In Excel: a modern Excel worksheet (.xlsx) holds 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns (the last column is XFD); the legacy .xls format stopped at 65,536 rows and 256 columns (last column IV); Google Sheets has no fixed row limit but caps a workbook at 10 million cells, starting a new sheet at 1,000 rows by 26 columns.
On this page7
Press Ctrl+↓ in an empty column to jump to the final row, 1048576.
Press Ctrl+→ in an empty row to jump to the final column, XFD.
Read the Name Box to confirm the cell address (A1048576 or XFD1).
Save as .xlsx, not .xls, to keep the full 1,048,576-row grid.
What this does
Every spreadsheet grid has a hard ceiling. Modern Excel files (.xlsx, since Excel 2007) reach exactly 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns — that is 2^20 rows and 2^14 columns, and the final column carries the label XFD. Older .xls files (Excel 2003 and earlier) topped out far lower at 65,536 rows and 256 columns, ending at column IV. Google Sheets works differently: it does not impose a single row number but enforces a 10-million-cell cap across the whole workbook, and a brand-new sheet opens with 1,000 rows and 26 columns that you can extend until you hit that cap. Limits quoted for one product or file format do not carry over to another: the same data can fit in one file type and not in another. The difference between a quick fix and a sheet you can trust is the extra minute you spend validating “excel max row count”. Start on a copy or a tiny sample, keep the affected rows visible, and compare the result with the outcome you expected before you touch the real workbook. When this is a ribbon command, the selection matters more than the button: confirm the range, apply the command, then spot-check the output before saving. The point is a calculation you can defend to a CFO or an auditor, but the practical win is that someone else can open the file and understand what happened without asking you.
A worked example
Open a blank workbook, click any cell in an empty column and press Ctrl+↓ (or press Ctrl+End on an empty sheet). The selection jumps straight to the bottom of the grid and the Name Box reads A1048576 — the last available row. Press Ctrl+→ from A1 and it lands on XFD1, the last available column. You reach for these numbers when planning a large import, deciding whether a dataset fits, or troubleshooting why rows past a certain point seem to disappear. Keep a note of which product and format a quoted limit applies to. Mixing figures from different products is the usual source of confusion.
In Google Sheets
The limits themselves differ between the two products — Excel caps each worksheet at a fixed number of rows and columns, while Google Sheets caps the number of cells in a whole spreadsheet — so the figures for Excel do not apply to Sheets. Keep this page bookmarked for the next time the same question comes up. Better still, repeat the steps once in your own workbook — doing it yourself is what turns a copied answer into something you remember. For “excel max row count”, keep the figure that applies to the product and file format you actually use, and treat numbers quoted for another product or an older format as different limits, not the same one.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the old 65,536-row .xls limit still applies — that only affects legacy files.
- Importing more than ~1 million rows of data and silently losing the overflow.
- Treating Google Sheets as if it had Excel's fixed grid, when it is the 10-million-cell cap that bites.
- Confusing the row limit with performance — Excel slows long before you reach 1,048,576 populated rows.
Frequently asked questions
How many rows can Excel have?
Modern Excel (.xlsx) supports 1,048,576 rows. Legacy .xls files are limited to 65,536.
How many columns can Excel have?
16,384 columns in .xlsx, ending at column XFD. Legacy .xls stops at 256 (column IV).
Does Google Sheets have the same limit?
No. It caps a workbook at 10 million cells rather than a fixed row count, and new sheets start at 1,000 rows by 26 columns.