What is a 3-D formula in Excel?

Answer 1

It is a formula that refers to the same cell addresses on more than one sheet. So if you wanted to add the value in C3 on Sheet1, Sheet2 and Sheet3, you would use a 3D formula. To refer to the sheet, you type its name followed by an exclamation mark and then the cell reference. You could start the formula in the cell you want the total to appear. You would type =SUM( and then click on the sheet tab for the first sheet, hold down Shift and select the tab for the third sheet, then click cell C3 and press Enter. The 3D formula created would be:

=SUM(Sheet1:Sheet3!C3)

Answer 2

A 3D reference is a reference to a cell that has the column and row and the sheet. So C3 would be a cell reference, but it does not say what sheet it is on, so it is not a 3D reference. If it was in Sheet2, then we include that followed by an exclamation mark and then the normal cell reference. So the 3D reference would be like this:

Sheet2!C3

Answer 3

It can refer to a chart that has 3 dimensions or a reference to the same cell or range on multiple worksheets, like the following formula.

=MAX(Sheet1:Sheet4!B20:C25)