How to Sum a column in an Excel spread Sheet

My sister and brother-in-law had difficulty with adding a column in excel so I thought maybe others have similar problems. This article gives two ways to accomplish this task. I am assuming that you know how to enter data into a spread sheet by typing the values into a cell. When you have a column of data you can sum the column. Of course this also works with rows.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Microsoft Excel

1. Select where you want the sum to appear. This is generally at the bottom of the column with maybe a spacer between the data and the sum. However you can select any unused cell in case you want to create a summary section to your table of data.
2. When you have your selection then select "Insert" and when the dialog appears select "Function" in the main menu. This will help you to insert many different functions into a spread sheet.
3. Insert=>Function dialog In the new dialog there will be a left hand column of function categories, select and highlight "Math&Trig". Then in the right hand column select "SUM", you may have to scroll down the list to find it. When both areas are selected press OK. A new dialog appears
4. If the dialog is in the way of your data, select it at the top and move it out of the way.
5. Selected Rows With the current dialog still open, in the spread sheet select the first cell you want to add keeping your finger on the mouse button and drag the mouse down to the last cell to be added. Then release the mouse button when you have selected all your cells to add (Drag & Drop). You will notice that the selected cells appear in the top box of the dialog.
6. Now go to the dialog box that is still open and hit OK.
7. Now you have the total at the bottom of your column. You can also do it another way: see next step for details
8. Select the cell you want your total to show up in.
9. In this cell type the following text "=SUM(" without the quotes.
10. Then select the cells to add by the drag and drop method as described earlier or type in "B2:B5" without the quotes, or the cells you want to add separated by a comma such as B2, B5, B8.
11. Then type in the final text ")" then hit the enter key or carriage return. The total now shows in the cell you selected for the total or sum.