Using Formulas and Functions

  • 6/15/2010

Creating a Summary Formula

After you enter data into a worksheet, you can create formulas to summarize the values and display the result of the calculation. You can summarize the values in a group of cells in many ways: You can find the total or average of the cell values, identify the maximum or minimum value in the group, or simply count the number of cells containing values. You can create these formulas by clicking the cell below or to the right of the cells you want to summarize, displaying either the Home tab or the Formulas tab, and clicking the AutoSum button. (The button appears on both tabs.) Clicking the AutoSum button itself creates a SUM formula, which finds the arithmetic sum of the values, but you can choose other calculations by clicking the AutoSum button’s down arrow. After you create the formula you want, you can use the result in other calculations.

Create an AutoSum Formula

  1. Click the cell where you want the summary value to appear.

  2. Click the Home tab.

  3. Click the AutoSum down arrow.

  4. Click the AutoSum function you want to use.

  5. If necessary, select the cells with the data you want to summarize.

  6. Press Enter.