PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet · error · PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Exception

Invalid column index $columnIndex

Error message

Invalid column index $columnIndex

What it means

Error "Invalid column index $columnIndex" thrown in PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet.

Source

Thrown at src/PhpSpreadsheet/Cell/Coordinate.php:469

    }

    private const LOOKUP_CACHE = ' ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ';

    /**
     * String from column index.
     *
     * @param int|numeric-string $columnIndex Column index (A = 1)
     */
    public static function stringFromColumnIndex(int|string $columnIndex, bool $tolerateZero = false): string
    {
        /** @var string[] */
        static $indexCache = [];
        $columnIndex2 = (int) $columnIndex;
        if ($columnIndex2 === 0 && $tolerateZero) {
            return '';
        }
        if ($columnIndex2 < 1 || $columnIndex2 > AddressRange::MAX_COLUMN_INT) {
            throw new Exception("Invalid column index $columnIndex");
        }

        $columnIndex = $columnIndex2;
        if (!isset($indexCache[$columnIndex])) {
            $indexValue = $columnIndex;
            $base26 = '';
            do {
                $characterValue = ($indexValue % 26) ?: 26;
                $indexValue = ($indexValue - $characterValue) / 26;
                $base26 = self::LOOKUP_CACHE[$characterValue] . $base26;
            } while ($indexValue > 0);
            $indexCache[$columnIndex] = $base26;
        }

        return $indexCache[$columnIndex];
    }

    /**

View on GitHub (pinned to 65b080eef4)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at src/PhpSpreadsheet/Cell/Coordinate.php:469 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet@65b080eef4 (2026-08-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2e3b7ef3bea22954. Report an issue: GitHub.