUMN and COLUMNS functions.

Tip: If you just want to find the address of a cell, then the CELL function is simpler:

=CELL("address",Rng)
=$B$53

Caution: Notice that CELL only returns the address of the first cell in Rng, so it's great for single cells or for returning the first cell in a range.

Convert an ADDRESS to a Cell Reference

If you want to use the ADDRESS function to return a reference to a cell, while nested inside another function, then you need to wrap it in INDIRECT.

For example; cell E74 in the image below contains a text string. The ADDRESS Function using ROW and COLUMN simply returns the cell reference, but if you actually want to evaluate the cell reference, in other words return the value in cell E74, then you need to wrap the ADDRESS formula in INDIRECT.

Convert an ADDRESS to a Cell Reference

More on the INDIRECT function here.

Excel ADDRESS Function Errors

#VALUE!             In the ADDRESS function this generally signals the wrong type of argument. Typically, one or more of the first 3 arguments will be wrong. E.g. specifying an abs_num argument value > 4.

#NAME?             This error can be triggered in the ADDRESS function when you incorrectly enter the style or abs_num argument, or specify the row or column number with anything other than a number.

More Examples of the ADDRESS Function

  • Highlight cells referenced in Excel formulas
  • Dynamic hyperlinks that update based on a selection
  • Dynamic hyperlink lookup

Please Share

If you liked this please click the buttons below to share.

email icon twittericon fb icon LI icon

More Excel Formulas Posts

ai-aided excel formula editor

AI Aided Excel Formula Editor

Save time with this free AI Excel formula editor add-in that writes, edits, improves and interprets formulas for you!
top excel functions for data analysts

Top Excel Functions for Data Analysts

Must know Excel Functions for Data Analysts and what functions you don’t have to waste time learning and why.
excel advanced formula environment

Excel Advanced Formula Environment

Excel Advanced Formula Environment is a long awaited, new improved way to write, name and store Excel formulas.
Pro Excel Formula Writing Tips

Pro Excel Formula Writing Tips

Must know Excel formula writing tips, tricks and tools to make you an Excel formula ninja, including a new formula editor.
excel shaping arrays

New Array Shaping Excel Functions

The Excel Shaping Array Functions makes it easier than ever to reshape arrays and ranges using these purpose built functions
excel nested if functions what not to do

Excel IF Formulas and What Not To Do

Excel IF formulas can get out of hand when you nest too many IFs. Not only do they become unwieldy they’re difficult for anyone to understand
excel image function

Excel IMAGE Function

The Excel IMAGE Function enables you to embed images in a cell using a formula. It supports BMP, JPG/JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, ICO, and WEBP files

Excel VSTACK and HSTACK Functions

New Excel VSTACK and HSTACK functions makes combining arrays of cells easy and with some clever tricks we can extend their capabilities.
identify overlapping dates and times in excel

Identify overlapping dates and times in Excel

How to identify overlapping dates and times in Excel with a formula that checks a range of cells. Works with Dates and Times.
New Excel Text Functions

TEXTSPLIT, TEXTBEFORE and TEXTAFTER Functions

TEXTAFTER, TEXTBEFORE and TEXTSPLIT are exciting new Excel Text functions. They’re fairly self-explanatory, however TEXTSPLIT has some cool features.


Category: Excel Formulas
Previous Post:excel online pivottablesExcel Online PivotTables
Next Post:ALT Codes for Symbols and CharactersALT codes for symbols and characters

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sandeep Kothari

    June 17, 2018 at 5:05 pm

    Mynda, you are great!

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      June 17, 2018 at 8:05 pm

      🙂 thanks, Sandeep! Glad I can help.

      Reply
  2. Jason

    March 23, 2018 at 1:04 am

    Though you have provided examples of how to use the ADDRESS function, I’ve never been able to figure out a reason to use it.

    The use case that I generally have is a change log for a financial model, in which I’m trying to record which specific cells in a model were changed. For that purpose, I want to show a pointer on each line of the log to identify which the changed cells. For this purpose, I use the following one line VBA function.

    Function celladdress(arg As Object) As String
    ‘===========================================================
    ‘ returns the address of the cell specified
    ‘ ‘===========================================================
    celladdress = “=” & arg.Worksheet.Name & “!” & arg.Address
    End Function

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      March 23, 2018 at 9:04 am

      Hi Jason,

      You’ll have to stick with your VBA solution for the change log because formulas are constantly updating, they can tell if something is in a cell or not, but if you change that value they can’t tell you something changed.

      There are 3 tutorials at the bottom that link to examples of the ADDRESS Function in use, plus under the heading “Return the Cell ADDRESS of a Named Range” I explain how to use it to document cell ranges for named ranges, and finding the first and last cells in a range.

      Hope that helps.

      Mynda

      Reply
  3. Juan

    March 22, 2018 at 9:24 pm

    Awesome tutorial, Mynda, you have the gift to explain the things so clearly that everything complex is an easy task. Keep up the great work!

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      March 23, 2018 at 9:04 am

      Thank you, Juan 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Current ye@r *

Leave this field empty

Sidebar

More results...

Featured Content

  • 10 Common Excel Mistakes to Avoid
  • Top Excel Functions for Data Analysts
  • Secrets to Building Excel Dashboards in Less Than 15 Minutes
  • Pro Excel Formula Writing Tips
  • Hidden Excel Double-Click Shortcuts
  • Top 10 Intermediate Excel Functions
  • 5 Pro Excel Dashboard Design Tips
  • 5 Excel SUM Function Tricks
  • 239 Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

100 Excel Tips and Tricks eBook

Download Free Tips & Tricks

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Receive weekly tutorials on Excel, Power Query, Power Pivot, Power BI and More.

We respect your email privacy

Guides and Resources

  • Excel Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Excel Functions
  • Excel Formulas
  • Excel Custom Number Formatting
  • ALT Codes
  • Pivot Tables
  • VLOOKUP
  • VBA
  • Excel Userforms
  • Free Downloads

239 Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

Download Free PDF

Free Webinars

Excel Dashboards Webinar

Watch our free webinars and learn to create Interactive Dashboard Reports in Excel or Power BI

Click Here to Watch Now

mynda treacy microsoft mvpHi, I'm Mynda Treacy and I run MOTH with my husband, Phil. Through our blog, webinars, YouTube channel and courses we hope we can help you learn Excel, Power Pivot and DAX, Power Query, Power BI, and Excel Dashboards.

Blog Categories

  • Excel
  • Excel Charts
  • Excel Dashboard
  • Excel Formulas
  • Excel PivotTables
  • Excel Shortcuts
  • Excel VBA
  • General Tips
  • Online Training
  • Outlook
  • Power Apps
  • Power Automate
  • Power BI
  • Power Pivot
  • Power Query
microsoft mvp logo
trustpilot excellent rating
Secured by Sucuri Badge
MyOnlineTrainingHub on YouTube Mynda Treacy on Linked In Mynda Treacy on Instagram Mynda Treacy on Twitter Mynda Treacy on Pinterest MyOnlineTrainingHub on Facebook
 

Company

  • About My Online Training Hub
  • Disclosure Statement
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Guarantee
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Testimonials
  • Become an Affiliate

Support

  • Contact
  • Forum
  • Helpdesk – For Technical Issues

Copyright © 2023 · My Online Training Hub · All Rights Reserved. Microsoft and the Microsoft Office logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks featured or referred to within this website are the property of their respective trademark holders.