“Hey there! If the idea of navigating Microsoft Excel’s endless grids of cells has ever seemed intimidating, you’re not alone. But don’t worry—I’m here to show you how to use Microsoft Excel formulas, making it as easy as if we were sitting side by side at a cozy café. By the end of this guide, you’ll be more comfortable using Excel to manage tasks that can significantly simplify your life.”
Getting Started With Formulas
First off, a formulation in Excel is just a way to calculate numbers. It’s like a tiny calculator constructed into a cell in Excel. To start any formula, you kind an equal sign (=). This tells Excel, “Hey, something’s coming up that you need to calculate!”
Basic Operations
Let’s start with the simplest operations:
- Addition (+): Want to add two numbers? Just use the + sign. For example, to add 10 and 20, you type =10+20 in one cell, and Excel will show you the result, 30.
- Subtraction (-): To distinguish between two numbers, use the – sign. You get 30 by writing =50-20.
- Multiply (*): Use the * symbol to multiply the numbers. =5*3 will give you
- Comma (/): Use / symbol for separation. =10/2 will show 5 in the cell.
Going Beyond Basic
Now, let’s move on to some formulas that can really show off what Excel can do:
SUM: This formula adds all the numbers in a cell. If you have numbers in cells A1 to A5 and you want the total, you’d type =SUM(A1:A5).
AVERAGE: This helps you find the average of numbers in specific cells. To find the average of numbers in cells A1 to A5, type =AVERAGE(A1:A5).
MAX/MIN: Find the highest or lowest number in a range with these. =MAX(A1:A5) gives you the highest number, and =MIN(A1:A5) gives you the lowest.
Useful Tricks
Here are a couple of tricks that make using formulas even easier
Copying Formulas: If you’ve got a formula in one cell and want the same calculation done for other rows, just click on the cell, then drag the small square at the bottom right corner of the cell down to fill more cells with the same formula.
Absolute References: Sometimes you don’t want certain parts of your formula to change when you copy it. Adding dollar signs ($) before the column letter and row number makes them stay the same. So, =$A$1+$B$1 can be copied anywhere and it will always reference cells A1 and B1.
Solving Real Problems
Let’s put it into a real context. Say you’re tracking your monthly budget:
- Income: List your income sources in column A, amounts in column B.
- Expenses: List expenses in column C, amounts in column D.
- Use SUM to add up total income and expenses.
- Then, to find out how much you saved, subtract total expenses from total income using a simple subtraction formula.
Conclusion
How To Use Microsoft Excel Formulas, And there you’ve got it! You’ve just scratched the floor of what’s feasible with Excel, but those basics will assist you deal with maximum normal obligations. Just mess around with the formulation, don’t be afraid to strive new matters, and recall, each Excel grasp started out as a amateur.
I wish this chat made Excel a piece friendlier for you. Go beforehand and test with what you’ve learned. You’ll be a pro before you understand it!
This easy guide have to assist you grow to be more cushty with Excel and encourage you to discover extra complex features as you get the hang of it. Let me recognize if there is something else you need to study!
