Basic Excel formulas & functions with examples
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The tutorial provides a list of Excel basic formulas and functions with examples and links to related in-depth tutorials.
Being primarily designed as a spreadsheet program, Microsoft Excel is extremely powerful and versatile when it comes to calculating numbers or solving math and engineering problems. It enables you to total or average a column of numbers in the blink of an eye. Apart from that, you can compute a compound interest and weighted average, get the optimal budget for your advertising campaign, minimize the shipment costs or make the optimal work schedule for your employees. All this is done by entering formulas in cells.
This tutorial aims to teach you the essentials of Excel functions and show how to use basic formulas in Excel.
Excel formula basics
10 basic Excel functions you should definitely know
Excel formula tips and how-to's
The basics of Excel formulas
Before providing the basic Excel formulas list, let's define the key terms just to make sure we are on the same page. So, what do we call an Excel formula and Excel function?
Formula is an expression that calculates the value of a cell.
For example, =A2+A2+A3+A4 is a formula that adds up the values in cells A2 to A4.
Function is a predefined formula already available in Excel. Functions perform specific calculations in a particular order based on the specified values, called arguments, or parameters.
For example, instead of specifying each value to be summed like in the above formula, you can use the SUM function to add up a range of cells: =SUM(A2:A4)
You can find all available Excel functions in the Function Library on the Formulas tab:
There exist 400+ functions in Excel, and the number is growing by version to version. Of course, it's next to impossible to memorize all of them, and you actually don't need to. The Function Wizard will help you find the function best suited for a particular task, while the Excel Formula Intellisense will prompt the function's syntax and arguments as soon as you type the function's name preceded by an equal sign in a cell:
Clicking the function's name will turn it into a blue hyperlink, which will open the Help topic for that function.
Tip. You don't necessarily have to type a function name in all caps, Microsoft Excel will automatically capitalize it once you finish typing the formula and press the Enter key to complete it.
10 Excel basic functions you should definitely know
What follows below is a list of 10 simple yet really helpful functions that are a necessary skill for everyone who wishes to turn from an Excel novice to an Excel professional.
SUM
The first Excel function you should be familiar with is the one that performs the basic arithmetic operation of addition:
SUM(number1, [number2], …)
In the syntax of all Excel functions, an argument enclosed in [square brackets] is optional, other arguments are required. Meaning, your Sum formula should include at least 1 number, reference to a cell or a range of cells. For example:
=SUM(A2:A6) - adds up values in cells A2 through A6.
=SUM(A2, A6) - adds up values in cells A2 and A6.
=SUM(A2:A6)/5 - adds up values in cells A2 through A6, and then divides the sum by 5.
In your Excel worksheets, the formulas may look something similar to this:
Tip. The fastest way to sum a column or row of numbers is to select a cell next to the numbers you want to sum (the cell immediately below the last value in the column or to the right of the last number in the row), and click the AutoSum button on the Home tab, in the Editing group. Excel will insert a SUM formula for you automatically.
Useful resources:
Excel Sum formula examples - formulas to total a column, rows, only filtered (visible) cells, or sum across sheets.
Excel AutoSum - the fastest way to sum a column or row of numbers.
SUMIF in Excel - formula examples to conditionally sum cells.
SUMIFS in Excel - formula examples to sum cells based on multiple criteria.
AVERAGE
The Excel AVERAGE function does exactly what its name suggests, i.e. finds an average, or arithmetic mean, of numbers. Its syntax i
