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MS Excel 2011 for Mac: How to Change Column Headings from Numbers to Letters

This Excel tutorial explains how to change column headings from numbers (1, 2, 3, 4) back to letters (A, B, C, D) in Excel 2011 for Mac (with screenshots and step-by-step instructions).

Question: In Microsoft Excel 2011 for Mac, my Excel spreadsheet has numbers for both rows and columns. How do I change the column headings back to letters such as A, B, C, D?

Answer: Traditionally, column headings are represented by letters such as A, B, C, D. If your spreadsheet shows the columns as numbers, you can change the headings back to letters with a few easy steps.

In the example below, the column headings are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 instead of the traditional A, B, C, D values that you normally see in Excel. When the column headings are numeric values, R1C1 reference style is being displayed in the spreadsheet.

To change the column headings to letters, select Preferences... under the Excel menu.

When the Excel Preferences window appears, click on the General option under Authoring.

When the General window appears, uncheck the option called "Use R1C1 reference style" and click on the OK button.

Now when you return to your spreadsheet, the column headings should be letters (A, B, C, D) instead of numbers (1, 2, 3, 4).