Spill in Excel - tutorial with examples

This tutorial provides a comprehensive guide to Excel's Spill feature, a cornerstone of dynamic arrays. We'll cover what spilling is, how to manage spill errors, and more.

The introduction of dynamic arrays has revolutionized Excel, with "spilling" at its heart. Let's explore this powerful feature and how it enhances your Excel workflow.

Key Topics:

• Understanding Excel's Spill Functionality
• Excel Versions Supporting Spill
• Spilled Array Formulas Explained
• Deciphering the #SPILL! Error
• Managing Spill Behavior
• Key Takeaways on Excel Spilling

What is Spilling in Excel?

"Spill" refers to Excel's automatic expansion of formula results into adjacent cells when a formula produces multiple values. For instance, using =FILTER(A2:C9, B2:B9=F1) in cell E4 filters data and automatically fills the results into the necessary cells. This spill range is visually highlighted. In dynamic Excel, this behavior is inherent to all formulas.

Excel Versions with Spill Support:

Spill is exclusive to dynamic Excel, introduced in January 2020 for Microsoft 365 subscribers. Currently supported platforms include:

• Excel 365 for Windows
• Excel 365 for Mac
• Excel 365 for Apple
• Excel 365 for Android
• Excel 365 for Windows Mobile

Note that Excel Online lacks support for spilling and dynamic arrays.

Spilled Array Formulas:

A spilled array formula (synonymous with dynamic array formula) returns results across multiple cells. Unlike legacy CSE array formulas (requiring Ctrl Shift Enter), dynamic array formulas are entered in a single cell and completed with a standard Enter key.

To illustrate, calculating 10% of A3:A6 can be done three ways:

1. Regular Formula: =A3*10% (in B3, copied down). Single-cell result.
2. CSE Array Formula: {=A3:A6*10%} (in B3:B6, Ctrl Shift Enter). Multiple cells, pre-defined range.
3. Dynamic Array Formula: =A3:A6*10% (in B3, Enter). Automatic spill range.

Understanding the #SPILL! Error:

The #SPILL! error signifies that a formula's spill is obstructed. This could be due to occupied cells, overlapping formulas, merged cells, etc. Click the warning icon to identify the cause. Removing the obstruction resolves the error.

Controlling Spill Behavior:

While you can't globally disable spilling in Excel 365, the implicit intersection operator (@) prevents a formula from spilling multiple cells. For example, =XLOOKUP(@E:E, A:A, C:C) restricts the lookup to a single value, avoiding potential #SPILL! errors from large result sets.

Key Takeaways:

• Spilled array formulas occupy only one entry cell but automatically fill multiple cells.
• The spill range size is determined by Excel.
• Only the top-left cell of the spill range is editable.
• Global spill disabling isn't possible, but the @ operator controls individual formula spill.
• Spilled array formulas don't function within Excel tables.
• Dynamic array formulas referencing external workbooks require both files to be open.

This covers the fundamentals of Excel's Spill feature. For further questions, please leave a comment.

The above is the detailed content of Spill in Excel - tutorial with examples. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!