Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Cell Address of a Maximum Value.

Cell Address of a Maximum Value

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 4, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Barry has a worksheet with 65,000 rows. They are unsorted and must remain unsorted. He can use the MAX function on the column and get the maximum value in that column. However, he also wants to know the address of the first cell in the column that contains this maximum value.

There are a number of ways that you can determine the address of the maximum value. One way is to use the ADDRESS function in conjunction with the MAX function, in the following manner:

=ADDRESS(MATCH(MAX(A:A),A:A,0),1,4)

The MATCH function is used to find where in the range (column A) the maximum value resides, and then the ADDRESS function returns the address of that location. A shorter version of the macro leaves off the ADDRESS function, instead being "hardwired" to return an address in column A:

="A"&MATCH(MAX(A:A),A:A,0)

Still another way to get the desired address is with a formula such as this:

=CELL("ADDRESS",INDEX(A:A,MATCH(MAX(A:A),A:A,0)))

This formula uses the CELL function, in conjunction with INDEX, to return the address of the cell that matches the maximum value in the column.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3818) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Cell Address of a Maximum Value.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Determining the Current Directory

When creating macros, it is often necessary to know which directory is the default. Here's how you can find out by using ...

Discover More

Automatically Setting Right Leader Tabs

If you have a constant need to define tabs at the edge of the right margin, you'll love the macro-based technique ...

Discover More

Turning Off Screen Updating

Want a quick way to speed up your macros? All you need to do is to stop Excel from updating the screen while the macro is ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Determining Winners, by Category

Do you need to determine the top three values in a range of columns? The techniques discussed in this tip will come in ...

Discover More

Generating Random Strings of Characters

If you need to generate a random sequence of characters, of a fixed length, then you'll appreciate the discussion in this ...

Discover More

Stopping a Formula from Updating References

Insert or delete a column, and Excel automatically updates references within formulas that are affected by the change. If ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 5 - 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.