Microsoft Excel remains an essential tool for data management and analysis in businesses. With its numerous features, it can seem complex to master. To help you make the most of this software, discover our selection of the 10 most useful functions in Microsoft Excel in 2024. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced user, these tips will save you time and improve your productivity.
Key Points:
- VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP: Use these functions to quickly search for and extract specific values from a table.
- SUMIF and SUMIFS: Calculate conditional totals based on specific criteria for more detailed data analysis.
- INDEX and MATCH: Combine these two functions to create more dynamic and flexible searches than VLOOKUP.
- COUNTIF and COUNTIFS: Count the number of cells that meet given criteria to get quick summaries.
- CONCATENATE and TEXTJOIN: Merge multiple text strings into a single cell to organize your textual data.
- IF and IFS: Create conditional formulas to perform complex calculations based on different scenarios.
- PIVOT TABLE: Transform your raw data into interactive summaries for deeper analysis.
- DYNAMIC ARRAY FORMULAS: Use array formulas to perform calculations on entire data ranges more efficiently.
- XLOOKUP: Replace VLOOKUP for more powerful and flexible searches with this new function.
- FILTER and SORT: Filter and sort your data directly in your formulas for more dynamic information manipulation.
The IF Function
The IF function sets a condition to be met. It’s one of the most popular Excel formulas because it is used in many fields and pairs with many other formulas. It is written as follows: =IF(logical test, Value if true, Value if false). The value if false is optional.
The COUNTIF Function
The COUNTIF function is similar in principle to SUMIF but does not have the same objective. It is useful for considering a data range and studying it through a criterion, as indicated by the “IF” in its name. However, it only “counts” and does not add the values matching the criterion.
The SUMIFS Function
The SUMIFS function allows you to add certain cells according to criteria you select. It’s like applying filters on multiple columns and then adding the values of a particular column, but this time, it’s a formula doing the work.
The SUMIFS function is constructed exactly like the COUNTIFS function. You just need to add the column where the values to be summed are as the first parameter. All other parameters are identical to those of a COUNTIFS function: =SUMIFS(Sum range, Criteria range 1, Criterion 1, Criteria range 2, Criterion 2, …)
The huge advantage of the SUMIFS function is that you can add as many criteria one after the other as you want, without compromising your function.
The AVERAGE Function
As its name suggests, the AVERAGE function calculates the average of values over a data range. Like the SUM function, its result is automatically suggested at the bottom right of the interface, alongside the number of non-empty cells when the range is selected. Its calculation method is exactly similar to SUM.
The YEAR Function
Date and time functions allow you to quickly know and isolate information from a date to then analyze it using other functions. Among them, you can find the YEAR function. It provides the year corresponding to the date entered in a cell.
The SUBSTITUTE Function
Excel allows you to replace portions of text in other cells using the SUBSTITUTE function. It is very useful in long text strings where it is absolutely necessary to replace one portion with another. This considers the existing text, the section to be replaced, and the replacing section.
The REPLACE Function
The REPLACE function, contrary to what it indicates, differs from the SUBSTITUTE function. This function replaces all occurrences of the same sequence of characters in a text string. REPLACE is more focused on selecting specific locations in the text string to replace a targeted portion or occurrence. This can be particularly useful if a code format was not accepted and rejected by Excel.
The LEN Function
The LEN function defines the number of characters within a text string. It’s a very practical function for categorizing information or, in the context of SEO and a list of title tags, knowing the exact number of characters in each of them.
The UNIQUE Function
In Excel, it has always been possible to remove duplicates from a list using the ribbon in the Data tab > Remove Duplicates. However, when updating the data, it is necessary to repeat the process again and again…
That’s why Mike Girvin designed a very complex array formula a few years ago to extract unique values from a formula.
Unfortunately, the formula is really too complex to be used regularly.
So, in 2018, Microsoft designed the UNIQUE function to be much easier to handle.
The UNIQUE function is used very simply! Just write the UNIQUE function and select the column containing the values with duplicates. Instantly, the function returns a result corresponding to all unique values contained in the initial column.
The FILTER Function
The FILTER function allows for dynamic filters in Excel and can be used in many situations. Everyone spends their days filtering with the filter options in column headers (the small arrows).
But now, you can create a dynamic filter that returns rows matching your criteria. This function can return multiple rows, whereas VLOOKUP does not allow that.
The FILTER function only needs 2 parameters to return a result:
- The column or columns to return filtered
- The filtering criterion
- [Optional] the result to display when there is no result
Other Basic Excel Functions
In recent years, more and more people have been using spreadsheets like those offered by Microsoft with Excel or Google with Sheets. Using these tools generally requires little knowledge, as most information or features are directly revealed. However, some features or commands require some research through these different tools. For example, if you want to convert text to uppercase in Excel or something else, you need to look for specialized websites.
These sites will allow you not only to find the solution to convert to uppercase but also to exploit other solutions in Excel or Sheets. However, if you don’t have time to search for the solution to convert to uppercase or lowercase, here is the command: UPPER() and LOWER().
If you want to fully exploit spreadsheets like Excel and Sheets, these specialized websites will be very useful, whether you are an average user or a professional. Moreover, spreadsheets are used for various reasons: budgeting, managing a schedule, and more.
Conclusion
What Excel functions do you find most useful in your daily work? Share your tips and experiences in the comments to help other users master this powerful tool.
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