Excel MAXA Function

The MAXA function returns the largest numeric value in a range of values. Like the MAX function, MAXA ignores empty cells. However, unlike the MAX function, MAXA evaluates the logical values TRUE and FALSE as 1 and 0, and evaluates text as zero when these values appear in a range or cell reference.

The MAXA function takes multiple arguments in the form number1, number2, number3, etc. up to 255 total. Arguments can be a hardcoded constant, a cell reference, or a range, in any combination. 

Examples

Like the MAX function, the MAXA function returns the largest number in the supplied data:

=MAX(12,17,25,11,23) // returns 25
=MAXA(12,17,25,11,23) // returns 25

MAXA can be used with constants, cell references, or ranges:

=MAXA(5,10)
=MAXA(A1,A2,A3)
=MAXA(A1:A10)

MAXA vs. MAX

The primary difference between MAX and MAXA is that MAXA evaluates TRUE and FALSE values as 1 and 0, and text values as zero when these values appear in a range or in a cell reference. You can see this behavior in the range I7:I12 of the example shown. While the MAX function ignores the logical and text values completely, the MAXA function includes these values when calculating a maximum value.

Note that MAX and MAXA both evaluate numbers as text when supplied directly as arguments:

=MAXA(5,"10") // returns 10
=MAX(5,"10") // also returns 10

Notes

• MAXA ignores empty cells, but evaluates logical values and text values.
• Arguments can be provided as numbers, names, arrays, or references.
• If arguments contain no numeric values, MAXA returns 0.
• To ignore logical values and text, see the MAX function.