LIMIT and OFFSET in Google Sheets - Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

LIMIT and OFFSET help you show only a part of your data in Google Sheets. This is useful when you want to see a small section of a big list, like showing only 5 rows starting from row 11.

When you want to display the first 10 sales records from a large list.

When you need to skip the first 5 rows and show the next 10 rows of data.

When creating a summary table that only shows a small part of a big dataset.

When you want to paginate data, showing a few rows per page.

When you want to extract a specific block of rows from a table for analysis.

Steps

Step 1: Click

- a blank cell where you want the result

The cell is selected and ready for formula input

Step 2: Type

- the selected cell

You start entering the formula

💡 Start with =QUERY to use LIMIT and OFFSET

Step 3: Enter

- the formula bar

Formula is typed like =QUERY(A1:C100, "SELECT * LIMIT 5 OFFSET 10")

💡 Replace A1:C100 with your data range

Step 4: Press

- Enter key

The cell shows 5 rows of data starting from row 11 of the original range

Step 5: Adjust

- the LIMIT and OFFSET numbers in the formula

You change how many rows to show and where to start

Before vs After

Before

A table with 100 rows of sales data in A1:C100

After

A formula =QUERY(A1:C100, "SELECT * LIMIT 5 OFFSET 10") shows rows 11 to 15 from the original data

Settings Reference

LIMIT

📍 Inside the QUERY formula's query string

Sets how many rows to show from the data

Default: No limit means all rows are shown

OFFSET

📍 Inside the QUERY formula's query string

Skips a number of rows before starting to show data

Default: 0 means start from the first row

Common Mistakes

Using OFFSET without LIMIT in QUERY

OFFSET alone does not limit rows, so it shows all rows after the offset, which can be too many

Always use LIMIT with OFFSET to control how many rows appear

Typing LIMIT and OFFSET outside the QUERY formula string

LIMIT and OFFSET must be inside the query string in quotes, otherwise the formula breaks

Write LIMIT and OFFSET inside the second argument of QUERY, like "SELECT * LIMIT 5 OFFSET 10"

Summary

LIMIT and OFFSET let you show a specific part of your data in Google Sheets.

They work inside the QUERY formula as part of the query string.

Use LIMIT to set how many rows to show and OFFSET to skip rows before showing.