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In this example, the goal is to build a formula that will return TRUE if a given cell contains all values that appear in a given range. We could build a formula that uses nested IF statements to check for each...Read more

The heart of this formula is the INDEX function, which is given the list as the array argument:

=INDEX(list

The second part of the formula is an expression that works out the correct row number as the formula is copied down...Read more

In this example, the goal is to sum the first n matching values in a set of data. Specifically, we want to sum the first 3 values for both Red and Blue, based on the order they appear in the table. There are 12 values total; 6 entries each for Red and Blue. All data is in ...Read more

The goal is to retrieve the value of a cell at a given row and column location, which are entered in cells G5 and G4, respectively. There are several ways to go about this, depending on your needs. See below for options.

ADDRESS and INDIRECT

In the example worksheet, the...Read more

In this example, the goal is to remove empty rows from a range with a formula. One approach is to use the BYROW function to identify all non-empty rows in the range and pass this result into the FILTER function as the include argument. This is the approach used in the worksheet shown,...Read more

In this example, the goal is to sum the values in F5:F16 when the Color in C5:C16 is "Red" and the State in D5:D16 is "TX". This is an example of a conditional sum with multiple criteria and the SUMIFS function is the easiest way to solve this...Read more

The core of this formula is the COUNTA function, configured with an expanding range like this:

COUNTA($B$5:B5)

As the formula is copied down the column, the range starting with B5 expands to...Read more

One of the trickier problems in Excel is to count rows in a set of data with "OR logic". There are two basic scenarios: (1) you want to count rows where a value in a column is "x" OR "y" (2) you want to count rows where a value, "x", exists in one column OR another.

In this example, the...Read more

In this example, the goal is to create a formula that will extract unique values from a range of data in a case-sensitive way. Normally, we would use the UNIQUE function to extract unique values. However, UNIQUE is not case-sensitive so it won't work in this situation. One way to solve this...Read more

In Excel, you can't easily create formulas that skip columns following a certain pattern, because the references in the formula will automatically change to maintain the relationship between the original source cell and the new target cell. However, with a little work, it's possible to construct...Read more

In this example, the goal is to look up the correct shipping cost for an item based on the shipping service selected and the item's weight. At the core, this is an approximate match lookup based on weight. The challenge is that we also need to filter by service. This means we must apply criteria...Read more

A while back, I got from a reader about investing for his grandkids. The email asks the following question:

I hope you can assist me with an Excel calculation. I am keen to show my grandchildren the power of compound interest and the value of investing (patiently) for the...Read more

Working from the inside out, the expression C5:G5<>"" returns an array of true and false values:

{FALSE,TRUE,FALSE,FALSE,FALSE}

The number 1 is divided by this array, which creates a new array composed of either 1's or #DIV/0! errors...Read more

This formula uses the "greater than or equal to" operator with text, something you might not have tried before. When Excel compares text, it decides which value is "greater" than another based on rules that follow the ASCII specification.

Inside COUNTIF, the...Read more

The goal is to calculate the correct invoice status ("OK", "Paid", or "Overdue") using the following rules:

1. If there is an "x" in the "Paid" column, return "Paid".
2. If there is not an "x" in the "Paid" column, and if the age is less than 31 days, return "OK"
...Read more

In this example, the goal is to subtotal invoices by age, where age represents the number of days since the invoice was issued. This problem can be solved with the SUMIFS function and the COUNTIFS function, as explained below. For convenience, age (E5:E16) and amount...Read more

The goal is to do something if a cell equals a given value. The most common way to solve this problem is with the IF function.

IF function

The IF function runs a logical test and returns one value for a TRUE result, and another value for a...Read more

At the core, this formula uses the SEARCH function to look for multiple strings inside a cell. Inside the left SUMPRODUCT, SEARCH looks for all strings in the named range "include".

In the right SUMPRODUCT, SEARCH looks for all strings in the named range "exclude".

In both...Read more

The goal is to "flag" records that are neither "Red" nor "Green". More specifically, we want to check the color in column B, and leave an "x" in rows where the color is NOT "Red" OR "Green". If the color is "Red" OR "Green", we want to display nothing.

IF function...Read more

The goal is to retrieve the nth matching record in a table when targeting a specific product. For example, if the value in cell H4 is "A", the formula in H7 should return the name "John", since this is the first name in the table associated with product "A". In the same way, the...Read more

The table contains basic order information, with columns for Date, Product, Name, and Amount. The Helper column is used to create a special lookup value, as explained below. The goal is to retrieve the nth matching record in a table for a specific product, which is entered in cell I4. For...Read more

The goal is to list the working days between a start date and an end date. In the simplest form, this means we want to list dates that are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, but exclude dates that are Saturday or Sunday. In addition, we need an option to exclude a list of...Read more

The goal is to return the first non-blank value in each row from columns B:E, moving left to right. One way to solve this problem is with a series of nested IF statements. Since all cells are contiguous (connected) another way to get the first value is with the XLOOKUP function. Both approaches...Read more

The goal is to look up and retrieve employee information in a table that contains unique id values in the first column. The VLOOKUP function is straightforward to use with data in this format, but you can easily use the XLOOKUP function as well. See below for a detailed explanation of both...Read more

The core of this formula is based on another formula that calculates the "current row" in a range:

=ROW()-ROW(rng.firstcell)+1

In brief, we get the current row in the workbook, then subtract the...Read more