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

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)

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Comments (20)
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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.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
=OFFSET($A$3,(ROW()-1)*3,0)

What's the "0" for?

I copied this exactly and it just posted the formula instead of the result.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Hi Kim,
The Excel OFFSET function returns a reference to a cell or a range of cells that is offset from a specific cell by a given number of rows and columns.
The number "0" here means that it will move 0 column right from cell A3 (still stay in column A).
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
I have a formula that has brackets CHASSIS_STRING[12,1],L1,C1'. I want to increase the 1 to 2 to 3, etc. in the same column. What's the best way to do that?
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Dear John,
Sorry can’t help with this, you can post your question in our forum: https://www.extendoffice.com/forum.html to get more Excel supports from our professional.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Hi. Hi hope you can help.
cell A1 has a formula =C1
I want to copy the formula of cell A1 to cell A13 but only to increase row by 1, (=C2)
What I get is =C13. It increments by the number of rows it skipped. I only want to increment it by one. Need some help.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Good Day,
Sorry I can’t help with this, you can post your question in our forum: https://www.extendoffice.com/forum.html to get more Excel supports from our professional.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
I want to do the same thing. Did you get through?
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
hey please help me with this,
First i created simple text like this:
name------ id----ad_id
abc 5 a10
bcd 2 b10


now i want to create a form that shows me:
how many ad_id do u need? so than i enter 2. thannnn
than it will ask me for the name and id.. so here what it should do. it will check the name or match the name and then it will subtract from the id.
NOTE: i need it like this:


how many ad_id do u need?
2 (in the box)
than submit

than

name(in the box) id(in the box)
name(in the box) id(in the box)
submit
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Sorry didn’t get your point.
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
What I want to do is slightly different. The Excel table displayed on a website page has some text, say "Done" in cell B2. The B2 text is part of a dynamic function and when it is clicked on the web page it increments the value in C2 by 1.Is there a function or combination of functions that will do these actions? I can do the basic increment in just the spreadsheet using formulas. The tricky part for me is having the text cell fire off the increment in another cell. How do you do increment from a text "link" that is really a function to increment another cell?
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Dear Robert,
I am so sorry as i have never tested anything in a google sheet. Can't help to solve this problem.
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