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Ken Bluttman
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Published:
March 31, 2025

Microsoft 365 Excel Formulas & Functions For Dummies, 7th Edition

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Overview

Turn Excel into an unstoppable data-and number-crunching machine.

Microsoft Excel is the Swiss Army knife of apps. With over 470 built-in functions and countless custom formulas, the program can help make you the smartest guy or gal in any room. And now that it's been supercharged with Copilot—Microsoft's AI-powered helper—it's even easier to produce accurate and useful results anywhere, anytime.

Best of all, it doesn't take an advanced degree in mathematics or data science to take full advantage of Excel's functionality. Just grab a copy of this latest edition of Excel Formulas & Functions For Dummies and get a flying start on the Excel functions and formulas that power up your data superpowers. With this book, you'll:

  • Learn to create and use hundreds of formulas and functions, correct common mistakes, and make calculations
  • Discover how to analyze data and calculate statistics, and even work with dates and times
  • Use the ever-evolving, AI-powered Copilot to expand Excel's functionality and make it easier to use

Get ready to transform your copy of Excel at home or at work into an unstoppable toolkit equipped for almost any occasion. Grab a copy of Excel Formulas & Functions For Dummies today!

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About The Author

Ken Bluttman is a veteran developer specializing in Excel/VBA and database-centric web applications. He has written many articles and books on topics including Office/VBA development, XML, SQL Server, and InfoPath. Ken is the author of Excel Charts For Dummies and all previous editions of Excel®Formulas & Functions For Dummies.

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microsoft 365 excel formulas & functions for dummies

CHEAT SHEET

It’s easy to use Excel for many of your day-to-day number-crunching tasks, like determining your business’s average sale, computing classroom grades, or forecasting college expenses. Use this handy Cheat Sheet to discover great functions and tips to help you get the most out of Excel.Excel functions you're likely to useSome Excel functions apply to specific subject areas, but others are general and apply to all needs.
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This list includes the top ten Excel functions. The functions in this list are of the type that apply to a wide array of needs. You won't see a financial function or any advanced statistical function — just the basics — but knowing the functions here is essential to good Excel work. You can always refer here for a quick brush-up on how to use these important functions.
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In Excel formulas, you can refer to other cells either relatively or absolutely. When you copy and paste a formula in Excel, how you create the references within the formula tells Excel what to change in the formula it pastes. The formula can either change the references relative to the cell where you're pasting it (relative reference), or it can always refer to a specific cell.
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If you create a formula in Excel that contains an error or circular reference, Excel lets you know about it with an error message. A handful of errors can appear in a cell when a formula or function in Excel cannot be resolved. Knowing their meaning helps correct the problem. Error Meaning #DIV/0! Trying to divide by 0 #N/A!
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It’s easy to use Excel for many of your day-to-day number-crunching tasks, like determining your business’s average sale, computing classroom grades, or forecasting college expenses. Use this handy Cheat Sheet to discover great functions and tips to help you get the most out of Excel.Excel functions you're likely to useSome Excel functions apply to specific subject areas, but others are general and apply to all needs.
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Some Excel functions apply to specific subject areas, but others are general and apply to all needs. The following list shows an array of Excel functions used by one and all. Check here for a quickie reference to the purpose of each Excel function. Excel Function Description SUM Calculates the sum of a group
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Mathematics dictates a protocol of how formulas are interpreted, and Excel follows that protocol. The following is the order in which mathematical operators and syntax are applied both in Excel and in general mathematics. You can remember this order by memorizing the mnemonic phrase, "Please excuse my dear aunt Sally.
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Excel's text functions are very helpful when you're working with names, addresses, customer lists, or any other text-based data. Here is list of Excel functions associated with text, along with a description of what each function does: Function Description LEFT Extracts one or more characters from the left si
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The Watch Window lets you watch the calculated results of an Excel formula but without the limitation of having the cell be in the viewing area of Excel. This Excel feature is helpful when you’re working on correcting formulas that use precedents that are scattered about the worksheet or workbook.First, to set up a watch in Excel 2019, follow these steps: Click the Watch Window button on the Formulas tab of the Ribbon.
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You may have data in your Excel worksheet that looks like a date but is not represented as an Excel date value. For example, if you enter 01-24-18 in a cell, Excel would have no way of knowing whether this is January 24, 2018, or the code for your combination lock. If it looks like a date, you can use the Excel DATEVALUE function to convert it to an Excel date value.
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Despite all the functions provided by Excel, you may need one that you just don't see offered. Excel lets you create your own functions by using VBA programming code; your functions show up in the Insert Function dialog box.Writing VBA code is not for everyone. But nonetheless, here is a short-and-sweet example.
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The Excel ADDRESS function takes a row number and a column number as arguments and returns a standard cell reference (cell address). For example, if you pass the row number 4 and the column number 3, the function returns C4. Excel’s ADDRESS function can return an absolute or relative reference in either of Excel's two reference formats.
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The data that Excel’s FORECAST function works with is in pairs; there’s an X value and a corresponding Y value in each pair. Perhaps you’re investigating the relationship between people’s heights and their weight. Each data pair would be one person’s height — the X value — and that person’s weight — the Y value.
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Excel’s OFFSET function lets you get the address of the cell that is offset from another cell by a certain number of rows and/or columns. For example, cell E4 is offset from cell B4 by three columns because it is three columns to the right. The Excel OFFSET takes up to five arguments. The first three are required: A cell address or a range address: Named ranges are not allowed.
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The Excel MOD function returns the remainder from an integer division operation. This remainder is called the modulus, hence the function’s name. The Excel MOD function has two arguments: the number being divided and the number being used to divide the first argument. The second argument is the divisor. The syntax for the Excel MOD function follows: =MOD(number, divisor) These are examples of the MOD function:=MOD(12,6) returns 0.
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Ever wonder how to use Excel’s IRR function? This is how it works. Which is better to do: pay off your credit card or invest in Uncle Ralph’s new business venture? You’re about to finance a car. Should you put down a large down payment? Or should you put down a small amount and invest the rest? How can you make decisions about alternative financial opportunities like these?
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A nested function is tucked inside another Excel function as one of its arguments. Nesting functions let you return results you would have a hard time getting otherwise.The following figure shows the daily closing price for the Standard & Poor's 500 for the month of September 2004. A possible analysis is to see how many times the closing price was higher than the average for the month.
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Excel makes entering functions with the Insert Function dialog box easy. But what do you do when you need to change a function that has already been entered in a cell? What about adding arguments or taking some away? There is an easy way to do this! Follow these steps: Click the cell with the existing function.
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Excel’s IF function is like the Swiss Army knife of Excel functions. Really, it is used in many situations. Often, you can use Excel’s IF function with other functions. IF, structurally, is easy to understand. The Excel IF function takes three arguments: A test that gives a true or false answer. For example, the test "is the value in cell A5 equal to the value in cell A8" can have only one of two possible answers, yes or no.
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Most Excel functions take inputs — called arguments or parameters — that specify the data the function is to use. Some functions take no arguments, some take one, and others take many; it all depends on the function. The argument list is always enclosed in parentheses following the function name. If there's more than one argument, the arguments are separated by commas.
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