SEQUENCE

About this lesson

SEQUENCE generates a series of numbers as an array, from a count, a number of columns, a start and a step. Wrapped in SUM or INDEX, it feeds another calculation without the numbers ever being typed.

By the end you can

generate a number series with SEQUENCE.
sum or read a series without typing it out.

Practises SEQUENCE SUM INDEX ROW

The idea

A list of numbers that nobody has to type. SEQUENCE(5) is 1 to 5. SEQUENCE(12,1,100,50) is twelve payments rising by fifty. SEQUENCE(4,1,2024) is four years of headings. In Excel 365 the series spills. Inside SUM or INDEX it stays a single number, which is the form most sheets need.

The mistake is the argument order. Rows, columns, start, step. A series that should run across a heading row needs its count in the second position, not the first. This grid, like older Excel, shows only the first value of a bare SEQUENCE.

The mistake to watch for

The argument order. Rows come first, then columns, then the start, then the step. So a series meant to run across a heading row needs its count in the second position. A SEQUENCE with the count in the wrong slot spills the wrong way and looks like a one-item list.

Where this comes up again

The SUM Function Spreadsheet Basics
Fill Down and Fill Right Spreadsheet Basics
Relative References Cell References and Fill
Absolute References and the Dollar Sign Cell References and Fill

This lesson needs JavaScript to run. Everything below is the lesson in full, but you cannot type into the grid or be marked.

Type a formula

In D2, generate the numbers 1 to 5 with SEQUENCE. Excel would spill the whole list down the column from here. This grid does not spill, so it shows the first result only. The next steps wrap the array in a function that reads all of it.

To begin, type it exactly:

=SEQUENCE(5)

Row	A	B	D
1	Instalments	12	First number
2	First payment	100
3	Rises by	50	Sum of 1 to 10
4
5			Third payment
6
7			Total paid
8
9			Next year

Every step

1

In D2, generate the numbers 1 to 5 with SEQUENCE. Excel would spill the whole list down the column from here. This grid does not spill, so it shows the first result only. The next steps wrap the array in a function that reads all of it. To begin, type it exactly: =SEQUENCE(5).

Hint. One argument, 5.
2

In D4, add up the numbers 1 to 10: SUM around a SEQUENCE.

Hint. SUM of SEQUENCE(10).
3

Payments start at the amount in B2 and rise by the amount in B3 each time. In D6, find the third payment. SEQUENCE with the count in B1, one column, the start, and the step. Read it at position 3 with INDEX.

Hint. SEQUENCE(12,1,100,50), INDEX 3.
4

In D8, the total of all twelve payments: SUM around the same SEQUENCE.

Hint. SUM of the SEQUENCE.
5

Read =INDEX(SEQUENCE(4,1,2024),3) and say what it returns.

Hint. 2024, 2025, 2026, ...