15 Essential Excel Formulas and How to Use Them

If you’re like most people, you probably think of Excel as a basic spreadsheet application. But Excel is so much more than that! In fact, Excel has a vast array of features and functions that can help you get your work done faster and more efficiently.

In this blog post, we will discuss 15 essential Excel formulas and how to use them. We’ll also talk about when you could use each formula and provide some helpful tips and tricks along the way. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced Excel user, this post is for you!

Excel Formulas to Use in Your Next Spreadsheet

Excel formulas are a powerful tool that can save you time and energy by doing the heavy lifting for you. But with so many formulas to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 15 essential Excel formulas and how to use them.

1. IF function

The IF function is one of the most versatile and commonly used Excel formulas. It allows you to test a condition and return one value if the condition is met and another value if it is not.

Let’s say you have a list of student grades and want to highlight all the A’s in green and the B’s in yellow. You could use the following formula: =IF(A20=”A”,GREEN(),YELLOW())

2. VLOOKUP function

The VLOOKUP function is another essential formula that allows you to look up and return data from a specific column in a table.

Let’s say you have a list of employee names and ID numbers, and you need to search an employee’s name based on their ID number. You could use the following formula: =VLOOKUP(A12,B$11:C$21,MATCH(“Name”,B$11:C$21,-0),FALSE)

3. SUM function

The SUM function lets you quickly add up a range of cells. If you have a column of numbers and want to find the sum, you could use the following formula: =SUM(A:A)

4. COUNT function

The COUNT function counts the number of cells that contain data. This is especially useful when you have a large dataset and want to know how many rows contain data.

If you want to count the number of cells in column A that contain data, you could use the following formula: =COUNT(A:A)

5. AVERAGE function

The AVERAGE function allows you to find the average of a range of cells. This is useful when you want to know the average value of a dataset.

If you have a column of numbers and want to find the average, you could use the following formula: =AVERAGE(A:A)

6. MAX function

The MAX function finds the maximum value in a range of cells. This is useful for knowing the highest value in a dataset.

If you have a column of numbers and want to find the maximum, you could use the following formula: =MAX(A:A)

7. MIN function

The MIN function finds the minimum value in a range of cells. This is useful for knowing the lowest value in a dataset.

If you have a column of numbers and you want to find the minimum, you could use the following formula: =MIN(A:A)

8. CONCATENATE function

The CONCATENATE function lets you join two or more strings of text together. This is useful when combining data from multiple cells into one cell.

For example, if you have a first name in cell A and a last name in cell B, and you want to concatenate them into one cell, you could use the following formula: =CONCATENATE(A:A,” “,B:B)

9. LEFT function

The LEFT function lets you extract a certain number of characters from the left side of a string of text. This is useful when you want to extract part of a cell value.

For example, if you have a cell with a long string of text and want to extract the first five characters, you could use the following formula: =LEFT(A:A,FIVE)

10. RIGHT function

The RIGHT function lets you extract a certain number of characters from the right side of a string of text. This is useful when you want to extract part of a cell value.

For example, if you have a cell with a long string of text and want to extract the last five characters, you could use the following formula: =RIGHT(A:A,FIVE)

11. MID function

The MID function lets you extract a certain number of characters from the middle of a string of text. This is useful when you want to extract part of a cell value.

For example, if you have a cell with a long string of text and want to extract the fifth through tenth characters, you could use the following formula: =MID(A:A,FIVE,SIX)

12. LEN function

The LEN function finds the length of a string of text. This is useful for knowing how many characters are in a cell value.

If you have a cell with a string of text and want to know the length, you could use the following formula: =LEN(A:A)

13. FIND function

The FIND function finds the position of a certain character or set of characters within a string of text. This is useful when you want to know where a certain character or set of characters is located within a cell value.

For example, if you have a cell with a long string of text and want to find the position of the word “the”, you could use the following formula: =FIND(“the”,A:A)

14. REPLACE function

The REPLACE function allows you to replace one character or set of characters with another character or set of characters within a string of text. This is useful when you want to replace part of a cell value.

For example, if you have a cell with a long string of text and want to replace all occurrences of the word “the” with the word “a”, you could use the following formula: =REPLACE(A:A,”the”,”a”)

15. SUBSTITUTE function

The SUBSTITUTE function allows you to substitute one character or set of characters with another character or set of characters within a string of text. This is useful when you want to replace part of a cell value.

For example, if you have a cell with a long string of text and want to substitute all occurrences of the word “the” with the word “a”, you could use the following formula: =SUBSTITUTE(A:A,”the”,”a”)

Go Forth and Calculate!

In general, formulas are most useful when dealing with large sets of data. If you only have a few data points, it might be easier to complete transformations by hand. Enjoy the time and effort you can save with Excel formulas!