What it does
It stacks a column header with the formula for cells below into one spilling formula, and optionally can toggle back to a split header and formula if desired.  If the formula within the column is not already spillable, it will attempt to make it spillable using the dot operator if your Excel version supports it (otherwise an alternative spilling approach will be used).

When to use it
When you want to protect your formulas from being accidentally overwritten or make it easy to clear cells that have a mix of inputs/hard-coded values and formulas that reference those inputs.

Why to use it
It’s a quick and easy way to apply (or un-apply) stacking spillable formulas within a cell header, making them more dynamic and protecting your formulas from being accidentally overwritten along with input cells.

Default shortcut
None

Other Details

• Category: Formulas / General
• Difficulty: 2/5
• Usage/frequency: 3/5
• Automation factor: 4/5 (estimated 180 seconds saved each time used)
• Type: Shortcut
• Date added: 11/18/2025
• Tags: Formulas, headers, toggle, dynamic, spill

Related Macros
Toggle Spilled Formula

Other Articles
Put Excel Formulas in the Headers

Example file – formulas in the headers

Prerequisites
Select the cell containing the column header (with formulas below) you’d like to update (stack).  If the cell directly below the header does not contain a formula with one or more cell references, an error message will be displayed.

Instructions
With the desired cell range selected, run the Stack Header Formula macro.  The column header and the formula below will be stacked within a formula where the column header previously was.  The cell references in the formula will be updated to automatically spill downward.  The dot operator will be used to spill the references if your Excel version supports it.  If not, an alternative approach using the OFFSET/MAX/COUNTA functions will be used to spill the references.

With a converted formula selected (starting with the VSTACK function), run the Stack Header Formula macro again to convert the formula back to an unstacked approach.

TBD