Introduction

Microsoft Excel is one of the most powerful and widely used tools for organizing, analyzing, and visualizing data. Whether you’re managing personal finances, tracking business performance, or preparing academic reports, Excel offers efficient, complex, or easy ways to work with data. Learning how to use Excel’s built-in functions is essential for the workplace and can dramatically improve productivity and accuracy by using automated calculations and streamlining data analysis. This article will dive into the basic, but critical functions in Excel, offering a step-by-step guide to help you get comfortable with essential tools that form the foundation for more advanced spreadsheet skills.

The Formulas Tab

There are two primary ways of using and accessing Excel’s variety of functions. The first is through the formulas tab and the Function wizard. The second, which is directly typing functions into Excel, will be visited further on in the article.

If you are not familiar with the basic functions and navigation in Excel, please check out some other tutorials linked below:

When you open up a new spreadsheet, you are able to view Excel’s ribbon, which contains a page for using formulas, as seen in the following image:

Just below the ribbon, you will see the formula bar:

When using the formulas tab, it will show many options for accessing and implementing functions. In this article, we will focus specifically on the left half of the ribbon.

Check out our blog post specifically on the Excel Formula Bar!

Using AutoSum

AutoSum is a quick and efficient tool for your most basic Excel functions. To use AutoSum, you can either:

  1. Select the data set you have, click the dropdown, and choose your desired function.
  2. Click the dropdown, then your desired function, select the data you wish to work from, and hit Enter.

Note: You can use the CTRL button to select cells that are not directly next to one another!

Let’s try the first one:

Step 1: Select your data set

Step 2: Click the drop-down under AutoSum

Step 3: Choose your desired function. For this data set, we’ll use Sum.

After you’ve clicked on the function, you should see a new number at the bottom of your data set pop up. This is the calculated result from the function you used!

If you select the cell with the output, you should be able to see the formula in the formula bar:

Note: By simply clicking the AutoSum button, it will automatically use the Sum function for the referenced data set!

Basic Formulas of Excel

As seen in the AutoSum function, there are several basic functions that Excel offers in this shortcut. These include Sum, Average, Count, Max, and Min. In Excel, we can also type in our formulas manually. For accessing basic arithmetic equations, this option proves easier.

Structure of Excel Formulas

In Excel, every function starts with an equals sign. For our AutoSum functions, note that they all start with an all-uppercase abbreviation or representation. Sum is SUM, count is COUNT, minimum is MIN, etcetera.

The cells that we operate on are encased in parenthesis as well. In our earlier example, the data set was in cells B2 through B11. To be inclusive of all cells between, Excel uses the colon. To be exclusive to only certain cells, Excel separates cell names with a comma.

Arithmetic Operators

In addition, Excel provides functionality for basic arithmetic operators. This proves extremely useful when using algebraic equations with your data set, or, for simplicity. An example can be seen below, with the previously used data set:

Conditional Functions

Conditional functions are a very useful feature of Excel when analyzing data sets. This includes functions such as IF, SUMIF, and COUNTIF. Excel compares the contents of certain cells to a condition provided by the user, and then operates on that data based on the user’s specification.

Let’s take a look at the COUNTIF function. This formula counts all of the numbers that fit a specific criteria. If we wanted to count all of the numbers in our data set that were below 50, we could use this formula. For this example, we will use the formula wizard.

The wizard prompts us for a range of data, and a criteria to base the count off of. Click the arrow button to manually select the cells you want to include.

Now, fill in the criteria. Simply use the basic operator, or use the arrow button to compare it to a cell.

Click okay. Note that in the formula bar, we can see all the elements of our function: the equals sign, the abbreviation of the formula we chose, the cells of the data range we’ve picked, and the criteria to compare in, enclosed in quotations.

If you want more explanations on basic functions of Excel, check out this video on YouTube, or this tutorial from W3Schools!

Common Errors in Excel

Formulas, and users, can’t be perfect. Because of this, Excel has an error-checking system in place for formulas that helps users understand miscalculations. Let’s look at some common errors you will come across in your time with Excel.

The Hashtag Symbol

While not exactly an error, a repeated sequence of hashtags may be confusing for a first-time user. When you see this error, it is simply because the column width is too short to display the number or text in totality. Simply adjust the column width to display the desired text.

#DIV/0

This error occurs when the formula you use divides by zero. This error is common when using a variable as a dividend in a formula. Check your data and be sure to verify your calculations!

#VALUE

The Value error occurs when a formula is searching or operating on a value or condition that does not exist at all or in the right format. Double check the cells you are referencing to avoid this error.

Finding Help on Errors

Excel provides a useful guide for navigating errors in its tools. This can be accessed by clicking on the cell with the error, clicking the caution sign, and clicking “Help on this error” in the menu that pops up. Other more advanced options are available in this menu as well.

Summary & Further Resources

Functions are vital to the analytical and mathematical aspect of Excel. Increasing your familiarity with the program improves technological literacy and efficiency in the workplace. Please visit these articles for more tips on Excel: