Spreadsheet Practice

How to list the letters of the alphabet with a formula in Excel

Excel formula

=CHAR(SEQUENCE($D$1,1,CODE($F$1)))

In Excel 365, generate the character codes with SEQUENCE and turn them into letters: =CHAR(SEQUENCE(26,1,65)) spills A to Z.

Result on the example
a 26-row list that spills from A2 in A2
Works in
Excel 2021, 2024 and Microsoft 365
Google Sheets
Different formula, see below

See it work

The formula is already in A2. Change any input and the result updates, or edit the formula to experiment.

How it works

Letters have consecutive character codes: A is 65, B is 66 and so on. CODE gets the code of the starting letter, SEQUENCE counts up from it, and CHAR turns each code back into its letter. Change D1 or F1 and the list updates.

=CHAR(SEQUENCE($D$1,1,CODE($F$1)))

Result{26 rows × 1 col} "A", "B", "C", "D", …

  1. $D$126

    The value in D1.

  2. $F$1"A"

    The value in F1.

  3. CODE($F$1)65

    CODE: Code number of the first character.

    • text$F$1"A"
  4. SEQUENCE($D$1,1,CODE($F$1)){26 rows × 1 col} 65, 66, 67, 68, …

    SEQUENCE: A grid of sequential numbers. Spills.

    • rows$D$126
    • columns1
    • startCODE($F$1)65
  5. CHAR(SEQUENCE($D$1,1,CODE($F$1))){26 rows × 1 col} "A", "B", "C", "D", …

    CHAR: Character for a code number.

    • numberSEQUENCE($D$1,1,CODE($F$1)){26 rows × 1 col} 65, 66, 67, 68, …

In Google Sheets

Google Sheets needs a different formula: =ARRAYFORMULA(CHAR(SEQUENCE($D$1,1,CODE($F$1)))). On the same data it gives the same result. Here it is running in Google Sheets mode.

Other ways to do it

Each one was run on the same example sheet.

FormulaResultWhen to use it
=CHAR(SEQUENCE($D$1,1,CODE($F$1)+32))spills 26 × 1Different resultLowercase letters have codes 32 higher (a is 97). a to z instead of A to Z.

Common mistakes

  • Asking for more than 26 letters from A runs past Z into [, \, ] and other symbols.
  • In versions without SEQUENCE, put =CHAR(64+ROW(A1)) in the first cell and fill down 26 rows.

Try it yourself

Same data, empty answer cell. Your formula is graded instantly, then re-checked on changed data, so a typed-in number won't pass.

List the letters of the alphabet with a formula

In A2, list as many letters as D1 says, starting from the letter in F1, one per row, with a single formula.

Questions

How do I list the letters across a row?

Swap the SEQUENCE arguments: =CHAR(SEQUENCE(1,26,65)) spills A to Z to the right.

How do I make labels like A1, B1, C1?

Join a number: =CHAR(SEQUENCE(26,1,65))&"1".

Is there a way without a formula?

Type A, B and C, select them and drag the fill handle; Excel continues the series only if you create a custom list first.

Checked by running on 2026-10-30: every formula and result on this page was calculated by the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine, in both Excel and Google Sheets modes.