A1-Style Cell References

A cell reference using the A1 reference style has the following form:

A1-reference:A1-columnA1-rowA1-column A1-row

A1-column:A1-relative-columnA1-absolute-column

A1-relative-column:A Latin letter A–ZThe Latin letters AA–AZ, BA–BZ, …, ZA–ZZ, AAA-AAZ, ABA–ABZ, …, and so on

A1-absolute-column:$ A1-relative-column

A1-row:A1-relative-rowA1-absolute-row

A1-relative-row:A positive decimal number

A1-absolute-row:$ relative-row

In this style, each row has a numeric heading numbered sequentially from the top down, starting at 1. Each column has an alphabetic heading named sequentially from left-to-right, A–Z, then AA–AZ, BA–BZ, …, ZA–ZZ, AAA–AAZ, ABA–ABZ, and so on. Column letters are not case-sensitive.

A relative reference to a single cell is written as its column letter immediately followed by its row number. A relative reference to a whole row is written as its row number. A relative reference to a whole column is written as its column letter. A reference to a range of two or more cells is written as two single-cell references separated by the binary range operator (:). An absolute A1 reference is made up of a cell's column letter followed by its row number, with each being preceded by a dollar character ($).

example: : A2, B34, and B5:D8 are relative A1 references. $A$2, $B$34, and $B$5:$D$8 are absolute A1 references. $A2, B$34, and $B5:D$8 are mixed A1 references.

example:

For rules on how deal with potential ambiguities between cell references and defined names, see §3.17.5.1.