SELECT clause in Google Sheets - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

This table shows a list of people with their names, ages, and cities.

Cell	Value
A1	Name
B1	Age
C1	City
A2	Alice
B2	30
C2	New York
A3	Bob
B3	25
C3	Los Angeles
A4	Charlie
B4	35
C4	Chicago

Formula Trace

=QUERY(A1:C4, "SELECT A, C", 1)

Step 1: QUERY(A1:C4, "SELECT A, C", 1)

Step 2: Extract column A (Name) values: ["Name", "Alice", "Bob", "Charlie"]

Step 3: Extract column C (City) values: ["City", "New York", "Los Angeles", "Chicago"]

Step 4: Combine columns A and C side by side

Cell Reference Map

    A       B          C
1 | Name  | Age  | City      |
2 | Alice | 30   | New York  |
3 | Bob   | 25   | Los Angeles|
4 | Charlie| 35  | Chicago   |

Formula references range A1:C4 for data.

The formula uses the data range A1:C4, referencing columns A and C for the SELECT clause.

Result

    A       B
1 | Name  | City      |
2 | Alice | New York  |
3 | Bob   | Los Angeles|
4 | Charlie| Chicago   |

The result shows only the Name and City columns from the original data, as selected by the QUERY formula.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What columns does the formula =QUERY(A1:C4, "SELECT A, C", 1) return?

A Columns A and C

B Columns A and B

C Columns B and C

D All columns A, B, and C

Key Result

QUERY(range, "SELECT columns", header_rows) selects specific columns from a data range.