List of Excel Formulas - 3 Popular Formulas and Functions

Microsoft Excel is an extremely versatile piece offalse. But, instead of displaying a TRUE or FALSE
software. Even though it's been around for well overvalue as a result, instead it lets you control exactly
20 years now, it is still under-utilized by most users.how the resulting value will look.
Excel has come into such widespread use that peopleFor example, the formula:
take it for granted, and even many long-time users=IF((A1+B1)>4,"Larger than 4","No Dice")would
do not know how to leverage even a small fractiondisplay the text "Larger than 4" if the sum of the
of what it can actually do.values in cells A1 and B1 is larger than 4, but it would
Some of the great "hidden gems" of Excel include itsreturn the text "No Dice" if not. Remember, you can
many functions and formulas. Speaking of functions:substitute the text in this example for anything you
Excel sported no less than 331 functions last time Iwant.
counted. Granted, you likely will never need to use2. Evaluate more than one cell at once with OR and
many of these unless you are an engineer or areAND functions:
involved in certain types of statistics or high-levelThe AND and OR functions work similarly to the IF
math (ever heard of a Bessel function? Excel doesfunction. However, they return the values TRUE or
that, too - but I will probably never have the need toFALSE depending up the result, rather than text that
use it!).you specify. Also, unlike the IF function, AND and OR
But what is a function? Basically, functions arenecessarily compare combinations of two or more
complex formulas whereby all of that complexityvalues at once.
happens "behind the scenes." As the user, all youThe difference between the AND and OR functions
need to memorize is the function name and how tothemselves is that (as their names imply): the AND
set it up properly. Excel does the rest. Using functionsfunction only returns TRUE if both/all conditions are
always requires typing in the function name and a setmet, while OR returns TRUE if any one condition is
of parentheses. The parentheses usually hold one ormet. Examples:
more arguments, such as cell addresses (e.g., A1 or=AND(A1>1, A1<10) (note: this returns TRUE if
C3, etc.).the number in A1 is 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9; otherwise,
So, what's a formula, then? Well, formulas are usuallyit returns FALSE).
combinations of operators (like +, - and = signs),=OR(A1="Bob","B1="Bob") (note: this returns TRUE if
numbers, cell addresses, and sometimes functionsthe text in A1 or the text in B1 (or both) is "Bob.")
themselves. Formulas are needed when there is no3. Add today's date to a spreadsheet:
specific existing function for what you need, or ifOkay, now for a quick-and-easy one. How do you
you need to combine multiple functions together.easily add today's date to a cell without having to
Technical note: to use both formulas and functionstype it in again every day? Simple! Use: TODAY().
properly, always start with a =.Example:
Below, I introduce you to a list of useful Excel=TODAY() (note: this returns today's date in a date
formulas that you should know. Each is very useful,format, such as DD/MM/YYYY).
and most Excel users will find that these come inThe next time you find yourself needing to evaluate
very handy:one or more values, try the IF, OR and AND
1. Use a formula with an IF function to evaluate orfunctions. And, to add today's date to a spreadsheet,
compare text or numbers within cells:try the TODAY function. Once you get the hang of
As an Excel user, you will often want an easy waythese formulas and functions, check out various
to compare or evaluate a number in a cell or a rangeonline resources or Excel's own Help feature for
of cells. One way to do this is with an IF function. Anmore information on the full range of formulas and
IF function tells you whether something is true orfunctions available to you.