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COLUMN
COLUMN returns the column number of a specified cell reference, with column A being 1, B being 2, and so on. Without an argument it returns the column of the cell holding the formula. It is often paired with INDEX or used inside array formulas to create column-based offsets.
Excel
=COLUMN(C1)Google Sheets
=COLUMN(C1)✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| A | B | C |
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
=COLUMN(C1)→3
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How it works
- 1C1 is the cell reference whose column number you want.
- 2COLUMN(C1) returns 3 because column C is the third column.
- 3Omit the argument to get the column number of the cell containing the formula.