Learn these basic formulas to start using Excel

Excel is the Microsoft program that most use when working with numerical data and has extraordinary functionality. In this way, and based on spreadsheets, cells, and formulas, we are able to take advantage of our data.

Despite the fact that this is a valid program for most users, be they new or professional, getting the most out of it is not easy. That is why Microsoft itself through it offers us both basic functions, as well as more advanced and professional ones. However, it should be mentioned that the application will be useful to carry out domestic accounting, independent accounts, or the control of an entire company.

That is why in these same lines we are going to show you some of the most used and common formulas that you can get hold of in this Office program. Of course, before anything, it is recommended to have some prior knowledge about the operation and handling of Excel. And there are some who compare it with Word, also from Office, but they have little to do.

The Excel interface, perfect for numbers and formulas

In fact, for those who do not know much about the program, at first, the user interface may be somewhat striking. This is made up of a huge number of cells that run through the entire spreadsheet. However, as we use it, we will realize that this is the best solution to work with both numbers and formulas, for example, to make our budgets in Excel.

In this way and thanks to the structure that Microsoft proposes here, we will be able to handle these specific types of data in an efficient way, as well as structured. And it is necessary to take into account that, especially at a professional level, sometimes these sheets will be full of numerical data, so good organization is key here.

Sum formulas in Excel

We have several ways to make sums in the program, so here we will show you some of the most common ones so that you can opt for the one that suits you best.

SUM: this function is used to add two cells or a range of them. Example: = SUM (A4: A34), where the cells or ranges are in parentheses.

+: we can also add two values ​​or cells directly with +.

Example = A1 + A4.

Autosum: we can also use the sum or auto sum that we see in the interface of the imitated program to adjacent cell ranges. We mark the range that we want to add and click on the corresponding symbol on the menu.

Subtraction formula in Excel

Another of the most basic operations that we can use in this application is subtraction, as you can imagine. For all this, we only have one possibility, and that is using the corresponding sign.

-: This serves to subtract two specific numbers or cells that we indicate in the corresponding formula.

Example: = A3 - B5.

Multiplication formula

When doing multiplications in the Microsoft program, this is something that we can carry out for as many values ​​or cells as we need. Thus, the elements to calculate will have to be separated by the sign for this type of task.

*: as we say, to multiply the values ​​of two cells you must insert an asterisk between them.

Example: B5 * C7 * D9 * E6

Divide formula

As with the subtractions, here we can only use two values, as it is logical to think.

/: To divide the two values ​​with which we want to calculate two cells, you must include the usual operation sign between them.

Example: A9 / B7.

At this point, it must be borne in mind that for operations of this type, we must always respect the correct order of the numerical data with which we will make the calculations.

Maximum, minimum and average value formulas

As it could not be otherwise, the Microsoft program also allows us to locate the maximum and minimum values ​​of a certain range of data. This can be very useful to us when we work with an enormous amount of consecutive and listed data. Well, to be able to take full advantage of this functionality, we will make use of the MAX and MIN commands respectively.

MAX: as it is easy to imagine, with the first one we find the maximum value of the cells that we specify, we can use it both in ranges and in specific cells

Example = MAX (B8, E7) or for a range = MAX (A1: A15).

MIN: at the same time, this second will be used to locate the minimum value of the cells that we specify in the brackets. We can also use it both in ranges and in specific cells that we previously indicated.

Example: = MIN (B8, E7) or for a range = MIN (A1: A15).

At the same time, we will have the possibility, from this same program, to calculate the value of the average or arithmetic mean of the cells or their range that we specify in the formula that we are going to show you. As in the two previous cases, this will be very helpful for large projects.

AVERAGE: as we mentioned before, with this formula we find out the arithmetic mean of two values, or of a range of cells.

Example: = AVERAGE (B6: C29)

Excel COUNT, COUNTA and Yes COUNT formulas

In the event that we have a large spreadsheet and need to know the amount of data that has been previously entered into it, we can use one of these two formulas.

COUNT: in this way we have the possibility of establishing a specific range so that the function returns the amount of data located in the cells.

Example: = COUNT (A5: B9)

COUNTA: the difference between the two is that COUNT only returns the numerical data, while COUNTA also counts, along with these, the rest of the characters.

Example: = COUNTA (A5: B9)

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COUNT.SI: at the same time we have a somewhat more precise variant similar to these two, where we can also specify a criterion to search for. This can be a specific number, greater or less than a certain value, or a word.

Example: in the case that we want to see the number of times that the term SOFTZONE is repeated in a range, we type = COUNTIF (A1: C9, "SOFTZONE").

SI formula

This is one of the formulas that we can make the most of in Excel at the user level. We say this because its use is not at all complicated once we know it, and it will be very useful for us when establishing custom conditions in the spreadsheet.

YES: for all this, what we have to indicate in the formula itself is, first of all, the condition, which can be a text or an operation. Then, in the next two, we specify what it will return to us if the condition is met, or what it will return if it is not met.

Example: if we want to know if the value of cell G13 is greater or less than 100, we type = YES (G13> 100; »GREATER»; »MINOR»).

Excel date formulas

The issue of dates, taking into account the nature of the documents with which we work here, are very important. That is why we can use some formulas that will help us in working with them, as we will show you below.

For example, with DATE what we are going to obtain is a date from three cells that we indicated previously. As in the previous cases, we must respect the order of the values ​​that we are going to introduce, which in this specific case is a year, month and day.

DATE: this will be very helpful for us to create dates through a table of the same that they have sent us.

Example: = DATE (G6, A3, C1), where we will see the year of cell G6, the month of A3 and the day of C1.

DAYS: this specific formula returns the number of days that there is a difference between two dates that we have previously indicated in its parameters.

Example: = DAY (A8, D9) or = DAY ("1/2/2019", E8 ").

NOW: This is another very important formula if we are used to working with dates in our Excel sheets. In fact, it returns the current date and it will update automatically, which can be very useful in certain spreadsheets. It also does not require us to enter any additional data.

Example: = NOW ()

Basic formulas for texts

Although Excel was originally designed to work with numerical data, it also supports many other formats. Among these, how could it be otherwise, we find the texts. That is why we have some basic functions to work with them.

FIND: this is a formula that will help us to know if the text of a cell has inside it, another one that we pass to it as a parameter. If so, the formula itself returns the position of this, otherwise, it will give us an error.

Example: = FIND (“softzone”, ”softzone official website”).

SPACES: and we are going to end with a formula that basically takes care of eliminating the unnecessary spaces that are in a cell with text. And it is necessary to take into account that these may give us the error in certain Excel operations.

Example: = SPACES (G3).