Computers have made our life so easy and now are an essential part of our daily life. Additionally, spreadsheets are one of the applications that help us build, organize, compute and analyze data in several formats. And the cell is something that is the building block of a spreadsheet. But do you know what is a cell in computer? If not, don’t worry. In this article, you will know about the types of cells in computers and the cell address in computers. Also, we will discuss the data cell and the active cell in detail below.
1. What is a Cell in Computer?
On a spreadsheet, the intersection of a column and a row is called a cell. Cell content is seen in the formula bar and the active cell is the highlighted cell. Any value can be contained by each cell and called a relative cell reference. It can also be referred to as a spreadsheet’s smallest unit. But what is a cell in computer other than the cell in a spreadsheet? Well, here it is only defined on the basis of its use in a spreadsheet. Data entered in a cell can be a formula, numeric value, or text. A cell can be identified using a row number and a column letter. Must See What is System Unit in Computer?
Some more references of cells that answer what is a cell in computer called are:
- A cell refers to the very small data transmitted through a network.
- A cell can be referred to as a transmission tower’s covered area in a location.
- A cell on a hard drive is the smallest area containing the data.
- A cell in a battery is the discrete unit responsible for storing current-source.
2. Who defined Cell?
The cell in biology was defined by Robert Hooke in 1665. When he observed a cork under a microscope, he saw some walls that separated the different compartments which he termed cells. It is the foundation of organisms that forms tissues and organs.
3. What are the Types of Cells in Computer Excel?

The types of cells in computer excel are:
- Relative Cell: To apply a formula to a cell range and to refer to a cell that is relative to the formula position, a relative cell reference is used. When a formula is copied, the reference changes to the correct cell. Simply, you can enter the cell address in the computer and create a relative cell reference.
- Mixed Cell: This cell contains both the cell references of absolute as well as relative. If you want to enter a formula having some part relative and some absolute, you can use a cross or mixed reference. For example, to sum the cells B1:B5 while keeping B1 the same you can enter it as $B1 and make it an absolute cell.
- Absolute Cell: These cell references do not change when a formula is copied, this means they are fixed cells. You need to use a dollar sign to create an absolute cell. Example- $B$1 refers to the cell B1 always wherever the equation lies.
4. What is a Cell Address in Computer?
Now you must know about the cell address in computer after you read what is a cell in computer known as. The cell address in computer is the cell reference which is provided using the number of the row and the letter of the column. It identifies a specific cell in the computer. It can contain a number or one or more letters where the rows are indicated by the number and the columns are indicated by the alphabet. (See Why Does Computer Hardware Fail?)
5. What is Active Cell in Computer?
An active cell is one of the types of cells in a computer that is pointed to or selected in the Excel spreadsheet. It is represented by a thick border on the screen around the cell. Any change made in the formula or the data occurs in the active cells while other cells remain the same. To change the active cell, you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard and move the active cell up, down, right, or left.
You can also simply click on any cell and the cell will become active. Also, if you chose more than one cell together, only one cell is the active cell. You can format the active cell as per your requirement.
6. What is a Data Cell?
Any cell in the spreadsheet that contains data is called the data cell. By making a double click on any cell you can enter the data in the cell, thus making it the data cell. To empty the data cell, you can just click on the cell and press delete or backspace, the cell will no longer be a data cell. The cell number of the data cell can be seen in the name box on the left corner of the spreadsheet by clicking on the data cell. (See Why Everyone Should Learn Programming?)
7. What is Cell in MS Excel?
You can also ask, what is a cell in computer excel? At the intersection of a horizontal row and a vertical column, a rectangular box that occurs is called the cell. Alphabetic values are used to refer to a column and numeric values refer to a row. Each cell in the excel sheet is unique with its position or coordinates such as A1, A16, E4, and many more. A1 refers to the data cell which is the intersection of row 1 and column A. You can only enter 1 data at a time in a cell such as a text, value, formula, or data value.
8. What is Column in Excel?

Columns are the vertical fields in a workbook. Columns are represented by alphabets and have a unique name for each column. (See 23 Most Fun Things to Do with Your Computer)
9. How many Cells are in Excel?
Excel has a maximum of twenty-five thousand rows because it does not support a layout in a tabular form, unlike the traditional sheets. Therefore, the new Excel 2016 has limited rows. You can calculate the number of rows in a table on a sheet by using the formula rows(height). For every worksheet, the maximum number of columns is sixteen thousand three hundred eighty-four while the maximum number of rows is one lakh forty-eight thousand five hundred seventy-six which means the maximum number of cells in a spreadsheet can be 17,179,869,184.