{"id":2506,"date":"2023-12-03T20:15:58","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T12:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.excelchamp.net\/?p=2506"},"modified":"2024-01-06T16:52:23","modified_gmt":"2024-01-06T08:52:23","slug":"top-12-most-important-excel-functions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.excelchamp.net\/top-12-most-important-excel-functions\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 12 Most Important Excel Functions You Must Master"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this Excel tutorial, we highlight the Top 12 Most Important Excel Functions and Features<\/strong> that can help most users in getting the basics right, and improve productivity and efficiency drastically.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

12 Most Important Excel Functions and Features YOU MUST LEARN & MASTER<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Learn the most important formulas & features of Microsoft Excel. I have listed them below for your learning pleasure.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Must-Know Excel Functions for Productivity & Career Enhancement<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Average, <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Sum, <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Count, <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Countif, <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  5. CountA, <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  6. CountBlank, <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Sumif, <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Concatenate,<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  9. Proper,<\/strong><\/li>\n
  10. Round, <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  11. Vlookup, and <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  12. Creating Dropdown lists in Microsoft Excel.<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    With a sound knowledge of these 12 Most Important Functions and Features of Excel, you will be on your way to Excel Mastery. You have to take one step at a time.<\/p>\n

    Learn one Excel function and master it. You come closer to victory with each step, each new function, each new formula learned. Some of these are basic Excel Formulas and Functions than are the easiest to master.<\/p>\n

    Using the AVERAGE Function in Excel<\/h2>\n

    \"How<\/p>\n

    The Average Function is pretty easy to use.<\/p>\n

    It adds all the numbers in the provided range, and then divides the grand total by the count of the numbers provided.<\/p>\n

    You can only Average Numeric Values.<\/p>\n

    Syntax of Average Function in Excel:<\/h3>\n

    =AVERAGE(number1, number2, number3)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    =AVERAGE(Range_of_Cells) like =AVERAGE(A1:A10)<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    When do you use the AVERAGE Function in Excel:<\/h3>\n

    Managers and business owners often ask executive about the Average Sales, or Average Revenue, or Average Salary, or Average Number of Tickets Resolved, or Average Time Spent on Calls.<\/p>\n

    All such measures can be easily calculated with the Average Function, which is pre-built into Excel, and is one of the most popular excel functions.<\/p>\n

    Using the SUM\u00a0Function in Excel<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \"How
    How to use the SUM Function in Excel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The Sum Function adds all the numbers in the provided range, and then provides the Grand Total in the resulting cell.<\/p>\n

    You can provide numbers, refer to multiple cells, or select a range of cells to sum the numbers easily.<\/p>\n

    The SUM function only works on Numeric Values. It is considered the most basic excel formulas and functions.<\/p>\n

    If you provide a non numeric value (text value), it will result in a #VALUE error to be displayed in the Grand Total cell.<\/p>\n

    Syntax of Sum Function in Excel:<\/h3>\n

    =SUM(number1, number2, number3)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    =SUM(Range_of_Cells) like =SUM(A1:A10)<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    When do you use the SUM Function in Excel:<\/h3>\n

    Managers and business owners often ask their staff about the Total Sales, or Total Revenue, or Total Salary for the company or department, or Total Number of Tickets Resolved, or Total Time Spent on Calls, or Total Expenses.<\/p>\n

    All such measures can be easily calculated with the SUM Excel Function, which is pre-built into Excel. This function is the most common, and most popular excel functions.<\/p>\n

    This function can be invoked from the Home Tab, by clicking the Sigma Icon. If the grand total cell is next to a range of data, it will auto populate the SUM formula, without writing anything. This is a handy trick that you should practice and get used to.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    It will help you a lot to get the Grand Total, and is one of the most important function in Excel, and the most commonly used function in Excel too.<\/p>\n

    If you want to summarize data in Excel easily<\/a>, check out this detailed article and video tutorial.<\/p>\n

    Using the <\/strong>COUNT Function in Excel<\/h2>\n
    \"How
    How to use the COUNT Function in Excel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The COUNT Function counts all the numeric numbers in the provided range, and then provides the Total Count in the resulting cell.<\/p>\n

    You can provide numbers, refer to multiple cells, or select a range of cells to Count the numbers easily.<\/p>\n

    The COUNT function only works on Numeric Values.<\/p>\n

    If you provide a non numeric value (text value), it will NOT BE COUNTED in the final count.<\/p>\n

    Syntax of COUNT Function in Excel:<\/h3>\n

    =COUNT(number1, number2, number3)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    =COUNT(Range_of_Cells) like =COUNT(A1:A10)<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    When do you use the COUNT Function in Excel:<\/h3>\n

    It is common in the management, and executives to count the number of rows of data.<\/p>\n

    For example, managers often want to know the\u00a0total number of Headcount, the total number of\u00a0 transactions, or Total Number of Tickets Resolved.<\/p>\n

    All such measures can be easily calculated with the COUNT Function, which is pre-built into Excel. This function is the most common.<\/p>\n

    This function can be invoked from the Home Tab, by clicking the drop down arrow of the Sigma Icon. <\/strong><\/p>\n

    If the grand count cell is next to a range of data, it will auto populate the COUNT formula, without writing anything.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    This is a handy trick that you should practice and get used to for counting the number of rows or transactions easily in Excel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    It will help you a lot to get the Total Count, and is one of the most important function in Excel, and one of the most commonly used function in Excel<\/a> too.<\/p>\n

    SUM, COUNT, AVERAGE are the basic Excel formulas and functions that everyone should know at the bare minimum. But there are several more important functions in Excel also.<\/p>\n

    Using the COUNTIF Function in Excel<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
    \"How
    How to use the COUNTIF Function in Excel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The COUNTIF function is amazing. It can conditionally count values, based on a criteria. This is one of the most popular logical functions in Excel.<\/p>\n

    This COUNTIF function can count the number of people in a particular department, count the number of products in a particular category, count the number of values that exactly match a particular value to name a few.<\/p>\n

    Countif can be also used to count non numeric values. This is a Big Plus for people wanting to count text values, based on a criteria.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Syntax of COUNTIF Function in Excel:<\/h3>\n

    =COUNTIF(numbers in a range, criteria)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    =COUNTIF(A1:A100, “=Oranges”) will count the number of rows in cells A1 through A100, which contain the word “Oranges” exactly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    =COUNTIF(A1:A100, “>5000”) will count the number of rows in cells A1 through A100, which contains values that are greater than 5000.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Interestingly, you can use this to count values that are greater than or lesser than a particular value too.<\/p>\n

    You can use Greater Than (>), Lesser Than (<), Greater Than or Equal To (>=), Lesser Than or Equal To (<=), and Not Equal To (<>) signs in the COUNTIF function.<\/p>\n

    Check out the Multiple Ways to Count in Excel.<\/a><\/p>\n

    When do you use the COUNTIF Function in Excel:<\/h3>\n

    If your client wants to know how many big orders, above 10,000 were received today, or how many products of the Electronics category were sold, you could use the COUNTIF Excel function easily.<\/p>\n

    =COUNTIF(A1:A100, “>10000”)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    =COUNTIF(A1:A100, “Electronics”)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    =COUNTIF(A1:A100, 500) shows the number of entries where the value equates to 500.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Additional Resources: How To Count Cells With a Certain Value in Excel<\/a><\/p>\n

    This is one of the several logical functions in Excel. Other logical functions in Excel include IF, SUMIF, AVERAGEIF etc.<\/p>\n

    Some people consider COUNTIF to be an advanced function in Excel. Nonetheless, it is extremely useful, and I consider it to be an essential Excel formula to know and use.<\/p>\n

    Using the COUNTA Function in Excel<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
    \"How
    How to use the COUNTA Function in Excel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The COUNTA Function counts all non blank values in the provided range, and then provides the Total Count in the resulting cell.<\/p>\n

    You can provide numbers, text, refer to multiple cells, or select a range of cells to Count the non blank cells easily.<\/p>\n

    The COUNTA function works on Numeric & Non-Numeric Values. Thus, it can count Text value cells too.<\/p>\n

    The A in COUNTA actually stands for Alphanumeric values. So that’s why it can count text as well as numbers.<\/p>\n

    If you provide a non numeric value (text value), it CAN BE EASILY COUNTED in the final count.<\/p>\n

    Syntax of COUNTA Function in Excel:<\/h3>\n

    =COUNTA(number1, number2, number3)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    =COUNTA(Range_of_Cells) like =COUNTA(A1:A10)<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    When do you use the COUNTA Function in Excel:<\/h3>\n

    It is common in the management, and executives to count the number of rows of data. If the data being counted is numeric, you use COUNT, but if you are counting names, or departments, or Products or Categories etc., it is better to use COUNTA, as it counts text values too.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    For example, managers often want to know the total number of Employees, the total number of\u00a0 Customers, or Total Number of Tickets Resolved.<\/p>\n

    All such measures can be easily calculated with the COUNTA Function, which is pre-built into Excel.<\/p>\n

    This function not known to many people. Learning to use this function well will improve your productivity and efficiency in Excel.<\/p>\n

    Additional Resources:\u00a0 Counting Text Values in Excel<\/a><\/p>\n

    Using the COUNTBLANK Function in Excel<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n