Skip to main content

How to increase or increment cell reference by X in Excel?

Author: Siluvia Last Modified: 2020-04-27

By default, when filling formulas down a column or across a row, cell references in the formulas are increased by one only. As below screenshot shown, how to increase relative cell references by 3 or more than 1 when filling down the formulas? This article will show you method to achieve it.

Increase or increment cell reference by X in Excel with formulas


Increase or increment cell reference by X in Excel with formulas

The following formulas can help you to increase cell references by X in Excel. Please do as follows.

For filling down to a column, you need to:

1. Select a blank cell for placing the first result, then enter formula =OFFSET($A$3,(ROW()-1)*3,0) into the formula bar, then press the Enter key. See screenshot:

Note: In the formula, $A$3 is the absolute reference to the first cell you need to get in a certain column, the number 1 indicates the row of cell that the formula is entered, and 3 is the number of rows you will increase.

2. Keep selecting the result cell, then drag the Fill Handle down the column to get all needed results.

For filling across a row, you need to:

1. Select a blank cell, enter formula =OFFSET($C$1,0,(COLUMN()-1)*3) into the Formula Bar, then press the Enter key. See screenshot:

2. Then drag the result cell across the row to get the needed results.

Note: In the formula, $C$1 is the absolute reference to the first cell you need to get in a certain row, the number 1 indicates the column of cell that the formula is entered and 3 is the number of columns you will increase. Please change them as you need.


Easily convert formula references in bulk (such as relative to absolute) in Excel:

The Kutools for Excel's Convert Refers utility helps you easily convert all formula references in bulk in selected range such as convert all relative to absolute at once in Excel.
Download Kutools for Excel now! (30-day free trail)

doc anchoring cells 4


Related article:

Best Office Productivity Tools

🤖 Kutools AI Aide: Revolutionize data analysis based on: Intelligent Execution   |  Generate Code  |  Create Custom Formulas  |  Analyze Data and Generate Charts  |  Invoke Kutools Functions…
Popular Features: Find, Highlight or Identify Duplicates   |  Delete Blank Rows   |  Combine Columns or Cells without Losing Data   |   Round without Formula ...
Super Lookup: Multiple Criteria VLookup    Multiple Value VLookup  |   VLookup Across Multiple Sheets   |   Fuzzy Lookup ....
Advanced Drop-down List: Quickly Create Drop Down List   |  Dependent Drop Down List   |  Multi-select Drop Down List ....
Column Manager: Add a Specific Number of Columns  |  Move Columns  |  Toggle Visibility Status of Hidden Columns  |  Compare Ranges & Columns ...
Featured Features: Grid Focus   |  Design View   |   Big Formula Bar    Workbook & Sheet Manager   |  Resource Library (Auto Text)   |  Date Picker   |  Combine Worksheets   |  Encrypt/Decrypt Cells    Send Emails by List   |  Super Filter   |   Special Filter (filter bold/italic/strikethrough...) ...
Top 15 Toolsets12 Text Tools (Add Text, Remove Characters, ...)   |   50+ Chart Types (Gantt Chart, ...)   |   40+ Practical Formulas (Calculate age based on birthday, ...)   |   19 Insertion Tools (Insert QR Code, Insert Picture from Path, ...)   |   12 Conversion Tools (Numbers to Words, Currency Conversion, ...)   |   7 Merge & Split Tools (Advanced Combine Rows, Split Cells, ...)   |   ... and more

Supercharge Your Excel Skills with Kutools for Excel, and Experience Efficiency Like Never Before. Kutools for Excel Offers Over 300 Advanced Features to Boost Productivity and Save Time.  Click Here to Get The Feature You Need The Most...

Description


Office Tab Brings Tabbed interface to Office, and Make Your Work Much Easier

  • Enable tabbed editing and reading in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access, Visio and Project.
  • Open and create multiple documents in new tabs of the same window, rather than in new windows.
  • Increases your productivity by 50%, and reduces hundreds of mouse clicks for you every day!
Comments (20)
No ratings yet. Be the first to rate!
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
I want to decrease a date in a cell by 1 when I insert a row 3 rows above the reference cell. Example: I have a date in cell D7, that reads the date in A7 and when I insert a row at 4, I want the date in Cell D7 to change to the date in A6. I know this sounds crazy. I hope I explained what I want to do clearly enough to that you can understand what I want to do.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
I just want to say thank you so much for this super clear explanation. This is simply awesome!!
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Hi,

Is it possible to do it from column to rows in offset?

Suppose i have the data in Column M1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and i wanted to put the offset in M1->A1, M2->B1, M3->C1
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Hi,
I have the days in columns in one sheet and another sheet i have to select the Monday to friday cell range manually, is there any formula to drag horizontally so that can auto-update the cell reference range or number

Example :
=sum(Raw!B2:D2) (adding five working days date range)
=sum(Raw!E2:I2)
=sum(Raw!J2:M2)


Thanks in Advance
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Thank you! The OFFSET function was exactly what I was looking for to increment cell locations within a formula. It helped simplify my spreadsheet.
There are no comments posted here yet
Load More
Leave your comments
Posting as Guest
Rate this post:
0   Characters
Suggested Locations