Excel Basics · Interactive lesson 5 of 12
Essential functions
Learn essential functions in Excel with a free interactive lesson: a short explanation, a live practice sheet and instant feedback.
Screens shown: Excel for Microsoft 365 for Windows. Practice works in any browser.
Written tutorialEssential Excel Functions: SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MIN and MAXSkill check
Try these first:
- Total a column with
SUM. - Find the mean with
AVERAGE. - Find the smallest and largest values with
MINandMAX. - Count how many cells hold a number with
COUNT.
All familiar? Skip ahead to M6 — Copying Formulas & Cell References.
Teach
What you're learning
=SUM(B2:B10)- Adds every number in the range.
=AVERAGE(B2:B10)- The mean of the range.
=MIN(B2:B10)- The smallest value in the range.
=MAX(B2:B10)- The largest value in the range.
=COUNT(B2:B10)- How many cells in the range hold a number — handy for "how many entries do I actually have?" without adding anything up.
B2:B10 means "every cell from B2 down to B10" — nine cells at once. That's the whole point of a function: =B2+B3+B4+B5 and =SUM(B2:B5) give the exact same answer, but the second one still works if you later insert a row in the middle of the range, and it's a lot less to type for a column of fifty rows instead of four.
Where to find it in Excel
Formulas›AutoSum›Sum · Average · Count · Max · Min
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Month | Sales | |||||||
| 2 | Jan | 1,200 | |||||||
| 3 | Feb | 950 | |||||||
| 4 | Mar | 1,480 | |||||||
| 5 | Apr | 1,310 | |||||||
| 6 | May | 1,260 | |||||||
| 7 | Total | 6,200 | |||||||
| 8 |
Swipe sideways to see the whole window.
- 1Formulas tab (AutoSum is also on the Home tab).
- 2Click the arrow under AutoSum.
- 3Pick Sum, Average, Count Numbers, Max or Min. Excel guesses the range above.
- 4Check the dashed range before pressing Enter. The result here is =SUM(B2:B6).
Rendered view of Excel for Microsoft 365 (Windows). Ribbon layout can differ slightly on Mac, Excel for the web or a narrow window.
Guided practice
Five dashed cells below — one for each function.
B2:B5 means "from here to there" — B5:B2 works exactly the same.Real-world exercise
Summarize a real column
Take any column of numbers you have — grades, expenses, sales — and find its total, average, minimum, maximum, and count, all with functions instead of typing the numbers into a calculator by hand.
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