Workbook, worksheet, and cell structure in Excel - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

This data represents a simple worksheet with three columns: Name, Age, and City, and three rows of data entries.

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

=B2

Step 1: B2

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 in cell D1: =B2
Arrow points from D1 to B2

The formula in cell D1 references cell B2 to get the age value 30.

Result

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

The formula in cell D1 shows the value 30, which is the content of cell B2.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the formula =B2 return?

A The value in cell B2

B The value in cell A2

C The value in cell C2

D The sum of B2 and C2

Key Result

A cell reference formula like =B2 returns the value stored in the referenced cell B2.