Using excel for functions

Below is a brief overview of about 100 important Excel functions you should know, with links to detailed examples. We also have a large list of example formulas, a more complete list of Excel functions, and video training. If you are new to Excel formulas, see this introduction.

Note: Excel now includes Dynamic Array formulas, which offer important new functions.

Date and Time Functions

Excel provides many functions to work with dates and times. 

NOW and TODAY

You can get the current date with the TODAY function and the current date and time with the NOW Function. Technically, the NOW function returns the current date and time, but you can format as time only, as seen below:

TODAY() // returns current date
NOW() // returns current time

Note: these are volatile functions and will recalculate with every worksheet change. If you want a static value, use date and time shortcuts.

DAY, MONTH, YEAR, and DATE

You can use the DAY, MONTH, and YEAR functions to disassemble any date into its raw components, and the DATE function to put things back together again.

=DAY("14-Nov-2018") // returns 14
=MONTH("14-Nov-2018") // returns 11
=YEAR("14-Nov-2018") // returns 2018
=DATE(2018,11,14) // returns 14-Nov-2018

HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND, and TIME

Excel provides a set of parallel functions for times. You can use the HOUR, MINUTE, and SECOND functions to extract pieces of a time, and you can assemble a TIME from individual components with the TIME function.

=HOUR("10:30") // returns 10
=MINUTE("10:30") // returns 30
=SECOND("10:30") // returns 0
=TIME(10,30,0) // returns 10:30

DATEDIF and YEARFRAC

You can use the DATEDIF function to get time between dates in years, months, or days. DATEDIF can also be configured to get total time in «normalized» denominations, i.e. «2 years and 6 months and 27 days».

Use YEARFRAC to get fractional years:

=YEARFRAC("14-Nov-2018","10-Jun-2021") // returns 2.57

EDATE and EOMONTH

A common task with dates is to shift a date forward (or backward) by a given number of months. You can use the EDATE and EOMONTH functions for this. EDATE moves by month and retains the day. EOMONTH works the same way, but always returns the last day of the month.

EDATE(date,6) // 6 months forward
EOMONTH(date,6) // 6 months forward (end of month)

WORKDAY and NETWORKDAYS

To figure out a date n working days in the future, you can use the WORKDAY function. To calculate the number of workdays between two dates, you can use NETWORKDAYS.

WORKDAY(start,n,holidays) // date n workdays in future

Video: How to calculate due dates with WORKDAY

NETWORKDAYS(start,end,holidays) // number of workdays between dates

Note: Both functions automatically skip weekends (Saturday and Sunday) and will also skip holidays, if provided. If you need more flexibility on what days are considered weekends, see the WORKDAY.INTL function and NETWORKDAYS.INTL function. 

WEEKDAY and WEEKNUM

To figure out the day of week from a date, Excel provides the WEEKDAY function. WEEKDAY returns a number between 1-7 that indicates Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc. Use the WEEKNUM function to get the week number in a given year.

=WEEKDAY(date) // returns a number 1-7
=WEEKNUM(date) // returns week number in year

Engineering

CONVERT

Most Engineering functions are pretty technical…you’ll find a lot of functions for complex numbers in this section. However, the CONVERT function is quite useful for everyday unit conversions. You can use CONVERT to change units for distance, weight, temperature, and much more.

=CONVERT(72,"F","C") // returns 22.2

Information Functions

ISBLANK, ISERROR, ISNUMBER, and ISFORMULA

Excel provides many functions for checking the value in a cell, including ISNUMBER,  ISTEXT, ISLOGICAL, ISBLANK, ISERROR, and ISFORMULA  These functions are sometimes called the «IS» functions, and they all return TRUE or FALSE based on a cell’s contents.

Excel also has ISODD and ISEVEN functions that will test a number to see if it’s even or odd.

By the way, the green fill in the screenshot above is applied automatically with a conditional formatting formula.

Logical Functions

Excel’s logical functions are a key building block of many advanced formulas. Logical functions return the boolean values TRUE or FALSE. If you need a primer on logical formulas, this video goes through many examples.

AND, OR and NOT

The core of Excel’s logical functions are the AND function, the OR function, and the NOT function. In the screen below, each of these function is used to run a simple test on the values in column B:

=AND(B5>3,B5<9)
=OR(B5=3,B5=9)
=NOT(B5=2)

• Video: How to build logical formulas
• Guide: 50 examples of formula criteria

IFERROR and IFNA

The IFERROR function and IFNA function can be used as a simple way to trap and handle errors. In the screen below, VLOOKUP is used to retrieve cost from a menu item. Column F contains just a VLOOKUP function, with no error handling. Column G shows how to use IFNA with VLOOKUP to display a custom message when an unrecognized item is entered.

=VLOOKUP(E5,menu,2,0) // no error trapping
=IFNA(VLOOKUP(E5,menu,2,0),"Not found") // catch errors

Whereas IFNA only catches an #N/A error, the IFERROR function will catch any formula error.

IF and IFS functions

The IF function is one of the most used functions in Excel. In the screen below, IF checks test scores and assigns «pass» or «fail»:

Multiple IF functions can be nested together to perform more complex logical tests.

New in Excel 2019 and Excel 365, the IFS function can run multiple logical tests without nesting IFs.

=IFS(C5<60,"F",C5<70,"D",C5<80,"C",C5<90,"B",C5>=90,"A")

Lookup and Reference Functions

VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP

Excel offers a number of functions to lookup and retrieve data. Most famous of all is VLOOKUP:

=VLOOKUP(C5,$F$5:$G$7,2,TRUE)

More: 23 things to know about VLOOKUP.

HLOOKUP works like VLOOKUP, but expects data arranged horizontally:

=HLOOKUP(C5,$G$4:$I$5,2,TRUE)

INDEX and MATCH

For more complicated lookups, INDEX and MATCH offers more flexibility and power:

=INDEX(C5:E12,MATCH(H4,B5:B12,0),MATCH(H5,C4:E4,0))

Both the INDEX function and the MATCH function are powerhouse functions that turn up in all kinds of formulas.

More: How to use INDEX and MATCH

LOOKUP

The LOOKUP function has default behaviors that make it useful when solving certain problems. LOOKUP assumes values are sorted in ascending order and always performs an approximate match. When LOOKUP can’t find a match, it will match the next smallest value. In the example below we are using LOOKUP to find the last entry in a column:

ROW and COLUMN

You can use the ROW function and COLUMN function to find row and column numbers on a worksheet. Notice both ROW and COLUMN return values for the current cell if no reference is supplied:

The row function also shows up often in advanced formulas that process data with relative row numbers.

ROWS and COLUMNS

The ROWS function and COLUMNS function provide a count of rows in a reference. In the screen below, we are counting rows and columns in an Excel Table named «Table1».

Note ROWS returns a count of data rows in a table, excluding the header row. By the way, here are 23 things to know about Excel Tables.

HYPERLINK

You can use the HYPERLINK function to construct a link with a formula. Note HYPERLINK lets you build both external links and internal links:

=HYPERLINK(C5,B5)

GETPIVOTDATA

The GETPIVOTDATA function is useful for retrieving information from existing pivot tables.

=GETPIVOTDATA("Sales",$B$4,"Region",I6,"Product",I7)

CHOOSE

The CHOOSE function is handy any time you need to make a choice based on a number:

=CHOOSE(2,"red","blue","green") // returns "blue"

Video: How to use the CHOOSE function

TRANSPOSE

The TRANSPOSE function gives you an easy way to transpose vertical data to horizontal, and vice versa.

{=TRANSPOSE(B4:C9)}

Note: TRANSPOSE is a formula and is, therefore, dynamic. If you just need to do a one-time transpose operation, use Paste Special instead.

OFFSET

The OFFSET function is useful for all kinds of dynamic ranges. From a starting location, it lets you specify row and column offsets, and also the final row and column size. The result is a range that can respond dynamically to changing conditions and inputs. You can feed this range to other functions, as in the screen below, where OFFSET builds a range that is fed to the SUM function:

=SUM(OFFSET(B4,1,I4,4,1)) // sum of Q3

INDIRECT

The INDIRECT function allows you to build references as text. This concept is a bit tricky to understand at first, but it can be useful in many situations. Below, we are using INDIRECT to get values from cell A1 in 5 different worksheets. Each reference is dynamic. If a sheet name changes, the reference will update.

=INDIRECT(B5&"!A1") // =Sheet1!A1

The INDIRECT function is also used to «lock» references so they won’t change, when rows or columns are added or deleted. For more details, see linked examples at the bottom of the INDIRECT function page.

Caution: both OFFSET and INDIRECT are volatile functions and can slow down large or complicated spreadsheets.

STATISTICAL Functions

COUNT and COUNTA

You can count numbers with the COUNT function and non-empty cells with COUNTA. You can count blank cells with COUNTBLANK, but in the screen below we are counting blank cells with COUNTIF, which is more generally useful.

=COUNT(B5:F5) // count numbers
=COUNTA(B5:F5) // count numbers and text
=COUNTIF(B5:F5,"") // count blanks

COUNTIF and COUNTIFS

For conditional counts, the COUNTIF function can apply one criteria. The COUNTIFS function can apply multiple criteria at the same time:

=COUNTIF(C5:C12,"red") // count red
=COUNTIF(F5:F12,">50") // count total > 50
=COUNTIFS(C5:C12,"red",D5:D12,"TX") // red and tx
=COUNTIFS(C5:C12,"blue",F5:F12,">50") // blue > 50

Video: How to use the COUNTIF function

SUM, SUMIF, SUMIFS

To sum everything, use the SUM function. To sum conditionally, use SUMIF or SUMIFS. Following the same pattern as the counting functions, the SUMIF function can apply only one criteria while the SUMIFS function can apply multiple criteria.

=SUM(F5:F12) // everything
=SUMIF(C5:C12,"red",F5:F12) // red only
=SUMIF(F5:F12,">50") // over 50
=SUMIFS(F5:F12,C5:C12,"red",D5:D12,"tx") // red & tx
=SUMIFS(F5:F12,C5:C12,"blue",F5:F12,">50") // blue & >50

Video: How to use the SUMIF function

AVERAGE, AVERAGEIF, and AVERAGEIFS

Following the same pattern, you can calculate an average with AVERAGE, AVERAGEIF, and AVERAGEIFS.

=AVERAGE(F5:F12) // all
=AVERAGEIF(C5:C12,"red",F5:F12) // red only
=AVERAGEIFS(F5:F12,C5:C12,"red",D5:D12,"tx") // red and tx

MIN, MAX, LARGE, SMALL

You can find largest and smallest values with MAX and MIN, and nth largest and smallest values with LARGE and SMALL. In the screen below, data is the named range C5:C13, used in all formulas.

=MAX(data) // largest
=MIN(data) // smallest
=LARGE(data,1) // 1st largest
=LARGE(data,2) // 2nd largest
=LARGE(data,3) // 3rd largest
=SMALL(data,1) // 1st smallest
=SMALL(data,2) // 2nd smallest
=SMALL(data,3) // 3rd smallest

Video: How to find the nth smallest or largest value

MINIFS, MAXIFS

The MINIFS and MAXIFS. These functions let you find minimum and maximum values with conditions:

=MAXIFS(D5:D15,C5:C15,"female") // highest female
=MAXIFS(D5:D15,C5:C15,"male") // highest male
=MINIFS(D5:D15,C5:C15,"female") // lowest female
=MINIFS(D5:D15,C5:C15,"male") // lowest male

Note: MINIFS and MAXIFS are new in Excel via Office 365 and Excel 2019.

MODE

The MODE function returns the most commonly occurring number in a range:

=MODE(B5:G5) // returns 1

RANK

To rank values largest to smallest, or smallest to largest, use the RANK function:

Video: How to rank values with the RANK function

MATH Functions

ABS

To change negative values to positive use the ABS function.

=ABS(-134.50) // returns 134.50

RAND and RANDBETWEEN

Both the RAND function and RANDBETWEEN function can generate random numbers on the fly. RAND creates long decimal numbers between zero and 1. RANDBETWEEN generates random integers between two given numbers.

=RAND() // between zero and 1
=RANDBETWEEN(1,100) // between 1 and 100

ROUND, ROUNDUP, ROUNDDOWN, INT

To round values up or down, use the ROUND function. To force rounding up to a given number of digits, use ROUNDUP. To force rounding down, use ROUNDDOWN. To discard the decimal part of a number altogether, use the INT function.

=ROUND(11.777,1) // returns 11.8
=ROUNDUP(11.777) // returns 11.8
=ROUNDDOWN(11.777,1) // returns 11.7
=INT(11.777) // returns 11

MROUND, CEILING, FLOOR

To round values to the nearest multiple use the MROUND function. The FLOOR function and CEILING function also round to a given multiple. FLOOR forces rounding down, and CEILING forces rounding up.

=MROUND(13.85,.25) // returns 13.75
=CEILING(13.85,.25) // returns 14
=FLOOR(13.85,.25) // returns 13.75

MOD

The MOD function returns the remainder after division. This sounds boring and geeky, but MOD turns up in all kinds of formulas, especially formulas that need to do something «every nth time». In the screen below, you can see how MOD returns zero every third number when the divisor is 3:

SUMPRODUCT

The SUMPRODUCT function is a powerful and versatile tool when dealing with all kinds of data. You can use SUMPRODUCT to easily count and sum based on criteria, and you can use it in elegant ways that just don’t work with COUNTIFS and SUMIFS. In the screen below, we are using SUMPRODUCT to count and sum orders in March. See the SUMPRODUCT page for details and links to many examples.

=SUMPRODUCT(--(MONTH(B5:B12)=3)) // count March
=SUMPRODUCT(--(MONTH(B5:B12)=3),C5:C12) // sum March

SUBTOTAL

The SUBTOTAL function is an «aggregate function» that can perform a number of operations on a set of data. All told, SUBTOTAL can perform 11 operations, including SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MAX, MIN, etc. (see this page for the full list). The key feature of SUBTOTAL is that it will ignore rows that have been «filtered out» of an Excel Table, and, optionally, rows that have been manually hidden. In the screen below, SUBTOTAL is used to count and sum only the 7 visible rows in the table:

=SUBTOTAL(3,B5:B14) // returns 7
=SUBTOTAL(9,F5:F14) // returns 9.54

AGGREGATE

Like SUBTOTAL, the AGGREGATE function can also run a number of aggregate operations on a set of data and can optionally ignore hidden rows. The key differences are that AGGREGATE can run more operations (19 total) and can also ignore errors.

In the screen below, AGGREGATE is used to perform MIN, MAX, LARGE and SMALL operations while ignoring errors. Normally, the error in cell B9 would prevent these functions from returning a result. See this page for a full list of operations AGGREGATE can perform.

=AGGREGATE(4,6,values) // MAX ignore errors, returns 100
=AGGREGATE(5,6,values) // MIN ignore errors, returns 75

TEXT Functions

LEFT, RIGHT, MID

To extract characters from the left, right, or middle of text, use LEFT, RIGHT, and MID functions:

=LEFT("ABC-1234-RED",3) // returns "ABC"
=MID("ABC-1234-RED",5,4) // returns "1234"
=RIGHT("ABC-1234-RED",3) // returns "RED"

LEN

The LEN function will return the length of a text string. LEN shows up in a lot of formulas that count words or characters.

FIND, SEARCH

To look for specific text in a cell, use the FIND function or SEARCH function. These functions return the numeric position of matching text, but SEARCH allows wildcards and FIND is case-sensitive. Both functions will throw an error when text is not found, so wrap in the ISNUMBER function to return TRUE or FALSE (example here).

=FIND("Better the devil you know","devil") // returns 12
=SEARCH("This is not my beautiful wife","bea*") // returns 12

REPLACE, SUBSTITUTE

To replace text by position, use the REPLACE function. To replace text by matching, use the SUBSTITUTE function. In the first example, REPLACE removes the two asterisks (**) by replacing the first two characters with an empty string («»). In the second example, SUBSTITUTE removes all hash characters (#) by replacing «#» with «».

=REPLACE("**Red",1,2,"") // returns "Red"
=SUBSTITUTE("##Red##","#","") // returns "Red"

CODE, CHAR

To figure out the numeric code for a character, use the CODE function. To translate the numeric code back to a character, use the CHAR function. In the example below, CODE translates each character in column B to its corresponding code. In column F, CHAR translates the code back to a character.

=CODE("a") // returns 97
=CHAR(97) // returns "a"

Video: How to use the CODE and CHAR functions

TRIM, CLEAN

To get rid of extra space in text, use the TRIM function. To remove line breaks and other non-printing characters, use CLEAN.

=TRIM(A1) // remove extra space
=CLEAN(A1) // remove line breaks

Video: How to clean text with TRIM and CLEAN

CONCAT, TEXTJOIN, CONCATENATE

New in Excel  via Office 365 are CONCAT and TEXTJOIN. The CONCAT function lets you concatenate (join) multiple values, including a range of values without a delimiter. The TEXTJOIN function does the same thing, but allows you to specify a delimiter and can also ignore empty values.

=TEXTJOIN(",",TRUE,B4:H4) // returns "red,blue,green,pink,black"
=CONCAT(B7:H7) // returns "8675309"

Excel also provides the CONCATENATE function, but it doesn’t offer special features. I wouldn’t bother with it and would instead concatenate directly with the ampersand (&) character in a formula.

EXACT

The EXACT function allows you to compare two text strings in a case-sensitive manner.

UPPER, LOWER, PROPER

To change the case of text, use the UPPER, LOWER, and PROPER function

=UPPER("Sue BROWN") // returns "SUE BROWN"
=LOWER("Sue BROWN") // returns "sue brown"
=PROPER("Sue BROWN") // returns "Sue Brown"

Video: How to change case with formulas

TEXT

Last but definitely not least is the TEXT function. The text function lets you apply number formatting to numbers (including dates, times, etc.) as text. This is especially useful when you need to embed a formatted number in a message, like «Sale ends on [date]».

=TEXT(B5,"$#,##0.00") 
=TEXT(B6,"000000")
="Save "&TEXT(B7,"0%")
="Sale ends "&TEXT(B8,"mmm d")

More: Detailed examples of custom number formatting.

Dynamic Array functions

Dynamic arrays are new in Excel 365, and are a major upgrade to Excel’s formula engine. As part of the dynamic array update, Excel includes new functions which directly leverage dynamic arrays to solve problems that are traditionally hard to solve with conventional formulas. If you are using Excel 365, make sure you are aware of these new functions:

Function	Purpose
FILTER	Filter data and return matching records
RANDARRAY	Generate array of random numbers
SEQUENCE	Generate array of sequential numbers
SORT	Sort range by column
SORTBY	Sort range by another range or array
UNIQUE	Extract unique values from a list or range
XLOOKUP	Modern replacement for VLOOKUP
XMATCH	Modern replacement for the MATCH function

Video: New dynamic array functions in Excel (about 3 minutes).

Quick navigation

ABS, AGGREGATE, AND, AVERAGE, AVERAGEIF, AVERAGEIFS, CEILING, CHAR, CHOOSE, CLEAN, CODE, COLUMN, COLUMNS, CONCAT, CONCATENATE, CONVERT, COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK, COUNTIF, COUNTIFS, DATE, DATEDIF, DAY, EDATE, EOMONTH, EXACT, FIND, FLOOR, GETPIVOTDATA, HLOOKUP, HOUR, HYPERLINK, IF, IFERROR, IFNA, IFS, INDEX, INDIRECT, INT, ISBLANK, ISERROR, ISEVEN, ISFORMULA, ISLOGICAL, ISNUMBER, ISODD, ISTEXT, LARGE, LEFT, LEN, LOOKUP, LOWER, MATCH, MAX, MAXIFS, MID, MIN, MINIFS, MINUTE, MOD, MODE, MONTH, MROUND, NETWORKDAYS, NOT, NOW, OFFSET, OR, PROPER, RAND, RANDBETWEEN, RANK, REPLACE, RIGHT, ROUND, ROUNDDOWN, ROUNDUP, ROW, ROWS, SEARCH, SECOND, SMALL, SUBSTITUTE, SUBTOTAL, SUM, SUMIF, SUMIFS, SUMPRODUCT, TEXT, TEXTJOIN, TIME, TODAY, TRANSPOSE, TRIM, UPPER, VLOOKUP, WEEKDAY, WEEKNUM, WORKDAY, YEAR, YEARFRAC 

Formulas and functions are the building blocks of working with numeric data in Excel. This article introduces you to formulas and functions.

In this article, we will cover the following topics.

• What is Formulas in Excel?
• Mistakes to avoid when working with formulas in Excel
• What is Function in Excel?
• The importance of functions
• Common functions
• Numeric Functions
• String functions
• Date Time functions
• V Lookup function

Tutorials Data

For this tutorial, we will work with the following datasets.

Home supplies budget

House Building Project Schedule

=A2 * D2 / 2

HERE,

• "=" tells Excel that this is a formula, and it should evaluate it.
• "A2" * D2" makes reference to cell addresses A2 and D2 then multiplies the values found in these cell addresses.
• "/" is the division arithmetic operator
• "2" is a discrete value

Formulas practical exercise

We will work with the sample data for the home budget to calculate the subtotal.

• Create a new workbook in Excel
• Enter the data shown in the home supplies budget above.
• Your worksheet should look as follows.

We will now write the formula that calculates the subtotal

Set the focus to cell E4

Enter the following formula.

=C4*D4

HERE,

• "C4*D4" uses the arithmetic operator multiplication (*) to multiply the value of the cell address C4 and D4.

Press enter key

You will get the following result

The following animated image shows you how to auto select cell address and apply the same formula to other rows.

Mistakes to avoid when working with formulas in Excel

1. Remember the rules of Brackets of Division, Multiplication, Addition, & Subtraction (BODMAS). This means expressions are brackets are evaluated first. For arithmetic operators, the division is evaluated first followed by multiplication then addition and subtraction is the last one to be evaluated. Using this rule, we can rewrite the above formula as =(A2 * D2) / 2. This will ensure that A2 and D2 are first evaluated then divided by two.
2. Excel spreadsheet formulas usually work with numeric data; you can take advantage of data validation to specify the type of data that should be accepted by a cell i.e. numbers only.
3. To ensure that you are working with the correct cell addresses referenced in the formulas, you can press F2 on the keyboard. This will highlight the cell addresses used in the formula, and you can cross check to ensure they are the desired cell addresses.
4. When you are working with many rows, you can use serial numbers for all the rows and have a record count at the bottom of the sheet. You should compare the serial number count with the record total to ensure that your formulas included all the rows.

Check Out
Top 10 Excel Spreadsheet Formulas

= E4 + E5 + E6 + E7 + E8

With a function, you would write the above formula as

=SUM (E4:E8)

As you can see from the above function used to get the sum of a range of cells, it is much more efficient to use a function to get the sum than using the formula which will have to reference a lot of cells.

Common functions

Let’s look at some of the most commonly used functions in ms excel formulas. We will start with statistical functions.

Numeric Functions

As the name suggests, these functions operate on numeric data. The following table shows some of the common numeric functions.

String functions

These basic excel functions are used to manipulate text data. The following table shows some of the common string functions.

Date Time Functions

These functions are used to manipulate date values. The following table shows some of the common date functions

VLOOKUP function

The VLOOKUP function is used to perform a vertical look up in the left most column and return a value in the same row from a column that you specify. Let’s explain this in a layman’s language. The home supplies budget has a serial number column that uniquely identifies each item in the budget. Suppose you have the item serial number, and you would like to know the item description, you can use the VLOOKUP function. Here is how the VLOOKUP function would work.

=VLOOKUP (C12, A4:B8, 2, FALSE)

HERE,

• "=VLOOKUP" calls the vertical lookup function
• "C12" specifies the value to be looked up in the left most column
• "A4:B8" specifies the table array with the data
• "2" specifies the column number with the row value to be returned by the VLOOKUP function
• "FALSE," tells the VLOOKUP function that we are looking for an exact match of the supplied look up value

The animated image below shows this in action

Download the above Excel Code

Summary

Excel allows you to manipulate the data using formulas and/or functions. Functions are generally more productive compared to writing formulas. Functions are also more accurate compared to formulas because the margin of making mistakes is very minimum.

Here is a list of important Excel Formula and Function

• SUM function = =SUM(E4:E8)

• MIN function = =MIN(E4:E8)

• MAX function = =MAX(E4:E8)

• AVERAGE function = =AVERAGE(E4:E8)

• COUNT function = =COUNT(E4:E8)

• DAYS function = =DAYS(D4,C4)

• VLOOKUP function = =VLOOKUP (C12, A4:B8, 2, FALSE)

• DATE function = =DATE(2020,2,4)