Excel Formula to use Basic outline numbering in Excel!!
Tags: excelformula, excelformulas
Published: 2021-11-02 08:38:17

---
title: Excel Formula to use Basic outline numbering in Excel!!
published: true
date: 2021-11-01 10:46:04 UTC
tags: ExcelFormula,Excelformulas
canonical_url: https://geekexcel.com/excel-formula-to-use-basic-outline-numbering-in-excel/
---

Have you ever tried to use basic outline numbering? Do you have any good methods for solving this task in Excel? In this tutorial, I introduce some formulas which can quickly help you  **to use basic outline numbering in Excel**. Utilize the below-mentioned formulas!! Get an official version of ** MS Excel**  from the following link: [https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-365/excel](https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-365/excel)

## Generic Formula

- If you want to use the basic outline numbering, you have to use the below formula.

```
=[COUNTA](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-excel-counta-function-in-office-365-with-examples/)($B$5:B5)&"."&[IF](https://geekexcel.com/use-if-function-in-microsoft-excel-365-simple-steps/)(B5<>"",1,[MID](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-mid-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)(D4,[FIND](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-find-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)(".",D4)+1,[LEN](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-len-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)(D4))+1)

```

## Syntax Explanation

- **Comma symbol (,)** – It is a separator that helps to separate a list of values.
- **Parenthesis ()** – The main purpose of this symbol is to group the elements.
- **Plus operator (+)** – This symbol is used to add the values.
- **COUNTA** – The **[COUNTA function](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-excel-counta-function-in-office-365-with-examples/)** counts the number of cells that are non-empty and returns the output in numbers.
- **IF** – The Excel **[IF function](https://geekexcel.com/use-if-function-in-microsoft-excel-365-simple-steps/)** return one value for a TRUE result, and another for a FALSE result. It is a logical test combined with logical functions like AND, OR.
- **MID** – The **[MID Function](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-mid-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)** will extract digits from the given number as well. It extracts the number (starting from the left side) or characters from the given string.
- **FIND** – The Excel **[FIND function](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-find-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)** is used to find out the one text string inside the other.
- **LEN** – The **[LEN Function](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-len-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)** in Excel returns the length of a given text string as the number of characters.

## Practical Examples

Use the following steps to use the basic outline numbering.

- For instance, you have to **create a sample data** in Excel.

![](https://geekexcel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Sample-data-77.png)<figcaption>Sample data</figcaption>

- To generate basic outline numbering, you need to use the following formula in **[formula bar](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-formula-bar-for-various-purpose-in-excel-365/)**.

```
=[COUNTA](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-excel-counta-function-in-office-365-with-examples/)($B$5:B5)&"."&[IF](https://geekexcel.com/use-if-function-in-microsoft-excel-365-simple-steps/)(B5<>"",1,[MID](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-mid-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)(D4,[FIND](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-find-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)(".",D4)+1,[LEN](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-len-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)(D4))+1)

```

![](https://geekexcel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Use-the-Formula-31.png)<figcaption>Use the Formula</figcaption>

- Then, you have to **Hit the Enter key** to get the result as shown below.

![](https://geekexcel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Result-in-cell-D5-3.png)<figcaption>Result in cell D5</figcaption>

- Now, you need to  **press Ctrl+D key**  to get the results in all other columns.

![](https://geekexcel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Output-50.png)<figcaption>Output</figcaption>

## Closure

Hope you like this tutorial on how to  **use basic outline numbering in Excel** by using Excel Formulas. If you have any  **questions**  or  **suggestions**  regarding this lesson, feel free to use the  **comment**  section below to let us know.

Thank you so much for visiting  **[Geek Excel](https://geekexcel.com/)!! **If you want to learn more helpful formulas, check out [**Excel Formulas**](https://geekexcel.com/excel-formula/) **!!**

**Further Reference:**

- **[How to Insert Bullets or Numberings in Multiple Cells in Excel Office 365?](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-insert-bullets-or-numberings-in-multiple-cells-in-excel-office-365/)**
- **[How To Use Excel VALUE Function in Office 365?](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-value-function-in-microsoft-excel-2013/)**
- **[Excel Formulas to Count the Cells Less than a Given Number!!](https://geekexcel.com/excel-formulas-to-count-the-cells-less-than-a-given-number/)**
- **[How to Show all Formulas in Excel Office 365 ~ With Examples!!](https://geekexcel.com/show-all-formulas-in-excel/)**
- **[How To Calculate the Range contains a specific date in Excel?](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-calculate-the-range-contains-a-specific-date-in-excel/)**