Getting Started With Excel Functions

If you’re new to spreadsheets, you may think that Excel is just a set of rows and columns for storing data. Excel is a great place to keep data, but you can also use it to manipulate and analyze your information. One of the keys to learning these more advanced tasks is understanding how to create functions, or formulas, in Excel. There are built-in functions that allow you to do a variety of tasks, like adding up a set of numbers, looking for a specific value in a field, or parsing data into pieces. Let’s take a look at the steps you’ll need to take to add a simple function to a spreadsheet.

For our example, we’ll use the sales data shown below:

To find the total sales number, we can simply use one of Excel’s built-in functions to add all the numbers in Column C. Let’s break this process down step by step.

Step 1: You need to enter the function in the field where you want to see the result. Place the cursor in the cell where you want the grand total to appear.

Step 2: Type an equal sign (=). This tells Excel that you about to enter a function instead of regular data.

Step 3: Type the name of the function you want to use. In this case, type SUM after the equal sign. You’ll notice that Excel offers tips of available functions when you begin to type.

Step 4: After the name of the function, add an opening parenthesis. Excel functions use parentheses to pass arguments, or information, to the program so that it knows exactly how to handle the function. For the sum function, we need to tell Excel where to begin and end the sum, so there are two arguments we’ll include inside the parentheses. Excel displays the arguments needed, as shown below:

Step 5: After typing the opening parenthesis, you can place your cursor on the first value you want to include in the sum and drag down to the last value while you hold down your left mouse button. Excel will automatically fill in the start and end cells, as shown below:

Step 6: Add a closing parenthesis to the function (after C16 in this example) and press enter. Excel will automatically calculate the sum of the cells and display it in the cell where you typed the function. You have successfully created an Excel function!

Changing a Function – After you hit enter, you’ll see the result displayed in the cell instead of the function. If you need to see or change the function, look in the Formula Bar just below the menus. Place your cursor inside the formula bar to make changes to the function.

 

thanks to http://pcunleashed.com/tips-and-tricks/getting-started-with-excel-functions/ for this tip