How can I reference a cell based on another cell’s value?

Introduction:

Welcome to another informative article from the dedicated Excel experts at ExcelBundle. Is there a time when you needed to reference one cell based on the value in another cell? For example, you may be working with a comprehensive spreadsheet and need to pull data from a certain cell depending on another cell's input. In this guide, we'll dive into how you can do just that!

Relevant Information:

Before we get started, it's crucial to understand one key function in Excel — INDIRECT. The INDIRECT function returns the reference specified by a text string. In simple words, it allows you to use text to reference a cell. Let's understand this better by learning how to reference a cell based on another cell's value.

More Details:

The process is relatively simple, and it requires only two steps that involve the INDIRECT and CELL functions.

Step 1 – Using the CELL Function:

First, let's consider you have values in cells A1, B1, and C1, and you want another cell to display the value based on the reference provided in cell D1. Let's say D1 contains 'A1'. The first step involves using the CELL function. Here is what you do:

• Click on any cell where you want the new value to appear. For the sake of this tutorial, we'll use E1.
• Now type in the following formula: =CELL("contents",D1). This tells Excel to fetch the contents of the cell mentioned in D1.

Step 2 – Implementing the INDIRECT Function:

Let's refine the above formula to make Excel understand that D1 contains a cell reference rather than a text string. Here's how you can do this:

• In E1 where you typed =CELL("contents",D1), replace it with the following formula: =INDIRECT(D1).
• Now, whatever cell reference you type in D1, E1 will display that cell's value.

Tips and Tricks:

While the above-mentioned steps are easy, here are some tips to ace cell referencing in Excel:

• Remember, Excel will interpret the reference as an R1C1 style of reference if it is not a valid A1 style reference. Use INDIRECT(D1,FALSE) if you always want A1 style references.
• Ensure that the referenced cells do not contain errors. If they do, the INDIRECT function will return the same error.
• Using predefined ExcelBundle templates can save a significant amount of your time as it comes with various functions already embedded into them.

Conclusion:

With that, you now know how to reference a cell based on another cell's value in Excel. It’s a simple yet powerful trick that can save you a lot of time and increase productivity. And don’t forget, your journey to mastering Excel can be greatly shortened by using ready-made templates from ExcelBundle.