Excel Formula for returning cell values

Question

i'm looking for an excel formula that will return every 4th cell. For example if i have in column A the following:

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9

I'm looking for a formula that will return every second cell, i would like my B column to show me

• 1
• 3
• 5
• 7
• 9...

i tried using Offset with no success. Thank you Assaf

Answer 1

With data in column A, in B1 enter:

=INDEX(A:A,2*(ROWS($1:1)-1)+1,1)

and copy down.

Answer 2

For starters, I highly recommend Gary's approach as it is a non-volatile solution. I will be providing an offset solution to match your initial thought process. However I do not recommend using it if you have a lot of offset or other volatile functions in your workbook as they can cause things to slow down significantly after a certain number of them. Volatile formulas recalculate every time something on the worksheet changes, where a non volatile functions only recalculates when the ranges it refers to change.

=OFFSET(A1,2*(ROW(A1)-1)+1,0,1,1)

Place that where you want your data to start and copy down as far as required.