How to Use INDIRECT ADDRESS Functions in Excel: 4 Examples

Example 1: Used for Indirect Referencing

We have two tables and we want to have the values of the sales of the first table in the second table in the Sales column. Paste these values with indirect address referencing by using the INDIRECT function.

Indirect Address Excel

➤Select the output cell F5.
➤Type the following formula

=INDIRECT("C"&ROW(C5))
  • ROW(C5)→ returns the row number of cell C5
    Output→ 5
  • INDIRECT(“C”&ROW(C5)) becomes
    INDIRECT(“C5”)→ returns the value in cell C5
    Output→ $4,629.00

indirect reference

➤Press ENTER.
➤Drag down the Fill Handle Tool.

indirect reference

Result:
Get the values of the sales in the Sales column of the second table by using indirect reference.

indirect reference


Example 2: Adding up Values with the Excel INDIRECT Function

Sum up the sales values by using indirect referencing.

Indirect Address Excel

➤Select the output cell D9.
➤Type the following formula

=INDIRECT("D5")+INDIRECT("D6")+INDIRECT("D7")+INDIRECT("D8")
  • INDIRECT(“D5”)→ returns the value in the cell D5
    Output→ $4,629.00
  • INDIRECT(“D6”)→ returns the value in the cell D6
    Output→ $3,257.00
  • INDIRECT(“D7”)→ returns the value in the cell D7
    Output→ $2,091.00
  • INDIRECT(“D8”)→ returns the value in the cell D8
    Output→ $2,125.00
  • INDIRECT(“D5”)+INDIRECT(“D6”)+INDIRECT(“D7”)+INDIRECT(“D8”)→ becomes
    $4,629.00+$3,257.00+$2,091.00+$2,125.00
    Output→ $12,102.00

sum up

➤Press ENTER.

Result:
Get the sum of sales in the D9 cell.

sum up


Method 1 – Combining Excel INDIRECT ADDRESS Functions to Copy Values From Another Sheet

We have three different sheets named January, February, and March and each of them contains the sales of the products.

Indirect Address Excel

referring from another sheet

referring from another sheet

Paste the sales values from these sheets in the following table in the corresponding column of these months by using indirect address reference.

referring from another sheet

➤Select the output cell C5.
➤Type the following formula

=INDIRECT("January!"&ADDRESS(ROW(D5),COLUMN(D5)))
  • ROW(D5)→returns the row number of the cell D5
    Output→ 5
  • COLUMN(D5)→returns the column number of the cell D5
    Output→ 4
  • ADDRESS(ROW(D5),COLUMN(D5)) becomes
    ADDRESS(5,4)
    Output→$D$5
  • INDIRECT(“January!”&ADDRESS(ROW(D5),COLUMN(D5))) becomes
    INDIRECT(“January!”&”$D$5”)INDIRECT(“January!$D$5”)
    Output→$4,629.00

referring from another sheet

➤Press ENTER.
➤Drag down the Fill Handle Tool.

referring from another sheet

Get the sales record of January month from the January sheet in the January column.

referring from another sheet

Get the sales record for  February and March by using the following formulas

=INDIRECT("February!"& ADDRESS(ROW(D5),COLUMN(D5)))

referring from another sheet

=INDIRECT("March!"& ADDRESS(ROW(D5),COLUMN(D5)))

referring from another sheet


Method 2 – Using the INDIRECT Function and ADDRESS Function of Excel for Indirect Referencing

We want to have the values of the sales of the first table in the second table in the Sales column. Paste these values with indirect address referencing by using the INDIRECT function and the ADDRESS function. Use the row numbers of Row No. column.

Indirect Address Excel

➤Select the output cell G5.
➤Type the following formula

=INDIRECT(ADDRESS(D5,3))
  • D5→ returns the value in the cell D5
    Output→ 5
  • ADDRESS(D5,3) becomes
    ADDRESS(5,3))→ returns the cell address
    Output→ $C$5
  • INDIRECT(ADDRESS(D5,3)) becomes
    INDIRECT(“$C$5”)
    Output→ $4,629.00

Indirect Address Excel

➤Press ENTER.
➤Drag down the Fill Handle Tool.

indirect reference

Result:
Get the values of the sales in the Sales column of the second table by using indirect reference.

indirect address Excel

 


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Tanjima Hossain
Tanjima Hossain

TANJIMA HOSSAIN is a marine engineer who enjoys working with Excel and VBA programming. For her, programming is a handy, time-saving tool for managing data, files, and online tasks. She's skilled in Rhino3D, Maxsurf C++, MS Office, AutoCAD, and Excel & VBA, going beyond the basics. She holds a B.Sc. in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering from BUET and is now a content developer. In this role, she creates tech-focused content centred around Excel and VBA. Apart from... Read Full Bio

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