Here’s a brief explanation of some fundamental formulas and functions in Excel:
- SUM: Adds up a range of cells. For example, “=SUM(A1:A10)” calculates the sum of values in cells A1 to A10.
- AVERAGE: Calculates the average of a range of cells. For example, “=AVERAGE(B1:B5)” gives the average of values in cells B1 to B5.
- COUNT: Counts the number of cells in a range that contain numbers. For example, “=COUNT(C1:C10)” counts the number of cells with numeric values in cells C1 to C10.
- IF: Performs conditional evaluations. It allows you to specify different outcomes based on a condition. For example, “=IF(A1>10, “Yes”, “No”)” checks if the value in cell A1 is greater than 10 and returns “Yes” if true and “No” if false.
- VLOOKUP: Searches for a value in the leftmost column of a table and returns a corresponding value from a specified column. For example, “=VLOOKUP(A1, B1:C10, 2, FALSE)” looks for the value in A1 within the range B1:C10 and returns the corresponding value from the second column.
- MAX: Returns the maximum value from a range of cells. For example, “=MAX(D1:D10)” gives the highest value in cells D1 to D10.
- MIN: Returns the minimum value from a range of cells. For example, “=MIN(E1:E10)” gives the lowest value in cells E1 to E10.
- CONCATENATE: Joins multiple text strings into one. For example, “=CONCATENATE(A1, ” “, B1)” combines the values in cells A1 and B1 with a space in between.
- TODAY: Returns the current date. For example, “=TODAY()” gives the current date.
- NOW: Returns the current date and time. For example, “=NOW()” gives the current date and time.
- LEN: Calculates the number of characters in a text string. For example, “=LEN(F1)” returns the length of the text in cell F1.
- LEFT/RIGHT/MID: Extracts a specified number of characters from a text string. For example, “=LEFT(G1, 5)” retrieves the leftmost 5 characters from cell G1.
These are just a few examples of essential formulas and functions in Excel. Exploring and becoming familiar with these functions will help you perform calculations, analyze data, and automate tasks more efficiently.