Master Excel Functions - Blog - Excel by Joeexcelbyjoe.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/30-Page-E… · · 2015-01-03”Master Excel Functions”! ... A4&" "&B4&" "&C4 – This is

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Master Excel Functions

30 Page Preview

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Hi Everyone!

First off, thanks for downloading this free 30 page preview of our first course,

”Master Excel Functions”!

I’ve been working hard on the complete product but wanted to give you a sample

of it. Some of the Modules in the final product include:

- 50 page Ebook on the Excel Functions

- 2 hours of video explaining the functions

- Document to teach how to Nest If statements

- Short Ebook and videos on Advanced Nested Functions

- Real World Examples on Excel Functions

- Questions to help you learn

- And more

This launches February 4th, 2015! I will email you more information on this as it

gets closer along with how to get it at a cheaper price.

***If you have any question on Excel Functions or troubles you have with them

that you would like included in this training, please email them to

[email protected]

So until then, I hope you enjoy this free preview…

Thanks!

Joe

http://excelbyjoe.com/excelfunctions

mailto:[email protected]


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ABS Function This function will give you the absolute value of a number.

Number – This is the number that you want the absolute value for. It can be a reference or a number

Column B are the results. Column C is the formula.

Examples:

In cell B2 – We want to find the absolute value of the number in cell A1. So we

used the formula =ABS(A1). So it gives you the absolute value of 33.4 which is

33.4.

In cell B3 – We want to find the absolute value of the number in cell A2. So we

used the formula =ABS(A2). So it gives you the absolute value of -22 which is 22.

In cell B4 – We want to find the absolute value of 11. So we used the formula

=ABS(11). So it gives you the absolute value of 11 which is 11.

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AND Function This is a logical function that only returns TRUE or FALSE. If all criteria asked in the function

are TRUE, then this returns a TRUE. Otherwise it returns a FALSE.

In this example, we want to see if each person scored over 200 in ALL games. So we put the

AND function in cells E2 to E5 because the AND function requires ALL items to be TRUE

So we go to E2 and go to the wizard.

Logical1 : This is our first test. Is cell B2 greater than 200. Result is FALSE.

Logical2 : This is our first test. Is cell C2 greater than 200. Result is FALSE.

Logical3 : This is our first test. Is cell D2 greater than 200. Result is FALSE.

=AND(B2>200,C2>200,D2>200)

The total formula returns a FALSE because not all of the results were TRUE. In cell E4, when

we check if B4, C4 and D4 are greater than 200, since they all are, E4 would be TRUE.

=AND(B4>200,C4>200,D4>200) equals TRUE

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AVERAGE Function This function will give the average to whatever cells you tell it to.

Number1 – This is the range of cells you want averaged.

If you had another range of cells, you would put it in Number2.

In cell B6 we have the formula =AVERAGE(B2:B5). Excel will average all the cells from B2 to

B5. The result is 83. Instead of a range, you can put a Named Range in there, if you have one

named. You also can have multiple ranges. For example, you could have

=AVERAGE(B2:B5,C2:C5)

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CHOOSE Function This function will choose a value from a supplied list, based on a number you give.

Index num – This is the relative number of item to choose from the values supplied. If we put

a 2, we choose Value2

Value1,2,3… – These are the choices that you would choose between

Example 1 In cell B1 we have the formula CHOOSE(1,"Joe","Jim","Tom") to choose between

Joe, Jim or Tom. The first part is a 1, so it means we choose the first choice, which is Joe.

Example 2 In cell B2 we have the formula CHOOSE(A2,"Joe","Jim","Tom") to choose between

Joe, Jim or Tom. The first part is a A2. A2 has a 2 in it, so it means we choose the 2nd option

which is Jim

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CONCATENATE Function This function will combine multiple cells of your choice into one cell. However, it is easier to

just use the & symbol to combine. I will give examples of both.

We use 3 examples here.

Row 2: CONCATENATE(A2,"-",B2,"-",C2) – The wizard let’s us pick which cells we want to combine. Text1

we use cell A2. Then we want a dash to appear, as we are making a new cell which looks like a phone number.

We continue down the line until we get 716-555-1234

Row 3: A3&"-"&B3&"-"&C3 – Instead of using CONCATENATE which is long to type, we can simply type in

the formula . We basically put anything we want and then use the “&” symbol to combine the fields. If we

want to add text that isn’t a reference, we need to put it in parenthesis, like above where we put a dash in

parenthesis. The result is the same as Row 2, but without writing the word CONCATENATE.

Row 4: A4&" "&B4&" "&C4 – This is the same as row 3, but we add in “ “ so we put spaces in between the

names. We would do the same thing if we used CONCATENATE. Our result is John Dale Smith.

The only advantage I see to using CONCATENATE is you can use the wizard, but it’s not a big advantage. I just

include this function to show you that cells can easily be combined and this gives you two methods to do it.

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COUNT Function This function will count how many cells contain a number or a date.

Value1 – This is the range of cells you want

check. If you had another range of cells, you would put it in Value2.

In our example, we have our formula in A8, which is =COUNT(A1:A6). This will look at those

cells and return the number of cells that are numbers or dates. It returns a 3 because there

are numbers in A2 and A5 and a date in A4.

It will not count anything else.

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COUNTA Function This function will count how many cells are not blank.

Value1 – This is the range of cells you want check. If you had another range of cells, you would put it in Value2.

In our example, we have our formula in A8, which is =COUNTA(A1:A7). This will look at those

cells and return the number of cells that are not blank. So it will look at those cells and see

there are 5 cells with data in them, so it returns a 5.

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COUNTBLANK Function This function will count how many cells are blank.

RANGE – This is the range of cells you want check.

In our example, we have our formula in A8, which is =COUNTBLANK(A1:A7). This will look at

those cells and return the number of cells that are blank. So it will look at those cells and see

there are 2 cells with NO data in them, so it returns a 2.

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COUNTIF Function This function will return the number of cells in your range that match a specific criteria.

Range – This is the range of cells you want check.

Criteria – This is what Excel is checking on each item in the Range

We use 2 examples. Column B is the results and column C shows the formula in Column B

Row 10 – How many students scored of 65? We use the formula =COUNTIF(B2:B8,”>65”) So

what this does is it checks all the cells in B2 to B8 for the criteria mentioned. That criteria is

>65. So it will Count all the cells that have a number over 65. The result is 5.

Row 11 – How many students are named Joe? We use the formula =COUNTIF(A2:A8,”Joe”)

So what this does is it checks all the cells in A2 to A8 for the criteria mentioned. We check

column A because that is where the names are located. That criteria is if it is “Joe” So it will

Count all the cells if it contains “Joe”. The result is 3.

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COUNTIFS Function This function will Count the cells in your range that match multiple criteria.

Criteria_range1 – This is the first range of what Excel is to look at. A2:A10. We want to look at

Student names

Criteria1 – This is the criteria we want to find in the Criteria Range 1. We are looking for “Joe”

in A2:A10. It finds 3 instances.

Criteria_range2 – This is the second range of what Excel is to look at. B2:B10. We want to

look at the Classes

Criteria2 – This is the criteria we want to find in the Criteria Range 2. We are looking for

“Math” in B2:B10. It finds 4 instances. However only 2 instances match “Joe” and “Math”.

So our final result is 2.

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EXACT Function This function will test two strings and tell you if they Exactly match or not.

Col C is the result and Col D is the formula that’s in Col C

In C1, we want to check if A1 matches B1. Since joe equals joe, then the result is true.

Everything matches.

In C2, we want to check if A2 matches B2. 123.4 does not match 123, so we get FALSE.

In C3, we want to check if A3 equals B3. Excel does NOT match excel because one is

capitalized and one isn’t. So we get FALSE.

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Find Function This function will find a character or string in a cell and return it’s position. It IS case sensitive.

Use SEARCH function if you want it NOT Case Sensitive.

Column B are the results. Column C is the formula.

Find_Text – this is the character or string or number we want to Find

Within_Text – this is the cell we are looking in

Start_num – Optional – this is the character you want to start looking in. If you don’t put

anything, it starts at the first character.

Examples:

In cell B1, we want to find the word “Joe” in cell A1, which is “Excel by Joe”. So we have the

formula =FIND("Joe",A1) . This is case sensitive and will look for the word “Joe” in cell A1. It

returns a 10 because “Joe” starts at the 10th character.

In cell B2, we want to find the letter ”e” in cell A2, which is “Excel by Joe” So we have the

formula =FIND("e",A2) . This is case sensitive and will look for the small letter “e” in cell A1. It

skips over the large E and goes to the first small “e”, character 4.

In cell B3, we want to find the letter “j” in cell A3, which is “Excel by Joe” So we have the

formula =FIND("j",A3) . This is case sensitive and will look for the letter “j” in cell A3. It only

finds a large J but no small “j” so it returns an error.

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FIXED Function This function will turn a number in text and round it to the number of decimal places you

specify

Number: This is the number you want rounded

Decimals: How many decimal spots you want to

round the number to

No_commas: True if you don’t want commas.

False or leave blank if you want commas

We use 5 examples here. The result is in column B and the function is next to it in column C.

Row 2: FIXED(A2,1) - Here we are taking the number is A2 and rounding it to 1 decimal place. Since we

didn’t include anything in the last part, it defaults to False, which means there will be a comma. Result:

14,914.2

Row 3: FIXED(A3,2) - Here we are taking the number is A3 and rounding it to 2 decimal places. Since we


14,914.22

Row 4: FIXED(A4,3) - Here we are taking the number is A4 and rounding it to 3 decimal places. Since we


14,914.216

Row 5: FIXED(A5,2,TRUE) - Here we are taking the number is A5 and rounding it to 2 decimal places. Since

we put TRUE as the last part, there will be no comma. Result: 14914.22

Row 6: FIXED(A6,2,FALSE) - Here we are taking the number is A6 and rounding it to 2 decimal places. Since

we put FALSE as the last part, there will be a comma. Result: 14,914.22

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HLOOKUP Function This function will search a table by row for an item you choose and then pull in a

corresponding cell related to it.

In this example we want to pull Joe’s English score from the main table array of student names on the top and classes on the left.

Lookup Value – This is the item we are looking up. In this example, it is “joe”, which is the

student name. We could also use a reference if we have that name somewhere.

Table Array – This is the table we are looking in. In this example it is A1:E5. You have to make

sure the Top column headings contains the item you are looking for, which is “Joe”.

Row Index num – This is the Row number of the table array. We picked 3 because we want

the 3rd row of the main table, which is the English Scores. If we wanted Math pulled in, we

would use a 2.

Range Lookup – This is asking if you want an exact match or not. If you want to find the exact

name in the table, which we do, we use FALSE. If you put TRUE, it will look for the exact match

but If it can’t find it, it will pull in the next closest match.

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IF Function This function will let you choose a True/False criteria and then give you a different result,

depending on if the answer is True or False

Here we have 3 students with Math and English grades. In column D we want to tell if their

Math score or English score is higher.

Logical Test – this is the criteria we are checking

Value if true – If the logical Test is equal to True, then this will become the result

Value if false – If the logical test is equal to False, then this will become the result

If cell D2 we have the formula = IF(B2>C2,"Math is higher","English is higher")

So we want to see if cell B2(Math grade) is higher than cell C2 (English grade)

If it is, we do the True result, which is ”Math is higher”

If it is false, we do the False result, which is ”English is higher”

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INDEX Function This function will return a cell or range of cells within a given array

Array – This is the array we want to look in to find our cell or cells

Row num – This is what row in the array we want to pull Column num - – This is what column in the array we want to pull

Example 1 – For this example, we use the formula =INDEX(A1:B$,3,2) in cell C1. This means

our initial array is A1 to B4. So we start at the upper left of it, A1. The next number in our

formula is a 3, so we go to the 3rd row in this array. Then over to the 2nd column in this array.

So we are at cell B3 and this is what pulls into the formula, which is 3.

Example 2 – For this example, we use the formula =SUM(INDEX(A1:B4,3,0)) in cell C2. We

want to sum up everything in this new array. Our initial array is A1 to B4. So we start at the

upper left of it, A1. The next number in our formula is a 3, so we go to the 3rd row in this array.

Then the next number is a 0. If there is a 0 in the Row_num or Col_num, that means it pulls

everything. So for this example, our new array would be A3:B3. This sums to 9.

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ISBLANK Function This function will tell you if a cell is blank by displaying TRUE.

Text This is the cell you want to

check if it is blank

The result is in column B and the function is next to it in column C.

In cell B2, we have the formula =ISBLANK(A2). We are checking if cell A2 is blank. If it is, it

returns TRUE. If there is anything in there, it returns FALSE. In this case, A2 has words in it, so

it returns FALSE. Only cell A4 is blank, so that is why cell B4 would say TRUE.

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ISERROR Function This function will tell you if you have an error message in a cell by displaying TRUE.

Text This is the string you want

to check for an error


In cell B2 we have the formula =ISERROR(A2). This function will look at A2 and check if it

contains an error message. In this case, it does not, so it returns a FALSE. In cells B4 to B6, it

comes up as TRUE, so the cells A4 to A6 contain errors.

The errors is checks for are #N/A,#VALUE!,#REF!,#DIV/0!,#NUM!,#NAME?, or #NULL!

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ISNA Function This function will tell you if you have an #N/A result in a cell. This basically tells you there is an

error in the formula.

Text This is the string you want to

check for #N/A


The function in B2 is =ISNA(A2) so it checks A2 and looks if it is #N/A. A2 is not, so it returns

FASLE. It checks all the way down column A and in cell A4 there is #N/A, so the function in B4

returns a TRUE.

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LARGE Function This function will find the nth smallest value in a group of cells. That means you tell it if you

want the 2nd smallest, 3rd, 4th and so on.

Array: The range of cells we are looking in

K: This is the nth largest value we want to pull. If we have 3 in there, we want the 3rd

largest value.

In this example, we have a group of numbers and dates.

Column B: We use the formula =LARGE(B2:B11,3) so Excel will look in the cells in this range

from B2 to B11 and pull in the 3rd largest amount since we have a 3 in the second part of the

argument. Excel pulls in 83.

Column C: We use the formula =LARGE(C2:C11,2) so Excel will look in the cells in this range

from C2 to C11 and pull in the 2nd largest amount since we have a 2 in the second part of the

argument. Excel pulls in 90.

Column D: We use the formula =LARGE(D2:D11,3) so Excel will look in the cells in this range of

dates from D2 to D11 and pull in the 3rd largest amount since we have a 3 in the second part of

the argument. Excel pulls in Oct 3.

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LEFT Function This function will pull in any number of characters from the left side of a text string.

Text This is the string you want to pull the characters from

Num_chars: How many characters do you want to pull from

the left side of the string


Row 2: LEFT(A2,4) - Here we are taking the text in A2, “Excel by Joe” and pulling the left 4

characters, since we use a 4 in the second part of this argument. Result is “Exce”

Row 3: LEFT(A3,6) - Here we are taking the text in A3, “515 Main Street” and pulling the left

6 characters, since we use a 6 in the second part of this argument. Result is “515 Ma”. Note

that the space after 515 is included in the count of 6 characters.

Row 4: LEFT(A4,3) - Here we are taking the text in A4, 24314 and pulling the left 3

characters, since we use a 3 in the second part of this argument. Result is 243. Even though

24314 is a number, the result of this function is always Text.

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LEN Function This function will tell you how many characters are in a cell.

Text This is the string you want

to count the characters


Row 2 – The formula we use in cell B2 is =LEN(A2). We want to count how many charters are

in cell A2. This includes spaces and punctuation.

Row 3 – The formula we use in cell B2 is =LEN(A3). We want to count how many charters are

in cell A3. This includes spaces and punctuation and numbers.

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LOWER Function This function will convert all the letters in a string to upper case.

Text This is the string you

want to change to lower

letters

We use 1 example here. The result is in column B and the function is next to it in column C.

Row 2 – The formula we use in cell B2 is =LOWER(A2). So we are taking what is in A2, which is

“244 West Tupper BLVD.” and making all the letters lower case. It doesn’t affect numbers or

punctuation. The result is “244 west tupper blvd.”.

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MATCH Function This function will return the relative position of a value in an array. You can choose to find an

exact match or next closest match.

Lookup_value – This is what we are looking for. It can be text or numbers. Can also use an *

or ? as a wildcard.

Lookup array – This is the array where we are looking at to find the value

Match Type – 0 for Exact Match. 1 for next closest below. -1 for next closest above

Row 3 Example - MATCH(24,A3:A10,0) We are looking up the number 24 in the array A3:A10.

The last part is 0, so we want exact match. 24 is the 3rd number from the top.

Row 4 Example - MATCH(“j*”,A3:A11,0) We are looking up any text that begins with a “j” in

the array A3:A11. “joe” is the 4th number from the top.


1 at the end means we are looking for the next number below 90 if no exact match, which is

88.


We want exact match because the last part is a 0 in the formula. With no exact match, we get

#N/A

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MAX Function This function will find the largest value in a group of cells. This group of cells can be numbers

or arrays or dates.


Column B: We use the formula =MAX(B2:B11) so Excel will look in the cells in this range and

pull in the largest amount, which is 98

Column C: We use the formula =MAX(C2:C11) so Excel will look in the cells in this range of

dates and pull in the largest amount, which is October 6.

Excel also allows us to put a variable at the end to compare the results to and Excel will put in

the largest result.

Column D: Here we use the formula =MAX(D2:D11,80). So Excel looks in d2 to d11 and pulls

out the highest value of 98 and compares to 80. Since 98 is higher, it outputs 98.

Column E: Here we use the formula =MAX(E2:E11,110). So Excel looks in e2 to e11 and pulls

out the highest value of 98 and compares to 110. Since 110 is higher, it outputs 110.

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MID Function This function will pull in any number of characters from the left side of a text string.

Text This is the string you want to pull the characters from

Start_num – This is the character you want to start pulling

from. If you put 7, you start at the 7th character.

Num_chars: How many characters do you want to pull from

the string


Row 2: MID(A2,7,2) - Here we are taking the text in A2, “Excel by Joe”. That is the first part

of the formula. The second part is a 7 which is the Start_num. That means we want to start

pulling characters from the 7th character. That 7th character is a “b”. Spaces count as

characters. Then the last part of the formula is a 2, which means we want to pull 2 characters.

So starting from the b, we would pull “by”.

Row 3: MID(A3,5,3) - Here we are taking the text in A3, 716-555-1234. That is the first part

of the formula. The second part is a 5, which is the start num. That means we want to start

pulling characters from the 5th character which is a 5. Dashes count as characters. Then the

last part of the formula is a 3, which means we want to pull 3 characters. So that means we

will be pulling the 555.

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MIN Function This function will find the smallest value in a group of cells. This group of cells can be numbers

or arrays or dates. Opposite of the MAX function.


Column B: We use the formula =MIN(B2:B11) so Excel will look in the cells in this range and

pull in the smallest amount, which is 56

Column C: We use the formula =MIN(C2:C11) so Excel will look in the cells in this range of

dates and pull in the smallest amount, which is April 4.

Excel also allows us to put a variable at the end to compare the results to and Excel will put in

the largest result.

Column D: Here we use the formula =MIN(D2:D11,80). So Excel looks in d2 to d11 and pulls

out the smallest value of 56 and compares to 80. Since 56 is smaller, it outputs 56.

Column E: Here we use the formula =MIN(E2:E11,40). So Excel looks in e2 to e11 and pulls out

the smallest value of 56 and compares to 40. Since 40 is lower, it outputs 40.

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NOW Function This function will put today’s date and time into a cell. It is dynamic as it will change as the day

and time changes.

The Now function will put in today’s date and time. There are no variables that need to go

into it. This will change when the date and time change.

The output defaults to ##/##/#### #:## You can change the formatting.

In cell A1, we put the formula you see in cell B2, which is =Now(). If you use the wizard, you

get the message above on the right, where it says this Function takes no arguments.

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OFFSET Function This function will return a cell or range of cells

Reference – This is our starting point. Can be one cell or an array. Rows – This is how many rows we want to move the cursor up or down Cols - This is how many rows we want to move the cursor left or right

Height – This is how high you want the new array. If it’s blank, it is the same height as the original reference Width - – This is how wide you want the new array. If it’s blank, it is the same wide as the original reference

Column B are the results and Column C is the formula in Col B

Example 1 – For this example, we want to find Jeff’s hours on Monday. We used

the formula =OFFSET(A3,2,1). So our reference or starting point is A3. Rows is 2,

so we go down 2 rows to A5. If we used a negative number, we would move up.

Then Cols is 1, so we go over 1 column to B5. Since we don’t have height or width

populate, we leave the range the size of the reference which is one cell. So this

returns the value in B5, which is 8.

Example 2 – We can use this function inside of other functions. Say we want to

add up all of Jeff’s hours, we can use the formula =SUM(OFFSET(A3,2,1,1,4)). This

will add up the hours in our new range. So for this Offset formula, we start at cell

A3. We go down 2 rows and then to the right one column, to B5. We have height

and width filled in, so height is a 1 and width is a 4. So this new array starts at B5

and goes to B8. This formula adds up B5:B8, so the result is 24.

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OR Function This is a logical function that only returns TRUE or FALSE. If any of the criteria asked in the

function are TRUE, then this returns a TRUE. Otherwise it returns a FALSE.

In this example, we want to see if each person scored over 200 in ANY game. So we put the

OR function in cells E2 to E5 because the OR function requires just one item to be TRUE

So we go to E2 and go to the wizard.

Logical1 : This is our first test. Is cell B2 greater than 200. Result is FALSE.

Logical2 : This is our first test. Is cell C2 greater than 200. Result is FALSE.

Logical3 : This is our first test. Is cell D2 greater than 200. Result is FALSE.

=OR(B2>200,C2>200,D2>200) equals FALSE

The total formula returns a FALSE because none of the results were TRUE. In cell E4, when we

check if B3, C3 and D3 are greater than 200, since one of them is, E3 would be TRUE.

=OR(B3>200,C3>200,D3>200) equals TRUE

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Master Excel Functions - Blog - Excel by Joeexcelbyjoe.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/30-Page-E… · · 2015-01-03”Master Excel Functions”! ... A4&" "&B4&" "&C4 – This is