SEQUENCE Formula in Excel 1 to 100

What this does

SEQUENCE produces a run of numbers as a spilled array. Because Excel stores dates as numbers, it is also the shortest way to build a date series: starting from a date and stepping by 1 gives consecutive days, which is how a calendar column or a project timeline gets built without dragging a fill handle. Its second common use is feeding other array functions — supplying the k argument to LARGE for a top-n list, or the row indices to INDEX. A step of -1 counts down. The same idea underpins a lot of everyday Excel work, so the few minutes spent getting it right here pay back across every sheet you build afterwards. Treat it as a pattern, not a one-off, and it stops being something you look up and starts being something you reach for. The difference between a quick fix and a sheet you can trust is the extra minute you spend validating “sequence formula in excel 1 to 100”. Start on a copy or a tiny sample, keep the affected formula visible, and compare the result with the tool above before you touch the real workbook. When a formula is involved, keep the inputs labelled beside it, reference cells instead of typing values, and apply number formatting only after the result checks out. The point is a workflow that saves repeating the same clicks every week, but the practical win is that someone else can open the file and understand what happened without asking you.

A worked example

Thirty consecutive dates from a start in A1: =SEQUENCE(30, 1, A1, 1), formatted as dates. Twelve month-start dates: =EOMONTH(A1, SEQUENCE(12, 1, -1, 1))+1. A top-five list in one formula: =LARGE(B2:B500, SEQUENCE(5)). A 4×3 grid numbered 1 to 12: =SEQUENCE(4, 3). SEQUENCE replaces the drag-to-fill for any regular series, and a series that is a formula updates when its start does. One habit worth forming early: name the cells that hold your inputs, so the formula reads in plain language instead of a string of cell addresses. A reviewer — or you in three months — can then follow the logic without decoding what B7 and D2 were supposed to mean, which is most of what makes a sheet maintainable.

In Google Sheets

Everything above works in Google Sheets too. Excel and Sheets share the formula syntax used here; only the surrounding menus are arranged differently. That portability is deliberate — learn it once and it follows you between the two tools and across Windows and Mac. Nothing on this page is behind a login: the tool runs entirely in your browser, the formula is shown in full with one-click copy, and the steps work the same on Windows and Mac. That is the whole promise here — the exact answer, a way to prove it on your own numbers, and just enough context to make it stick. The short version of “sequence formula in excel 1 to 100”: the answer is at the top of this page, the tool proves it on your own numbers, and the sections above explain why it holds so the next variation does not stump you. Excel rewards people who reference cells instead of typing values and who keep inputs separate from formulas, because that is what makes a result you can audit months later. Build it once, deliberately, with the live tool as a check, and you convert a one-off lookup into a reusable skill — which is the whole point of learning the why and not just the what.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting to format a date sequence, which shows serial numbers.
• Generating a block larger than the empty space available, which returns #SPILL!.
• Using it in Excel 2019 or earlier, where it does not exist.

Frequently asked questions