Top 10 Excel Formulas Every Beginner Should Learn

1) SUM — Add Numbers Quickly

Returns the total of a range of numbers.

=SUM(A2:A10)

Example: Add all sales from A2:A10.

2) AVERAGE — Find the Mean

=AVERAGE(B2:B100)

Ignores blank cells automatically.

3) COUNT / COUNTA — Count Cells

• COUNT(range): counts numeric cells
• COUNTA(range): counts non-empty cells (text, numbers, dates)

=COUNT(C2:C100)
=COUNTA(C2:C100)

4) MIN / MAX — Smallest or Largest

=MIN(D2:D100)
=MAX(D2:D100)

Great for quick stats—lowest/highest price, score, or time.

5) IF — Basic Conditional Logic

Returns one value if a condition is true, and another if false.

=IF(E2>=70, "Pass", "Fail")

6) SUMIF / SUMIFS — Conditional Sum

• SUMIF(range, criteria, sum_range) — one condition
• SUMIFS(sum_range, criteria_range1, criteria1, ...) — multiple conditions

=SUMIF(B2:B100, "North", C2:C100)
=SUMIFS(C2:C100, B2:B100, "North", D2:D100, "Q1")

7) COUNTIF / COUNTIFS — Conditional Count

=COUNTIF(A2:A100, ">1000")
=COUNTIFS(B2:B100, "North", D2:D100, "Q1")

Use quotes around operators like ">=100".

8) VLOOKUP (and Why XLOOKUP Is Better)

VLOOKUP finds a value in the first column of a table and returns a value from a specified column to the right.

=VLOOKUP(F2, A2:D100, 3, FALSE)

=XLOOKUP(F2, A2:A100, C2:C100, "Not found")

9) TEXT — Format Numbers/Dates as Text

=TEXT(G2, "₹#,##0")
=TEXT(H2, "dd-mmm-yyyy")

Useful for clean reports or combining values into readable strings.

10) LEFT, RIGHT, MID — Extract Text

=LEFT(A2, 3)        // first 3 characters
=RIGHT(A2, 4)       // last 4 characters
=MID(A2, 2, 5)      // 5 characters starting at position 2

Bonus: Dynamic Array Helpers (Excel 365 / Google Sheets):

• UNIQUE(range) — list unique items
• FILTER(range, condition) — filter rows by condition
• SEQUENCE(rows, [columns], [start], [step]) — generate numbers

=UNIQUE(B2:B100)
=FILTER(A2:D100, B2:B100="North")
=SEQUENCE(12,1,1,1)

Quick Tips to Avoid Errors:

• Use absolute references ($A$2) when copying formulas that must lock a cell/range.
• Wrap text criteria in quotes: "North", ">1000".
• Check your separators: Excel uses commas (,) in most locales; some use semicolons (;).
• For Google Sheets parity: almost all examples above work the same.

Real-World Examples:

Excel isn’t just about numbers — it solves real problems every day. For example:

• Finance: Use =SUM() to total monthly expenses or =IF() to check if spending exceeds a budget.
• HR: Apply =COUNTIF() to count how many employees fall into a certain performance band.
• Sales: Combine =VLOOKUP() or =XLOOKUP() to quickly fetch product prices and sales data.
• Project Management: Use =SEQUENCE() to generate task IDs automatically for project tracking.

→ Want to skip manual typing? Generate these formulas instantly with TextToFormula.

Advanced Tips for Power Users:

• Combine =FILTER() with =SORT() to create dynamic reports.
• Use =UNIQUE() on customer lists to identify duplicates instantly.
• Apply =SEQUENCE() with custom steps to generate time-series data.
• Mix =IF() with =AND() or =OR() for complex conditions.

Pro Tip: Advanced Excel users often chain formulas together. But if you’re unsure, TextToFormula can generate and explain them step-by-step.

Conclusion:

These 10 formulas cover almost 80% of what most Excel beginners need to know. Mastering them sets a strong foundation for advanced analytics and reporting. But as you grow, you’ll find yourself needing nested formulas, arrays, and advanced functions like =XLOOKUP() or =FILTER().

If writing formulas feels overwhelming, don’t worry. TextToFormula is here to instantly generate and explain formulas for Excel and Google Sheets. Try it today and save hours of manual work.