Selecting every nth column in Excel

[kbowers78]

I have a need to select every 3 column in a large spreadsheet.

Please see the attachment (this shows only 3 months of data, The original has 72 months)

I need to select every 3rd cell in row 3 (C3, F3, I3, etc.) I also need to select every thrid cell in row 6. The cells are merged for each month, when unmerging the data resides in the first cell, so I need A6, D6, G6, etc for this row.

What I ultimately do is:

1) keep a running tab of number of units
2) keep a 12 motnh rolling average of the data in row 6

[rwgrietveld]

We could provide you with a solution, but I won't.

data manipulation is made easier if you use tables with records and attributes. Then you no longer need to have every third cell in a column.

next is the merging. You bring yourself in great difficulty to have merged cells. Please try to avoid that in the data section.

In the visualisation sector it can be done, but please avoid it in the data section.

When your data would look like

Then your live would be a lot easier.

[kbowers78]

Thank you for your reply. I 100% agree with you about merging and tables. However the data I have presented to you is from a seperate program (one I have no influence over). So I am stuck with having to mine data from the 3rd colmun.

[daddylonglegs]

You can use SUMIF to sum all the "Net" values, e.g.

=SUMIF(A$2:J$2,"Net",A3:J3)

[kbowers78]

Thank you.

Any tips on selecting every 3rd column for the %?

[shg]

In, say, A14, =AVERAGE(A6:R6) averages months 1 through 6 of data. If you copy it to D14, you get months 2 to 7.