Excel Column Converter

How it works

Excel uses a sequential numbering system for its columns: A is the 1st, B the 2nd, ..., Z the 26th. Then, the sequence continues with AA (27th), AB (28th), and so on, working on a base-26 system.

With this tool, you can also specify from which column you want to start counting. For example, if you start counting from B, column BR will equal 69 instead of 70. Leave empty or use "A" for absolute numbering.

This tool performs this calculation for you, handling all valid columns up to the Excel limit (XFD = 16384). It's particularly useful for creating dynamic formulas (for example with the ADDRESS, INDIRECT or OFFSET functions) or for VBA programming.

The formula, for Excel and Google Sheets

With the letter in A1, both spreadsheets use the same formula:

=COLUMN(INDIRECT(A1&"1"))

For the column you are standing in, =COLUMN() is enough. To go the other way — a number back to a letter — see the column number to letter tool.

Where it stops, and why

• Excel stops at XFD. Column 16384 is the last one a worksheet has. XFE is a valid letter sequence but not a column, so it is rejected rather than given a meaningless number.
• Beyond ZZ the letters keep going. AAA is 703 and the sequence runs to XFD. Two letters stop at 702, which is where a hand-rolled formula usually breaks.
• It is base 26 without a zero. A is 1, not 0, so Z is 26 and AA is 27, not 26 or 0. This bijective numbering is why the obvious arithmetic gives the wrong answer at every letter rollover.
• Case does not matter. az and AZ both give 52.
• Batch skips nothing silently. A value that cannot be converted is listed with the reason, rather than dropped so the rows no longer line up with what you pasted.