Microsoft KB Archive/139574

= XL: Returning Address of the Cell with Largest or Smallest Value =

Article ID: 139574

Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 5.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 5.0c
 * Microsoft Excel 2001 for Mac
 * Microsoft Excel 98 for Macintosh
 * Microsoft Excel 5.0 for Macintosh
 * Microsoft Excel 5.0a for Macintosh

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This article was previously published under Q139574





SUMMARY
The examples in the "More Information" section of this article demonstrate two ways you can find the address of the cell containing the largest or smallest value in a range of cells. If you are using a single row or column of data, you can use a worksheet formula. If you are using multiple rows or columns of adjacent data, you will need to create a custom Visual Basic for applications function. For examples of both methods, see the "More Information" section of this article.



Using Formulas
You can return the address of the cell with the largest or smallest value in a column or row by using the CELL, OFFSET, and MATCH functions along with the MAXor the MIN function.

If there are multiple occurrences of the largest or smallest value, the following formulas will return the cell address of the first occurrence of the value. If there is only one occurrence of the value, the address of the cell containing that value will be returned.

To return the address of a cell in a column (in this example, column A, cells A1:A10), use the appropriate formula in the following table.   For this address     Use this formula Cell with largest value       =CELL("address",OFFSET(A1,MATCH(MAX(A1:A10),A1:A10,0)-1,0))

Cell with smallest value       =CELL("address",OFFSET(A1,MATCH(MIN(A1:A10),A1:A10,0)-1,0)) To return the address of a cell in a row (in this example, column A, cells A1:J1), use the appropriate formula in the following table.   For this address     Use this formula Cell with largest value       =CELL("address",OFFSET(A1,0,MATCH(MAX(A1:J1),A1:J1,0)-1))

Cell with smallest value       =CELL("address",OFFSET(A1,0,MATCH(MIN(A1:J1),A1:J1,0)-1))

Using Custom Functions
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http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

To return the cell address of the largest value in an adjacent range that is larger than a single column or row, you can create a custom Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications function. Function MaxAddress(The_Range)

' Sets variable equal to maximum value in the input range. MaxNum = Application.Max(The_Range) ' Loop to check each cell in the input range to see if equals the ' MaxNum variable. For Each cell In The_Range If cell = MaxNum Then ' If the cell value equals the MaxNum variable it           ' returns the address to the function and exits the loop. MaxAddress = cell.Address Exit For End If     Next cell

End Function To find the cell address of the smallest value in an adjacent range, substitute the Min function for the Max function as in the following example: Function MinAddress(The_Range)

' Sets variable equal to minimum value in the input range. MinNum = Application.Min(The_Range) ' Loop to check each cell in the input range to see if equals the ' min variable. For Each cell In The_Range If cell = MinNum Then ' If the cell value equals the max variable it           ' returns the address to the function and exits the loop MinAddress = cell.Address Exit For End If     Next cell

End Function

