Row and column fields in Excel - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

This table shows three people with their names, ages, and cities in columns A, B, and C respectively. Rows 2 to 4 contain the data.

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

=ROW(B3) & ", " & COLUMN(B3)

Step 1: ROW(B3)

Step 2: COLUMN(B3)

Step 3: 3 & ", " & 2

Cell Reference Map

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

The formula references cell B3, which contains the value 25. The ROW and COLUMN functions use this cell to find its row and column numbers.

Result

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

The formula in cell D3 shows "3, 2" indicating that cell B3 is in row 3 and column 2.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the ROW(B3) function return?

A 25

B 3

C 2

D B3

Key Result

ROW(cell) returns the row number; COLUMN(cell) returns the column number; & joins text.