• 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 DROP Function

You are here: Home / Excel Functions / Excel DROP Function

The Excel DROP function enables you extract a specified number of contiguous rows or columns from the start or end of an array.

DROP Function Syntax

=DROP(array, rows, [columns])

array : The array from which to drop rows or columns.

rows : The number of rows to drop. A negative value drops from the end of the array.

[columns] : [Optional] The number of columns to drop. A negative value drops from the end of the array.

Note: The DROP function is part of the new Excel Dynamic Arrays family. At the time of writing, Dynamic Arrays are only available in Microsoft 365. Excel 2021 and earlier Excel versions will not get DROP.

Watch the Video

Subscribe YouTube


Download the Example 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 DROP Function Examples

I can easily extract the just the suburb names from the table below using DROP by specifying 1 in the rows argument:

DROP Function example 1

Notice the columns argument is empty, which returns all columns.

Alternatively, I can drop the last 2 columns by specifying -2 in the columns argument.

DROP Function example 2

Notice the rows argument is empty, so all rows are returned.

Or I can get exclude the first column and last row by specifying -1 in the rows argument and 1 in the columns argument.

DROP Function example 3


Related Excel Array Shaping Functions

EXPAND Function Expands or pads an array to a specified number of rows and columns.
TOROW Function Returns the array in a single row. Useful for combining data across multiple columns and rows into a single row.
TOCOL Function Returns the array in a single column. Useful for combining data across multiple columns and rows into a single column.
WRAPROWS Function Lets you wrap (reshape) a row or column of values into rows, you specify the number of values in each row.
WRAPCOLS Function Lets you wrap (reshape) a row or column of values into columns, you specify the number of values in each column.
TAKE Function Extract a specified number of contiguous rows or columns from the start or end of an array.
CHOOSEROWS Function Extract rows from the specified column or columns.
CHOOSECOLS Function Extract columns from the specified rows or rows.
VSTACK and HSTACK Functions Combine arrays arranged vertically (VSTACK) or horizontally (HSTACK) into a new single array.

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.