In this tutorial, we will learn How to Auto Increment numbers in Google Sheets.
To Auto increment number in google sheets, you can use the below 3 Methods.
- You can auto increment Number using Fill Handle.
- Create a Formula to Auto Increment numbers in Google Sheets
- Using ROW and COLUMN Function
How to Auto Increment number in Google Sheets : Step by Step Guide
You can auto increment Number using Fill Handle
You can use the fill handle to automatically fill and increment the numbers in Google Sheets. The fill handle is suitable for inserting index numbers into Columns.
Here’s how to auto increment number in Google Sheets
- Type the first number in the first cell and second number in the second cell as shown below .In the following example we type number 1 in A2 followed by number 2 in A3.
- Select and highlight both the cells where you typed the numbers .
- Double Click at the right bottom corner of your second cell ( in example A3).
- It will automatically fill the rest of the cells with consecutive numbers followed by 1 and 2.
The preceding approach will only fill the numbers until the specified data for the columns and rows.
If you want to add more incrementing numbers beyond the point where your data ends. You can repeat the above steps However with a slight difference.
Instead of double click at the corner of the cell, Simply drag it downwards.
Create a Formula to Auto Increment numbers in Google Sheets
- We can also auto increment numbers in google sheets by creating a basic formula that will add plus 1 to the provided value and increment it.
- This solution is really straightforward; you simply create a custom formula to add “+1” to your cell, and it will continue to increase on subsequent rows.
Enclosed are the steps to create a basic formula that will auto-increment numbers.
- As the starting point type the number in first cell of the row using which we can increment the value in subsequent rows .In the example we have type 1 in A1.
- Now go the next cell ( in example A2) and type = followed plus cell reference and plus 1 ( in example =A1+1)
- You can also use the auto-suggest provided by google sheets and click on it.
- To apply the same basic formula in rest of the rows select second row cell and move the cursor to the corner until you see a blue square .
- Double Click on the blue Square.
Using ROW and COLUMN Function
Google Sheets comes with built-in functions using which you can insert row and column numbers in Google Sheets.
One such built-in function is ROW and COLUMN functions.
Using ROW and COLUMN functions you can increment the numbers in the rows and columns of your Google Spreadsheet.
ROW Function
Below is the SYNTAX for RWO function:
ROW([cell_reference])
We can use the above formula to return the row number in a cell. In the below example we have typed =ROW() in cell A1 and it returns its number as 1
We can also type the formula with a cell reference inside the brackets to get the number of the row
=ROW(A1)
In the below example we have reference cell A1 with row function =ROW(A1) which returns the value 1.
COLUMN Function
Below is the Syntax for COLUMN function :
COLUMN([cell_reference])
The column function is very similar to the row function in usage. It will return the column number of a given cell on which you type the formula or number of a specific cell that you provide in the cell reference.
Conclusion
In this article, we have discussed three Simple methods to auto increment numbers in a spreadsheet.
Based on your requirement you can change and modify the functions for more complex requirements.
We hope this tutorial on How to Auto Increment number in Google Sheets was helpful.
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