When you print a
spreadsheet that has many rows of data, numbering the rows is
one thing you can do to be a hero for that report's end users.
Row numbers provide an easy point of reference for the people
who read and discuss a report, but the question is, what's the
best way to number rows?
Manually numbering
rows is easy to do, but you'll have to repeat the process
every time you insert or delete a row. Instead, use the ROW
function to number rows automatically.
When you enter
=ROW() in a cell, the function looks at the cell in which
it's entered and returns the corresponding row number. You can
copy that function to number all of your data rows. When you
insert or delete a row, each instance of the ROW function is
automatically updated. All you have to do is copy the function
into any new rows you add.
There's one catch
to numbering your rows using ROW: If you've entered at least
one row of column labels, the ROW function will return the
physical row number, not the actual row number of the data. To
work around this, subtract the offset when you enter the ROW
function for the first time. For instance, if your sheet
contains one row of column labels, enter =ROW()-1.
