ROW - Excel - Microsoft Office Online

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ROW

Applies to: Microsoft Office Excel 2003

Returns the row number of a reference.

Syntax

ROW(reference)

Reference is the cell or range of cells for which you want the row number.

If reference is omitted, it is assumed to be the reference of the cell in which the ROW function appears.
If reference is a range of cells, and if ROW is entered as a vertical array (array: Used to build single formulas that produce multiple results or that operate on a group of arguments that are arranged in rows and columns. An array range shares a common formula; an array constant is a group of constants used as an argument.), ROW returns the row numbers of reference as a vertical array.
Reference cannot refer to multiple areas.

Example 1

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

Show How to copy an example

Create a blank workbook or worksheet.
Select the example in the Help topic.
Note Do not select the row or column headers.

Selecting an example from Help
Press CTRL+C.
In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Tools menu, point to Formula Auditing, and then click Formula Auditing Mode.

1

2
3

A	B
Formula	Description (Result)
=ROW()	Row in which the formula appears (2)
=ROW(C10)	Row of the reference (10)

Example 2

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

Show How to copy an example

Create a blank workbook or worksheet.
Select the example in the Help topic.
Note Do not select the row or column headers.

Selecting an example from Help
Press CTRL+C.
In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Tools menu, point to Formula Auditing, and then click Formula Auditing Mode.

1

2
3
4

A	B
Formula	Description (Result)
=ROW(C4:D6)	First row in the reference (4)
	Second row in the reference (5)
	Third row in the reference (6)

Note The formula in the example must be entered as an array formula (array formula: A formula that performs multiple calculations on one or more sets of values, and then returns either a single result or multiple results. Array formulas are enclosed between braces { } and are entered by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER.). After copying the example to a blank worksheet, select the range A2:A4 starting with the formula cell. Press F2, and then press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER. If the formula is not entered as an array formula, the single result is 4.