COLUMN: Reference Column Positions in WPS Spreadsheet
Find a reference’s column index or the formula cell’s column with COLUMN, with scalar examples and a relative report-position calculation.
Verification status: See the evidence and test scope described in this guide. How formula examples are checked
COLUMN returns a worksheet column position, starting at 1 for A. It answers “where is this reference?” rather than “how many columns does this range contain?” The contents of the referenced cell are not the result being requested.
Syntax and reference choice
=COLUMN([reference])
The reference is optional. With a single-cell reference, COLUMN returns that cell’s column index. Without an argument, it uses the cell containing the formula. Therefore the placement of =COLUMN() is part of the input: it cannot have one universal expected answer independent of its location.
The lesson permits a cell or a single contiguous range and explicitly excludes multiple-area references. It also describes horizontal array entry for a range. The scalar examples below do not establish automatic spilling, array-entry shortcuts or the result of entering a multi-column reference as an ordinary scalar formula.
Reproducible scalar examples
No cell values need to be entered for the explicit reference controls. Put the omitted-argument formula specifically in E8. For the final relative-position calculation, keep both references exactly as written.
| Formula | Independently expected result |
|---|---|
=COLUMN(A7) |
1 |
=COLUMN(C2) |
3 |
=COLUMN($F$20) |
6 |
=COLUMN(AA3) |
27 |
=COLUMN() |
5 |
=COLUMN(F2)-COLUMN($C$2)+1 |
4 |
A is column 1, C is 3 and F is 6. AA comes after Z, so it is column 27. Dollar signs fix reference components for copying; they do not change which column the original reference identifies. The row number in C2 or F20 does not change the column index.
Practical case: number report columns from one
Suppose a report begins in column C and ends in F. The worksheet indices are 3, 4, 5 and 6, while the report needs positions 1 through 4. In its first report heading, use =COLUMN(C2)-COLUMN($C$2)+1. The calculation is 3−3+1=1. The corresponding formula for F is 6−3+1=4.
The fixed starting reference expresses the report’s origin. This is preferable to assuming that every report begins in column A. When adapting the expression, verify the references after copying; the independent example describes the resulting arithmetic rather than demonstrating a WPS editing operation.
Troubleshooting and limits
- A result of 6 from F20 is a column position, not a count of values in that cell or a six-column range.
- An omitted argument answers for the formula cell. Use an explicit reference when the target is somewhere else.
- Use COLUMNS for the width of a rectangular range; the two functions are distinct.
- Do not pass a list of disjoint regions. The lesson explicitly rules out multiple areas.
- A quoted string such as
"C2"is not the same notation as the reference C2. Text-to-reference conversion is outside this lesson’s demonstrated contract. - Exact error displays for broken references and unsupported inputs are not established by the cited lesson. No generic Excel error table is assumed here.
Availability and evidence
The official WPS lesson is dated 2019-05-07 and explicitly labels its applicability WPS Office for Windows Personal. It does not identify a numeric release. This establishes documentation by that date, not the function’s original introduction or its last working version. Current build limits and equivalence across WPS clients remain unverified. The available evidence does not establish retirement or formal deprecation.
Checked October 18, 2026. The examples in this guide are original, independently calculated controls based on the lesson. They have not been run in WPS or another spreadsheet application. No screenshot or execution result is claimed.