ID EN
…
#Lookup and reference

OFFSET

Excel Functions

Create a reference offset from given starting point

Syntax

EXCEL 
=OFFSET(reference, rows, cols, [height], [width])

Arguments

Parameter Description
reference The starting point, supplied as a cell reference or range.
rows The number of rows to offset below the starting reference.
cols The number of columns to offset to the right of the starting reference.
height [optional] The height in rows of the returned reference.
width [optional] The width in columns of the returned reference.

Return Value

A cell reference.

Details

The Excel OFFSET function returns a dynamic range constructed with five inputs: (1) a starting point, (2) a row offset, (3) a column offset, (4) a height in rows, (5) a width in columns. The starting point (the reference argument) can be one cell or a range of cells. The rows and cols arguments are the number of cells to "offset" from the starting point. The height and width arguments are optional and determine the size of the range that is created. When height and width are omitted, they default to the height and width of reference. For example, to reference C5 starting at A1, reference is A1, rows is 4 and cols is 2: To reference C1:C5 from A1, reference is A1, rows is 0, cols is 2, height is 5, and width is 1: Note: width could be omitted, since it will default to 1.

Examples

Example 1

For example, to reference C5 starting at A1, reference is A1, rows is 4 and cols is 2:

EXCEL 
=OFFSET(A1,4,2) // returns reference to C5
Example 2

To reference C1:C5 from A1, reference is A1, rows is 0, cols is 2, height is 5, and width is 1:

EXCEL 
=OFFSET(A1,0,2,5,1) // returns reference to C1:C5
Example 3

It is common to see OFFSET wrapped in another function that expects a range. For example, to SUM C1:C5, beginning at A1:

EXCEL 
=SUM(OFFSET(A1,0,2,5,1)) // SUM C1:C5
Example #1

In the screen below, we use OFFSET to return the third value (March) in the second column (West). The formula in H4 is:

EXCEL 
=OFFSET(B3,3,2) // returns D6
Example #2

In the screen below, we use OFFSET to return the last value (June) in the third column (North). The formula in H4 is:

EXCEL 
=OFFSET(B3,6,3) // returns E9
Example #3

Below, we use OFFSET to return all values in the third column (North). The formula in H4 is:

EXCEL 
=OFFSET(B3,1,3,6) // returns E4:E9

See Also

INDEX