How to Use INDIRECT ADDRESS Functions in Excel (4 Examples)

In this article, you will get to know some of the examples of the INDIRECT ADDRESS functions in Excel. By using an indirect address, you will be able to refer to the address of the cell rather than to the cell itself. So, let’s get started with the main article.


Excel INDIRECT Function

# Example 1: Used for Indirect Referencing

Here, 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. So, we can 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:
In this way, you will get the values of the sales in the Sales column of the second table by using indirect reference.

indirect reference

Read More: INDIRECT Function to Get Values from Different Sheet in Excel


# Example 2: Adding up Values with the Excel INDIRECT Function

Here, we will 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:
After that, you will get the sum of sales in the D9 cell.

sum up


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

Here, 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

Now, we will 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

Then, you will get the sales record of January month from the January sheet in the January column.

referring from another sheet

Similarly, you can 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


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

Here, we want to have the values of the sales of the first table in the second table in the Sales column. So, we can paste these values with indirect address referencing by using the INDIRECT function and the ADDRESS function. Besides these, we will 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:
Then, you will get the values of the sales in the Sales column of the second table by using indirect reference.

indirect address Excel


Practice Section

For doing practice by yourself we have provided a Practice section like below in a sheet named Practice. Please do it by yourself for a better understanding of the INDIRECT ADDRESS functions in Excel.

practice


Download Practice Workbook


Conclusion

In this article, we tried to cover some of the examples of INDIRECT ADDRESS functions in Excel. Hope you will find it useful. If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to share them in the comment section.


Further Readings


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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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