Excel MIN Function
Summary
The Excel MIN function returns the smallest numeric value in a range of values. The MIN function ignores empty cells, the logical values TRUE and FALSE, and text values.
Purpose
Get the smallest value.
Return value
The smallest value in the array.
Syntax
=MIN (number1, [number2], ...)
Arguments
- number1 - Number, reference to numeric value, or range that contains numeric values.
- number2 - [optional] Number, reference to numeric value, or range that contains numeric values.
Version
Usage notes
The MIN function can be used to return the smallest value from a set of data. For example, the fastest time in a race, the lowest temperature, or the smallest sales number. Arguments can be provided as constants, or as cell references or ranges, for example:
Notes:
- The MIN function ignores empty cells.
- The MIN function in current versions of Excel accepts up to 255 arguments. If arguments contain no numbers, MIN returns 0.
- Arguments can be provided as numbers, names, arrays, or references that contain numbers.
- The MIN function ignores TRUE and FALSE values, and numbers entered as text, unless they are typed directly into the list of arguments.
- To include logical values in a reference, see the MINA function.
MIN formula examples
Note: it's important to understand that Excel deals with time natively as fractions of a day. So, 12:00 PM is .5, 6:00 AM is .25, 6 PM is .75, and so on. This works fine for standard time and date calculations, but in...
Excel dates are just serial numbers, so you can calculate durations by subtracting the earlier date from the later date.
This is what happens at the core of the formula here:
MIN(end,C6)-MAX(start,B6)+1
Here are...
The MIN function accepts one or more arguments, which can be a mix of constants, cell references, and ranges. The MIN function returns the maximum value in data provided. Text values and empty cells are ignored.
In...
Note: this example assumes that fuel is added to capacity at each gas stop, in order to calculate miles per gallon (MPG) based on the miles driven and fuel used since the last stop. In addition, this example keeps all...
The first part of the solution uses the MIN and TODAY functions to find the "next date" based on the date today. This is done by filtering the dates through the IF function:
IF((date>=TODAY()),date)
The logical...
The MIN function is fully automatic - it returns the smallest value in the numbers provided. In this case, we give MIN function two values:
=MIN(B5,C5)
and MIN returns the smaller value.
Elegant alternative to IF...
In the example shown, the goal is to calculate the minimum difference of sales minus cost, but only when both values have been entered. If either value is blank, the result should be ignored. To confirm that both...
Working from the inside out, the MIN function is used to find the lowest bid in the range C5:C9:
MIN(C5:C9) // returns 99500
The result, 99500, is fed into the MATCH function as the lookup value:
MATCH(99500,C5:C9...
In this example, we first calculate the total hours between the start time and end time. Then we figure out the total hours that overlap "the period of interest". Using these two values, we can figure out all remaining...
At a high level, this example is about finding a minimum value based on multiple criteria. To do that, we are using the MIN function together with two nested IF functions:
{=MIN(IF(day=I5,IF(tide="L",pred...
When given a single cell reference, the ROW function returns the row number for that reference. However, when given a range that contains multiple rows, the ROW function will return an array that contains all row...
When given a single cell reference, the COLUMN function returns the column number for that reference. However, when given a range that contains multiple columns, the COLUMN function will return an array that contains...
This formula uses the MIN function to make a decision that might otherwise be handled with the IF function. Although MIN is usually used to return the minimum value in a data set with many numbers, it also works fine...
Overview
The formula looks complex, but the mechanics are in fact quite simple.
As with most formulas that split or extract text, the key is to locate the position of the thing you are looking for. Once you have the...
At the core, this is an INDEX and MATCH formula: MATCH locates the position of the closest match, feeds the position to INDEX, and INDEX returns the value at that position in the Trip column. The hard work is done...
Related videos
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In this video, we'll look at how to calculate minimum and maximum values in Excel, using the MAX and MIN function.
Related functions
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