Excel Row Limit: Max Rows & Columns Per Sheet (2026)
Excel worksheets hold 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns (column XFD) — about 17.2 billion cells. Here are the real limits and what to do with bigger data.
25 posts
Excel worksheets hold 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns (column XFD) — about 17.2 billion cells. Here are the real limits and what to do with bigger data.
Combine text from multiple cells in Excel: the & operator, the CONCAT and TEXTJOIN functions, adding spaces and commas, and joining a whole range with a delimiter.
Add a drop-down list in Excel with Data Validation: build one from a typed list or a cell range, show an input message, allow blanks, and edit or remove the list.
Add checkboxes in Excel two ways: the new built-in Checkbox button in Microsoft 365, and the classic Developer-tab form control — plus how to link a checkbox to a cell and copy it down.
Lock specific cells in Excel so they can't be edited: why locking needs sheet protection, how to unlock the cells people should still fill in, and how to protect and unprotect the sheet.
Merge cells in Excel with Merge & Center, Merge Across, and Merge Cells — plus how to unmerge, keep all your data, and use Center Across Selection as a safer alternative.
Password protect an Excel file with Encrypt with Password, set a separate password to open vs. modify, protect the workbook structure or a single sheet, and remove a password you no longer need.
Delete blank rows in Excel the safe way: use Go To Special to select blanks, filter them out, or sort them to the bottom — without deleting rows that only look empty.
Remove duplicate rows in Excel with the Remove Duplicates tool, find them first with conditional formatting, dedupe by specific columns, or extract a unique list with the UNIQUE function.
Unhide columns in Excel by right-clicking, unhide column A with the Name Box, unhide all columns at once, and fix columns that won't reappear because their width is zero.
Use conditional formatting in Excel to highlight cells by rule: highlight values, top/bottom items, data bars and color scales, formula-based rules, and how to manage or clear them.
Learn INDEX MATCH in Excel: how the two functions work together, why it beats VLOOKUP, looking left, a two-way lookup with two MATCH functions, and error fixes.
Learn SUMIF in Excel: the syntax, text and number criteria, comparison operators, wildcards, summing a different column, and SUMIFS for multiple conditions.
Learn the IF function in Excel: the syntax, text and number tests, nested IFs, the IFS function, combining IF with AND and OR, and how to fix common errors.
Learn VLOOKUP in Excel step by step: the syntax, exact vs. approximate match, looking up data from another sheet, anchoring the range, and how to fix #N/A and #REF errors.
Learn XLOOKUP in Excel: the syntax, exact and approximate match, looking left, returning multiple columns, the built-in if_not_found argument, and how it beats VLOOKUP.
Wrap text in Excel so long entries show on multiple lines inside one cell: the Wrap Text button, manual line breaks with Alt+Enter, adjusting row height, and common fixes.
Add a drop-down list in Google Sheets using data validation: build one from a typed list or a range, allow multiple selections, color-code options, and edit or remove it.
Build a pivot table in Google Sheets to summarize and group data: add rows, columns, and values, change how values are summarized, add filters, and refresh when data changes.
Freeze the header row in Google Sheets so it stays visible while you scroll — plus freezing multiple rows, freezing columns, doing it on mobile, and unfreezing.
Remove duplicate rows in Google Sheets with the built-in Data cleanup tool, the UNIQUE function, conditional formatting to find them first, or COUNTIF to flag them.
Highlight cells automatically in Google Sheets with conditional formatting: single-color rules, color scales, formatting based on another cell, and custom formula rules.
Master the IF function in Google Sheets: the syntax, nested IFs, IFS for multiple conditions, and combining IF with AND, OR, and ISBLANK — with copy-paste examples.
Use the QUERY function in Google Sheets to filter, sort, and summarize data with SQL-like syntax: SELECT, WHERE, ORDER BY, GROUP BY, LABEL, and pulling from another sheet.
Learn VLOOKUP in Google Sheets step by step: the syntax, exact vs. approximate match, looking up data from another sheet, and how to fix #N/A and #REF errors.