How To

12 essential Excel formulas: become an Excel pro

1. The sum (SUM)

This allows you to add several figures, just like in school. There are two ways.

The first allows you to add cells in sequence (columns or rows). Just put =SUM(first
cell:last cell) in the cell where you want to display the result.

Variant: This formula also allows you to add up all the numbers in a particular data set
(multiple column numbers and multiple rows), taking the “first cell” as the top left, and
the “last cell” as the bottom right.

The second method allows you to add (unrelated) cells individually. Just
put =SUM(cell1;cell2;cell3;cell4) in the cell where you want to display the result.

Example:

To add the contents of the column a eg. cell A1, enter =SUM (A1:A5) in the cell of your
choice.

To add all the numbers in the pivot table, enter =SUM (A1:B5) in the cell of your choice.

To add only the cells with a negative number like in cell b2, enter =SUM (A1;B2;B5) in
the cell of your choice.

2. The “If Function” sum according to a specific criterion (SUM.IF)

A table can come in the form of a list of several items, which aren’t necessarily related. If
the list is long, it can be difficult to find all the identical elements to add them one by
one. To do this, you can ask Excel to find all these specific cases and make the sum using
the formula =SUM.IF(range_cells;”test”;sum_range). The “criterion” is the item
type to be found in the table. The range_cells is the range of cells containing the relevant
criterion. The sum_range is the range of cells where the numbers add up.
Example:

In this example, the criterion to look for is “red”. To calculate the total of the “reds” only,
enter the following formula: =SUM.IF(B1:B5,red”,A1:A5) in the cell of your choice.

3. The sum according to several criteria (SUM.IFS)

A table can contain a lot of information. Excel can add data based on multiple criteria
using a special formula: =SUMIFS(sum_range;range_criterion1;criterion1;
range_criterion2;criterion2;….). sum_range is the range of cells with the numbers
to be added. range_criterion1 represents the range of cells containing the data with the
first criterion, range_criterion2 being the second criterion, and so on. criterion1 is the
first item type (criterion) to be found in the table, etc..

Example:

To find the number of points earned by the men on the yellow team, enter the following
formula: SUMIFS (D1:D13,C1:C13,C1,B1:B13,B1) in the cell of your choice.
Variation: You don’t have to select the first and last cell from the column exactly, you
can select an entire column. Instead of B1: B13, just enter B:B.

4. The sum of events based on a criterion (NB.IF)

Within a range of statistics, it’s sometimes interesting to know how many times a given
event is repeated in a column. For this, we use the following
function: =NB.SI(range_cell;”criterion”). The range_cells is the range of cells
containing the data. The criterion is the first criterion to be found in the table.

Example:

In the preceding table, you want to know how many women were involved in the game.
Enter the following formula: =NB.SI (B1:B13, “Woman”) in the cell of your choice.

5. The sum of events based on several conditions (SUMPRODUCT)

This formula is used to extract a statistical answer to the question: how many times do
these specific conditions occur in my table?

Answer: =SUMPRODUCT((range_criterion1=”criterion1″)*(range_criterion
2=”criterion2″))

The range_criterion1 is the range of cells containing the data on the first criterion, the
range_criterion2 corresponds to the second criterion, and so on. criterion1 is the first
criterion to be found in the table, etc..

Example :

Taking the above table as an example, this formula allows us to say how many men were
part of the yellow team. To do this, enter the following
formula: =SUMPRODUCT((B1:B13=”Male”)*(C1:C13=”yellow”)) in the cell of your
choice.

6. The sum of events between two specific values (SUMPRODUCT)

SUMPRODUCT is a statistical tool because it focuses on the number of times that
certain conditions are met simultaneously. It allows you to find the number of times the
figures are between two specific values, using the following
formula: =SUMPRODUCT(range_cells>=minimum)*(range_cells<=maximu
m)).
The range_cells is the range of cells containing the relevant figures. Minimum and
Maximum are the two values between which our search results will appear.

Example:

In our previous table, we must find the number of players who scored between 150 and
200 points. To do this, enter the following
formula: =SUMPRODUCT((D1:D13>=150)*D1:D13<=200)) in the cell of your choice.

7. Average (AVERAGE)
We probably don’t need to give you the definition of average. It’s very simple to achieve
with the following formula: =AVERAGE(range_cells)

Example:

To calculate the average of all these numbers –  in other words, the number that
represents the typical value or mean of the figures, enter the following
formula: =AVERAGE(A1:A6) in the cell of your choice. The range_cells is the range of
cells containing the relevant figures.

8. Concatenate
The Concatenate formula is a simple string formula that will pull information from
many different cells into one. A good example would be combining a person’s name,
address, and date of birth into one column when previously the information had been
spread across different cells.

To find. Concatenate you need to hit Formulas, then Text and Formulas, and then
hit the Insert Function button. From there hit Category and Text. You’ll see it there
as CONCAT.

9. The maximum and the minimum (MAX and MIN)

Where you have a wide range of data, it can be quite a task to look for the largest or
smallest number. Fortunately, Excel has a formula that looks for you. It’s very easy to
apply since it appears as follows:
=MAX(range_cells)

=MIN(range_cells)

The range_cells is the range of cells containing the relevant figures.

Variation: you can also apply the search to multiple cell ranges.

The formulas then become:

=MAX(range_cells1;range_cells2)

=MIN(range_cells1;range_cells2)

Example :

In the preceding table, you’re looking for the greatest numerical value. Enter the
following formula: =MAX(A1:A6) in the cell of your choice.

If you want the smallest numerical value, enter: =MIN A1:A6)

As you might guess, this formula is particularly useful if you’re working with very large
tables.

10. Count up the number of cells with numbers (COUNT)

I don’t know why, but I always think of The Count from Sesame Street whenever I use
this formula.
COUNT is a simple formula in Excel that simply counts up the number of cells in a
given range that have numbers in them. Whereas the SUM function returns the total
value of all the numbers in the range, COUNT is binary — it delivers a “1” if the cell has
numerical contents and a “0” if it doesn’t.

This particular formula only works with numerical values. It’s cousin, COUNTA, does
the same for all alphanumeric values in the cell and is ideal for testing whether cells in a
range are “empty.”

Example Formula: =COUNT(A1:A20)

11. Get the Length of the Contents with LEN

Need to get a character count of the contents of a particular cell? Here comes LEN to the
rescue! LEN counts up the total number of characters in a given cell. Note that this
includes spaces!

Example Formula: =LEN(A1)

12. Recognize dates (DATEVALUE)

Excel can recognize certain serial numbers in select cells as being dates. For example,
today’s date or the current date, whatever they may be, will be saved as an Excel serial
number. You can use the =DATEVALUE(…) in an empty cell to change date figures to
the Excel serial numbers and vice versa. This is useful for making date calculations, and
sorting and filtering dates.

In short
While they may seem quite tricky at first, these Excel formulas will save you a lot of time
if you use the software on a frequent basis, so it’s worth becoming familiar with them.
How To

Improve your productivity with these Microsoft Word tips

This week at Softonic we’re here for all the Microsoft Office users out there.
Whether you’re an Office 2019 owner or Microsoft Office 365 subscriber is all
the same when it comes to getting the job done. We’re here for all of you this
week as we’ll be giving you top tips for PowerPoint, a guide to accessibility
tools across all Office programs, tips on formatting Office files, and some
essential Excel formulas. Today though, we’re looking at Microsoft Word as we
try to boost your productivity with some top tips.

Word is the most successful word processing program there has ever been. For
years, in fact, it was the only one that mattered. Then the cloud came along
and programs like Google Docs shook things up a bit meaning that Word had
to adapt or die. The Microsoft program did so admirably and today has a
plethora of new features and tools that Word users from just a few years ago
wouldn’t recognize. Let’s not waste any more time then and get straight into
our productivity tips for Microsoft Word.

Tips for Word

Keep your documents safe and private

It is more important than ever to protect your digital documents as much as you can.
Fortunately, Microsoft Word has a lot of features to help you do so including encrypting
your written documents and protecting them behind passwords. You can also manage
permissions for who can view and who can edit the documents you’ve created. To do so,
Hit the File button and then click Info.

Quick highlight
This simple trick is very effective, and you’ll use it a lot once you know how to do it. To
highlight an entire sentence in a single click simply hold the CTRL key as you click the
beginning of the sentence. There is also a less refined version of this tip where you don’t
hold the CTRL-key but simply perform multiple mouse clicks. A double click highlights
a word and three clicks will highlight a paragraph. The final selection shortcut we have
for you doesn’t even include mouse clicks at all. To highlight the entire document at
once press CTRL + A at the same time. Be careful with this one though, and remember
that the undo button is always there if something goes wrong.

The Word calculator

It’s a little-known fact that Word can do sums and math just like Excel can. You need to
hit File, then Options, and then select the Quick Access Toolbar option in the menu
on the left. You then need to click the drop-down menu called Choose commands
from and select All Commands. Now in the list below find Calculate and hit Add.
Confirm this by clicking OK  and then get back to work. You’ll now see a new blue
button next to the Undo and Redo icons that will change color any time you type out
and highlight calculations in your document. When it does this, click it and Word will
show you the answer to your calculation where it normally shows you the word count of
your document.

Word equations
If you’re looking to add something a little more complicated than simple calculations to
your document, then you’ll be glad to know that Word has a built-in equation feature for
doing just that. To insert equations into your Word documents hit Insert and
then Equation. Word will then show you a number of different equations that you can
add to your document and then format as you wish.
Delete whole words at once
If you ever find yourself with lots of text that you need to delete, you’ll be interested to
know that you can upgrade delete from a single letter at a time to a word simply by
holding the CTRL key when you hit delete.