Use OFFSET to Retrieve Rows from an Excel List

Excel’s OFFSET function is used to retrieve values from a cell or range that is a specified number of rows and/or columns from another cell.

Why would you ever need to do this? The OFFSET function is often used in conjunction with other functions however this video demonstrates how it can be used on its own to retrieve the Top or Bottom N Rows from an Excel List.

This method works whether your table has a fixed or variable number of rows and columns!

I recently created a video about the TAKE function (https://youtu.be/FW2Iq9B2y78) which, as at the date of recording, is only available to users enrolled in the Office 365 Beta Program.

In response to that video, I was asked if there was a way to provide the same functionality using non-beta-non-365 versions of Excel. Enter the OFFSET function!

Links to the video and individual sections below…

Review of the TAKE function

What is the OFFSET Function?

Demo 1: Retrieve Top 4 rows using the OFFSET Function

Demo 2: Retrieve Bottom 3 rows using the OFFSET Function

Demo 3: Using the optional Height and Width Parameters

Demo 4: Using OFFSET with a variable number of Rows