Selecting cells, rows, and columns in Excel - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

This table shows names, ages, and cities of three people.

Cell	Value
A1	Name
B1	Age
C1	City
A2	Alice
B2	30
C2	New York
A3	Bob
B3	25
C3	Los Angeles
A4	Carol
B4	28
C4	Chicago

Formula Trace

=SUM(B2:B4)

Step 1: B2:B4

Step 2: SUM(30, 25, 28)

Cell Reference Map

    A       B       C
1 | Name  | Age   | City       |
2 | Alice |  30   | New York   |
3 | Bob   |  25   | Los Angeles|
4 | Carol |  28   | Chicago    |

Formula references cells B2, B3, B4 highlighted.

The formula uses the range B2:B4 which includes the ages of Alice, Bob, and Carol.

Result

    A       B       C
1 | Name  | Age   | City       |
2 | Alice |  30   | New York   |
3 | Bob   |  25   | Los Angeles|
4 | Carol |  28   | Chicago    |
5 |       |  83   |            |

Cell B5 shows the sum of ages from B2 to B4.

The sum of the ages 30, 25, and 28 is 83, shown in cell B5.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

Which cells does the formula =SUM(B2:B4) add together?

A Cells C2, C3, and C4

B Cells B2, B3, and B4

C Cells A2, A3, and A4

D Cells B1, B2, and B3

Key Result

SUM(range) adds all numbers in the selected range of cells.