# Excel – Limitations to the Excel INDIRECT() Function

microsoft excelworksheet-function

If I have numerical data in A1 and A2 then:

=SUM(A1:A2)


works and:

=SUM(INDIRECT("A1:A2"))


works and:

=SUM(A1,A2)


works but:

=SUM(INDIRECT("A1,A2"))


does not work. I am guessing that this is because "A1,A2" is not a valid cell reference.

Can anyone explain why this is so, or point me to some online documentation that gives the explanation ??

• The SUM function takes a list of numbers or references as arguments. When you separate ranges with a comma, you are sending two arguments (references) to the SUM function.

The INDIRECT function accepts one ref_text argument (and the optional a1 argument) and "returns the reference specified by a text string."

SUM function, Syntax:

SUM(number1,[number2],...)

number1 (Required)

The first number you want to add. The number can be like 4, a cell reference like B6, or a cell range like B2:B8.

number2-255 (Optional)

This is the second number you want to add. You can specify up to 255 numbers in this way.