Address Of First Cell In Range

Explanation

The ADDRESS function creates a reference based on a given row and column number. In this case, we want to get the first row and the first column used by the named range data (B5:D14). To get the first row used, we use the ROW function together with the MIN function like this:

MIN(ROW(data))

Because data contains more than one row, ROW returns an array of row numbers:

{5;6;7;8;9;10;11;12;13;14}

This array goes directly to the MIN function, which returns the smallest number:

MIN({5;6;7;8;9;10;11;12;13;14}) // returns 5

To get the first column, we use the COLUMN function in the same way:

MIN(COLUMN(data))

Since data contains three rows, COLUMN returns an array with three column numbers:

{2,3,4}

and the MIN function again returns the smallest number:

MIN({2,3,4}) // returns 2

Both results are returned directly to the ADDRESS function, which constructs a reference to the cell at row 5, column 2:

=ADDRESS(5,2) // returns $B$5

If you want a relative address instead of an absolute reference , you can supply 4 for the third argument like this:

=ADDRESS(MIN(ROW(data)),MIN(COLUMN(data)),4) // returns B5

CELL function alternative

Although it’s not obvious, the INDEX function returns a reference, so we can use the CELL function with INDEX to get the address of the first cell in a range like this:

=CELL("address",INDEX(data,1,1))

In this case, we use the INDEX function to get a reference to the first cell in the range by giving INDEX 1 for row number and 1 for column number, with data for array:

INDEX(data,1,1) // returns reference to B5

INDEX then returns a reference to cell B5, and we use the CELL function with “address”, to display the address.

Note: The CELL function is a volatile function that can cause performance problems in large or complex workbooks.

Explanation

The ADDRESS function creates a reference based on a given a row and column number. In this case, we want to get the last row and the last column used by the named range data (B5:D14).

To get the last row used, we use the ROW function together with the MAX function like this:

MAX(ROW(data))

Because data contains more than one row, ROW returns an array of row numbers:

{5;6;7;8;9;10;11;12;13;14}

This array goes directly to the MAX function, which returns the largest number:

MAX({5;6;7;8;9;10;11;12;13;14}) // returns 14

To get the last column, we use the COLUMN function in the same way:

MAX(COLUMN(data))

Since data contains three rows, COLUMN returns an array with three column numbers:

{2,3,4}

and the MAX function again returns the largest number:

MAX({2,3,4}) // returns 4

Both results are returned directly to the ADDRESS function, which constructs a reference to the cell at row 14, column 4:

=ADDRESS(14,4) // returns $D$14

If you want a relative address instead of an absolute reference , you can supply 4 for the third argument like this:

=ADDRESS(MAX(ROW(data)),MAX(COLUMN(data)),4) // returns D14

CELL function alternative

Although it’s not obvious, the INDEX function returns a reference, so we can use the CELL function with INDEX to get the address of the last cell in a range like this:

=CELL("address",INDEX(data,ROWS(data),COLUMNS(data)))

In this case, we use the INDEX function to get a reference to the last cell in the range, which we determine by passing total rows and total columns for the range data into INDEX. We get total rows with the ROWS function , and total columns with the COLUMNS function :

ROWS(data) // returns 10
COLUMNS(data) // returns 3

With the array provided as data, INDEX then returns a reference to cell D14:

INDEX(data,10,3) // returns reference to D14

We then use the CELL function with “address”, to display the address.

Note: The CELL function is a volatile function which can cause performance problems in large or complex workbooks.