Excel definitions: cell, range, workbook, and the terms behind a formula

In Excel, a workbook is the file you open, and it holds one or more worksheets, the tabs along the bottom of the window. Each worksheet is a grid of cells set into columns that run down the sheet and are lettered A, B, C, and rows that run across and are numbered 1, 2, 3. A cell is the single box where one column and one row meet, and it is where every value and formula lives. That container hierarchy, plus the words for what goes inside a cell, is the vocabulary this page defines, each term with a link to the guide that covers it in full.

The container: workbook, worksheet, cell

• Workbook is the Excel file you save and open, the .xlsx or .xlsm on disk. It is the outer container: a workbook holds the worksheets, and the worksheets hold the data.
• Worksheet is one sheet inside the workbook, the grid you see under a single tab, where you store and work with data. Microsoft also calls a worksheet a spreadsheet. A worksheet is always stored inside a workbook, and one workbook can hold many.
• Cell is the single box at a row-and-column intersection, and it holds one thing at a time: a value, a label, or a formula. It is the smallest unit you work with.
• Active cell is the one currently selected, the one whatever you type will land in. Only one cell is active at a time, and Excel draws a heavy border around it.
• Row and column are the two axes of the grid. A row runs across the sheet and is numbered 1, 2, 3; a column runs down the sheet and is lettered A, B, C. A cell’s spot is fixed by the one column and the one row it sits in.
• Cell reference is the set of coordinates a cell occupies, its column letter and row number together. B3 is the reference for the cell where column B meets row 3. A reference names the cell, not the value inside it, so B3 can read one number today and another tomorrow while the reference stays B3. A reference that shifts when you copy the formula, like B3, is relative; one you lock with dollar signs, $B$3, is absolute; one that pins only the column or only the row, B$3, is mixed. When to lock a reference and when not to is the cell references guide. A reference can also point at a different sheet, written Sheet2!A1 with the sheet name and an exclamation point, which is the referencing another sheet guide.

What goes in a cell: constants, formulas, functions

A cell holds either a value you type or a formula that calculates one. A formula is built from smaller named parts, and one short entry can hold four of them at once.

Reading that entry left to right: the = opens the formula, SUM is a function, B2:B4 inside the parentheses is its argument, * is an operator, and 1.1 is a constant. Here is what each of those means.

• Constant is a value that is not calculated: the number 210, or the text Quarterly Earnings. It stays put until you edit it. One trap lives here: a number that Excel is holding as text acts like a label rather than a value, which is a common reason a total comes out low. Spotting and converting those is the numbers stored as text guide.
• Formula is an entry that produces a new value from references, constants, functions, and operators. Per Microsoft, “A formula always begins with an equal sign (=).” Type =B2+B3 and the cell shows the sum. The four parts and the order Excel calculates them in are the what is a formula guide.
• Function is a built-in, named calculation you use inside a formula: SUM adds up a range, PI() returns pi. A function is one part of a formula, not the whole thing, so =B2+B3 is a formula with no function in it at all. For a specific one, guides like the IF function and XLOOKUP go through it step by step.
• Argument is a value a function works on, written inside its parentheses. In =SUM(B2:B4), the range B2:B4 is the argument SUM adds up. A function’s arguments can be numbers, text, cell references, or names.
• Operator is a sign that tells Excel what kind of calculation to run. + and * are arithmetic, = and > compare two values, & joins text, and the colon in B2:B4 is a reference operator. The symbol-by-symbol catalog is the formula symbols guide.

Groups of cells: range, named range, array

• Range is two or more cells on a sheet. The cells can be adjacent, so A2:A5 is a contiguous block of four cells, or nonadjacent, so three cells you pick in different spots form a range that does not touch. A range is the usual thing a function reads.
• Named range, or defined name, is a friendly name that stands in for a cell, a range, a formula, or a constant. Name a range Tax and you can write =Price*Tax in place of =Price*$B$1, which reads far better and moves without breaking. Building and managing them is the named ranges guide.
• Array is a group of values arranged in rows and columns that a single formula can act on, or return, all at once. When one formula fills several neighboring cells with its results, that behavior and its quirks are the array formulas guide.

When something goes wrong: error value, circular reference

• Error value is what a cell shows when a calculation cannot resolve: a code like #DIV/0! or #REF! that names the kind of failure in place of a number. Each code points at a different cause, and the guide to Excel’s error values takes them one at a time.
• Circular reference is a formula that depends on its own cell, directly or through a chain of other cells, so it has no settled answer to land on. Finding the loop and breaking it is the circular references guide.

What is a spreadsheet?

A spreadsheet is a document for organizing, calculating, and analyzing data in rows and columns. In Excel the word does double duty: the program is a spreadsheet program, a single worksheet is also called a spreadsheet, and the file that holds those worksheets is the workbook. Rows run across the sheet and are numbered, columns run down and are lettered, and the cells where they cross are where you enter text, numbers, dates, or formulas. So “what is a spreadsheet” and “what is a worksheet” point at the same grid; the workbook is the file wrapped around it.

The short version

• The container nests: a workbook is the file, it holds worksheets (the tabs), and a worksheet is a grid of cells in lettered columns and numbered rows.
• A cell reference like B3 is a cell’s coordinates, its column letter and row number; it names the cell, not the value inside it.
• A formula starts with = and can combine functions, references, constants, and operators; a function such as SUM is one named part used inside it.
• A range is two or more cells, adjacent or not; give one a friendly name and it becomes a named range.
• An error value like #REF! is what a failed calculation returns; a circular reference is a formula that loops back to its own cell.
• Every term above links to the guide that covers it in full, which is the whole point of a page like this.

This page is about what the terms mean. When you need the reverse, which of those cells and formulas changed between two saved copies of a workbook, compare the two files and it lists each change for you.