Full column reference is another cell reference in Excel or Google Sheets, which is used to reference the entire column, for example, if you want to reference the entire column A, you can use the following reference format A: A.

Full column references

Full column reference is composed of two column numbers plus a colon, the starting cell and the end of the cell is joined together by a colon. In the full-column cell references, there is no row number, if you want to identify the entire column of cells, you only need to use two column numbers on it. For example, you can use A:A to indicate column A, you can use A:B to indicate column A and column B.

When you want to sum all the cells in column A, then you can use the SUM function in combination with the full column reference A: A, the formula is as follows.

=SUM(A:A)

Full column references are suitable for a large number of rows or dynamically changing the number of rows in the data table, it can be easily used and entered through the method of full column references.

Full column references have a big disadvantage is the performance problem, when the column contains a large number of cells or invalid cells, it will lead to very low performance.

Video: Excel/Google Sheets: Full Column Reference

SAMPLE Files

Below are sample files in Microsoft Excel and Google sheets that you can download for reference if you wish.

Google Sheets Sample file: click here.