Cell Address
The cell address in a spreadsheet identifies the specific location where information is stored.
Rows (going down the screen) and columns (going across the screen) make up a spreadsheet – like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
Rows use a number (1 – 1,048,576 in Excel).
While columns, to be different, are referred to by letters (A-XFD). That’s a total of 16,384 columns.
Note: Col 26 is Z, from Col 27 it goes to AA, AB etc.
Where a row and column intersects (meets), they create a cell. It’s the cell that stores and displays the information that we enter.
To uniquely identify a single cell we use the row number and column letter – known as the cell address.
In reality, the address is actually the column letter, followed by the row number.
Usefully, when you click on a cell (to select it), the program shows the cell address in the top left above the sheet. D6 is the selected cell in the example above.
Using the cell address in a formula
Now we know what an address refers to (in a spreadsheet), how do we make use of it?
Question: What does 3 equal?
I get it, you’re looking at your screen in a funny way – 3 is 3!
And you’re right, a number is fixed, they don’t change.
However, in the real world, what might be 3 today, could be 9 tomorrow – for example if you’re creating a budget, do your costs stay the same? No, they change over time (usually going up).
In terms of writing our calculations we need them to be flexible, so that we can easily update the information (number) as needed.
Here’s where the cell address comes in.
Replace the fixed number, in the calculation, with the cell address where it can be found.
This means that you’re (for example) adding the contents of cell A1 to cell A2, instead of saying 2 plus 3.
If you need to change the number, then you can, easily without editing the details all the time.
Look at the example above.
Do you want to edit the calculation in column A, or in Column B?
Hopefully, you answered B – because all you need to do is change the numbers in B1 or B2.
Solution
Type the numbers for your calculation into separate cells.
In the calculation, replace the fixed number with the cell address.
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