Difference Between Row And Column In Excel

There are various functionality and complexities of Microsoft Excel which enables the user to draw useful analysis, insights and output in Excel.  Rows and columns are the two most important elements of Excel which enables the user to apply any formula or store or manage any data in excel.

New users of office software many times have a problem in differentiating between rows and columns in Microsoft Excel. However, in general terms, the vertical portion of the excel worksheet is referred to as columns and they can be 16, 384 of them in a worksheet whereas the horizontal portion of the worksheet is referred to as rows and they can be 1, 048, 576 of them in a worksheet.

Whereas each cell in a spreadsheet belongs to exactly one row and one column, understanding the underlying difference between rows and columns, is important in making spreadsheet more useful.

What Are Rows?

Rows are the horizontal lines of data in an Excel spreadsheet, stretching from left to right across the computer screen. By default, Excel uses numbers to label each row one at the top of the spreadsheet. A row can also be described as a horizontal group of values within a table.

Row contains values for multiple fields, which are defined by columns. Due to the fact that rows contain data from multiple columns in databases, each table row may be considered a record. For example, a row (or record) from an employee table may contain an employee’s name, address, position, salary and other information. Now, when querying a database, the results are typically returned as an array of rows, which is similar to a group of records. Individual values can be accessed by selecting a specific column (or field) within a row.

What You Need To Know About Rows

• Rows move horizontally across the spreadsheet. They spread from left to right. Therefore, if anything is written in column A, B, C, D, the data is said to be in Row 1.
• The rows are indicated by the numbers which are located on the left-hand side of the spreadsheet.
• In database management system, the row consists or is made up of various data fields.
• Microsoft has placed limits on the number of rows up to 1, 048, 576 rows.
• To select an entire specific row, press Shift + Space bar.
• In the worksheet, rows are ranging from 1 to 1, 048, 576.
• A table is divided into four parts, caption, box-head, stub and body. Against the stub, is the extreme, left part of the table which describes rows.
• To hide any row, select the entire row and press right click and then hide.
• To unhide any hidden row, select one entire row above and one below the hidden row, then right-click and select Unhide.
• The default row height is 18.75 pt. and 25 pixels.
• The row differences command compares the cells in the selected range with the cells in the same column as the active cells.
• To Auto fit the content in a row, Double click the bottom border of the underlying row.
• To freeze any row, put the active cell below the row one wants to freeze and then press Alt+W+F+R.
• Index function (row_num), specifies the row number in the array from which the resulting value is to be returned.
• In the Lookup function, Vlookup compares the data from column to column.

What Are Columns?

Columns are the vertical lines of data that stretch from top of the spreadsheet to the bottom. By default, Excel uses letters, rather than numbers to label columns. Column “A” is the first column and appears as the left-most column in the spreadsheet.

In a database, columns may be defined as individual fields within a table. Each field has a name, such as Name, Address, or phone Number. Therefore, when multiple values from a column are selected, they will all have similar information, such as a list of phone numbers.

When defining columns in database and spreadsheets, it is often possible to specify the type of data, such as a string, number, or date. This goes a long way to ensure that all data within a given column has a similar format.

What You Need To Know About Columns

• Columns move vertically across the spreadsheet. They spread from top to bottom. If data is written in A1, A2 or A3, it is all within column A.
• The columns are indicated by the numbers found on the top of the sheet.
• In database management system, column consists of single data attribute or an accumulator of a single attribute in a data set.
• Microsoft has placed limits on the number of columns up to 16, 384 columns.
• To select the entire column, press Ctrl+ Space bar.
• In the worksheets, columns are ranging from A to XFD.
• A table is divided into four parts, caption, box-head, stub and body. The top-most part of the table which represents columns is referred to as caption.
• To hide any column, select the entire column, press right click and then hide.
• To unhide any hidden column, select one entire column to the left and one to the right of the hidden column, then right-click and select Unhide.
• The default width of the column is 8.43 pt. and 64 pixels.
• The column differences command compares the cells in the selected range with the cells in the same rows as the active cells.
• To freeze any column, put the active cell adjacent to the column one wants to freeze and then press Alt+W+F+C.
• To Auto fit the content in the column, Double the right border of the underlying column.
• In index function (Col_num), specifies the column number in the array from which the resulting value is to be returned.
• In the Lookup function, Hlookup compares the data from row to row.

Also Read: Difference Between XLS And XLSX

Difference Between Row And Column In Tabular Form