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Change the Column Headers in Excel

June 25, 2003 - by

Stuart from the UK asks,

Please can you tell me how I can change the column headers in Excel. Somehow they have been changed to represent numbers rather than letters. This is therefore making it extremely difficult when trying to write a formula.

You are seeing the old Microsoft "Row 1, Column 1" reference style. To turn this off and go back to the usual "Lotus 1-2-3" reference style, follow these steps:

  • From the menu, select Tools
  • Select Options
  • In the Options dialog, select the General tab
  • Uncheck R1C1 Reference Style
  • Click OK