Mastering Excel: 10 Popular Formulas to Supercharge Your Work

Microsoft Excel stands as a ubiquitous spreadsheet software utilized across various professional domains. Its primary functions range from data manipulation and text management to creating charts and graphs. Excel proves invaluable for handling simple to complex datasets. Here, we explore 10 popular Excel formulas that enhance efficiency. Remember to prefix each formula with an equals sign (=) and select the desired columns or rows.

1. SUM

The SUM formula is a cornerstone, widely employed for its ability to add numbers. Whether summing individual cells, a range, or multiple ranges simultaneously, SUM is a versatile tool for numerical calculations.

2. IF

IF serves to return a value based on the truth or falsehood of a condition. It displays one value if the condition is true and another if false. IF can handle multiple conditions by combining several IF functions.

3. LOOKUP

Once prevalent, LOOKUP has evolved into VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP. It initially sought a value in a column or row, paving the way for more advanced lookup functions.

4. VLOOKUP

VLOOKUP excels in searching for a value in a table and displaying a corresponding value in another column based on the desired column order. For instance, retrieving a phone number from a table of individual data.

5. MATCH

MATCH locates a specific value in a table, providing the relative position or sequence number of the sought value. For instance, finding the order of fruits like Apple, Orange, and Cherry, with Cherry having a relative position of three.

6. CHOOSE

CHOOSE is employed to select and display a single value from a list based on an index number. It can choose one value out of up to 254 based on the index number. For example, mapping index 1-7 to days of the week.

7. DATE

DATE generates a sequential serial number representing a date. It is useful when dealing with separate cells for year, month, and day.

8. DAYS

Calculating the number of days between two dates becomes seamless with the DAYS function. It’s handy for countdowns or tracking the expiration of perishable items.

9. FIND

FIND locates specific text within a cell containing lengthy text. It counts each character, regardless of language settings, treating single or double-byte characters as one.

10. INDEX

INDEX retrieves a value from a range or table. It selects a specific value in a range or table as desired. For instance, extracting “Carrots” from a vegetable column list {“Tomatoes,” “Carrots,” “Chilies”} using INDEX by specifying the location of the desired value (2nd column in this case).

Mastering these Excel formulas empowers users to streamline data manipulation, analysis, and reporting, making Excel an indispensable tool for professionals across diverse industries.