DROP Function in Excel: Remove First or Last Rows

⏱ 1 min readUpdated 28 September 2026

Dynamic ArrayLevel: ExpertAvailable in: Excel 365 / 2021+

In this article
  1. Syntax
  2. Examples
  3. Example 1
  4. Example 2
  5. Related functions

DROP removes rows or columns from the start (positive) or end (negative) of an array — e.g. strip headers or total rows.

Syntax

=DROP(array, rows, [columns])
Argument What it means
rows Rows to remove; negative = from the bottom.

Examples

Example 1

=DROP(A1:E101, 1)

Data without the header row.

Example 2

=DROP(A2:E101, -1)

Remove a grand-total row at the bottom.

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