Using the COLUMN Function

Excel includes a nifty little worksheet function that lets you determine the column number of a particular cell reference. Normally columns are designated as A, B, C, and so on, but the COLUMN function returns a numeric value that represents the column. Thus, column A is 1, B is 2, and so on.

You can use the function in the following manner:

=COLUMN(InputRange)

In this instance, the function returns the column of the range named InputRange. You can also use the function without any optional range reference, as follows:

=COLUMN()

When used in this manner, COLUMN returns the column number of the cell in which the COLUMN function is used. Thus, if cell C5 contained =COLUMN(), then the function would return a value of 3.