Top 10 Excel Formulas

inkeybit
4 min readApr 28, 2022

In this guide lets us understand the top 10 excel formulas or functions that are typically used in Excel.

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

1. SUM

Syntax :

=SUM(number1, [number2], [number3], ...)

Example

=SUM(100, 200)

Note: Excel also provides selecting multiple or range of cells if the number set is large as shown in the image below.

SUM

2. AVERAGE

Syntax :

=AVERAGE(number1, [number2], [number3], ...)

Example

=AVERAGE(100, 200)

Note: Excel also provides selecting multiple or range of cells if the number set is large as shown in the image below.

AVERAGE

3. SUMIF

Syntax :

=SUMIF(range, criteria, [sum_range])

Example

Find number of chocolates from the list -

SUMIF

4. COUNT

Syntax :

=COUNT(value1, [value2], [value3], ...)
  • The COUNT function counts the number of cells that contain numbers, and counts numbers within the list of arguments.
  • Empty cells, logical values, text, or error values in the array or reference are not counted.

Example

Find count of numbers in the list -

COUNT

5. COUNTA

Syntax :

=COUNTA(value1, [value2], [value3], ...)
  • The COUNTA function counts the number of cells that are not empty in a range.
  • The COUNTA function counts cells containing any type of information, including error values and empty text (“”). For example, if the range contains a formula that returns an empty string, the COUNTA function counts that value.
  • The COUNTA function does not count empty cells.

Example

Find count of items in the list -

COUNTA

Additional Notes :

  • If you use COUNT to find the count of items in the list, it gives ZERO
COUNT vs COUNTA

6. COUNTIF

To count the number of times a particular text appears in a list.

Syntax :

=COUNTIF(range, criteria)

Example

Find count of word “Chocolates” in the list

COUNTIF

7. CONCATENATE

To join two or more text strings into one string.

Syntax :

=CONCATENATE(text1, [text2], [text3], ...)

Example

CONCATENATE

8. IF

It allows you to make logical comparisons between a value and what you expect.

Syntax :

=IF(logical_test, value_if_true, [value_if_false])
IF

9. VLOOKUP

Use VLOOKUP when you need to find things in a table or a range by row.

Syntax :

=VLOOKUP (lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])

Example

Find the how many Strawberries are available from the list

VLOOKUP

10. Conditional Formatting

Conditional formatting in Excel enables you to highlight cells with a certain color, depending on the cell’s value.

For Example, if the text says “This is chocolate” it should be GREEN else it should be RED.

Conditional Formatting

On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Conditional Formatting > Click Highlight Cells Rules > Equal To…

Create two rules, one for text “This is chocolate” which should be “Green fill with Dark Green Text” & another for “This is not a chocolate” for “Light Red fill with Dark Red Text”.

Apply Conditional Formatting

Originally published at https://www.inkeybit.com on April 28, 2022.

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