Excel CELL Function

Excel CELL Function

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Purpose 

Get information about a cell

Return value 

A text value

Syntax 

=CELL (info_type, [reference])

Arguments 

  • info_type – The type of information to return about the reference.
  • reference – [optional] The reference from which to extract information.

Usage notes 

Use CELL to extract a wide range of information about reference. The type of information to be returned is specified as info_type. Always wrap the info_type in double quotes. For the formula: =CELL(“col”, C10) will return 3. See below for a full list of info_types and a key to the codes that CELL returns when the info_type is format.

Note that when reference refers to more than one cell, CELL will return information about the first cell in reference.

The following info_types can be used with the CELL function:

Info_type Description
address returns the address of the first cell in reference (as text).
col returns the column number of the first cell in reference.
color returns the value 1 if the first cell in reference is formatted using color for negative values; or zero if not.
contents returns the value of the upper-left cell in reference. Formulas are not returned. Instead, the result of the formula is returned.
filename returns the file name and full path as text. If the worksheet that contains reference has not yet been saved, an empty string is returned.
format returns a code that corresponds to the number format of the cell. See below for a list of number format codes. If the first cell in reference is formatted with color for values < 0, then “-” is appended to the code. If the cell is formatted with parentheses, returns “() – at the end of the code value.
parentheses returns 1 the first cell in reference is formatted with parentheses and 0 if not.
prefix returns a text value that corresponds to the label prefix – of the cell:  a single quotation mark (‘) if the cell text os left-aligned, a double quotation mark (“) if the cell text is right-aligned, a caret (^) if the cell text is centered text, a backslash () if the cell text is fill-aligned, and an empty string if the label prefix is anything else.
protect returns 1 if the first cell in reference is locked or 0 if not.
row returns the row number of the first cell in reference.
type returns a text value that corresponds to the type of data in the first cell in reference:  “b” for blank when the cell is empty, “l”  for label if the cell contains a text constant, and “v” for value if the cell contains anything else.
width returns the column width of the cell, rounded to the nearest integer. A unit of column width is equal to the width of one character in the default font size.

The following table is a key for the text codes that are returned from CELL when “format” is used for info_type.

Format code returned Format code meaning
G General
F0 0
,0 #,##0
F2 0
,2 #,##0.00
C0 $#,##0_);($#,##0)
C0- $#,##0_);[Red]($#,##0)
C2 $#,##0.00_);($#,##0.00)
C2- $#,##0.00_);[Red]($#,##0.00)
P0 0%
P2 0.00%
S2 0.00E+00
G # ?/? or # ??/??
D1 d-mmm-yy or dd-mmm-yy
D2 d-mmm or dd-mmm
D3 mmm-yy
D4 m/d/yy or m/d/yy h:mm or mm/dd/yy
D5 mm/dd
D6 h:mm:ss AM/PM
D7 h:mm AM/PM
D8 h:mm:ss

 

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