Okay, so I wanted to get better at using formulas in Excel, you know, to make my spreadsheets actually do some work for me. I decided to focus on the basics first. I literally started by opening a blank Excel sheet – so exciting, right?
Starting Simple: SUM and AVERAGE
First, I just typed in some random numbers in a column. Then, in an empty cell, I tried my first formula: =SUM(A1:A10). I picked that range because, well, that’s where I put my numbers. I hit Enter, and boom! It added them all up. I felt like a genius for about five seconds.
Next, I wanted to find the average of those same numbers. So, right next to the SUM, I typed in =AVERAGE(A1:A10). Pressed Enter again, and yep, there was the average. It was surprisingly satisfying.
Getting a Bit Fancier: IF Statements
Then I thought, “Let’s get a little crazy.” I wanted to use an IF statement to see if a number was bigger than, say, 50. So, I picked another empty cell and typed: =IF(A1>50, “Big”, “Small”). What this does, in plain English, is check if the value in cell A1 is greater than 50. If it is, it displays “Big”; if not, it displays “Small”. I dragged that formula down for a few rows, and it worked like a charm! Some cells said “Big”, some said “Small”, all based on the numbers.
- I had a few problems because I missed adding the “” marks for “Big” and “Small”.
- I also missed the comma mark, so had to look closely to work out where I went wrong.
Playing with COUNTIF
I then saw something about COUNTIF. Sounded interesting. I wanted to count how many numbers in my list were greater than 25. So, I typed: =COUNTIF(A1:A10, “>25”). It worked! It told me exactly how many numbers in that range were bigger than 25.
Feeling Like a Pro (Almost)
Honestly, it felt pretty good to make Excel do these things. I know it’s super basic, but it’s a start. Next, I need to start with lookups. I keep hearing the word, but have not tried yet!
