How to Insert a Function in Microsoft Excel

One of Microsoft's clear goals with the release of its Office 2007 suite of productivity applications was to reveal some of the programs' advanced functions where previously users had to hunt for them. Users of Excel 2007, for example, will find an entire Ribbon tab given over to formulas. Formulas are strings of functions, such as "Sum," "Average," "Count" and hundreds more, both simple and advanced. There are several ways to insert a function in Microsoft Excel.

Instructions

Type It In

1. Open an Excel spreadsheet, new or existing.

2. Type an equals ("=") sign, which indicates to Excel that a function follows. Without the equals symbol, you can type as many functions as you like, but Excel will treat them as text.

3. Type the name of the function, for example "SUM."

4. Follow the function with an opening parentheses. The resulting pop-up tool tip shows the syntax Excel requires to perform the function. For example, the SUM function expects either a series of numbers or a series or range of cells, enclosed in parentheses.

5. Enter the parameters for the formula, for example, =SUM(1, 7, 10, 20) or =SUM(A1, B3, C7, D1:25). In the latter example, Excel will sum up the values in cells A1, B3, C7 and all the cells from D1 to D25. Use commas to separate values or cell numbers and colons to indicate inclusive ranges. Close the parentheses after the last value.

Choose by Menu

1. Click on the "Formulas" tab.

2. Click on either the drop-down menu labeled "fx"; the "AutoSum" drop-down, which reveals some common function choices such as "Sum," "Average" and "Max"; or one of the other groups in the "Function Library" section of the "Function" tab. Choose the "fx" menu if you're unsure which function you want to insert.

3. Choose a function from the resulting menu or dialog box. Use the search field in the "Insert Function" dialog box if you chose "fx" because you were unsure of the name of the function you need, and then note the parameters displayed under the list of functions when you click on any function.

4. Enter the parameters for the function. If you missed the parameters in the previous step or your method for inserting the function did not display the parameters, click in-between the parentheses inserted after the function name and a tool tip showing the correct parameter syntax.

5. Press "Enter" or click to another cell when done.

References

• Excel In-Program Help
• Microsoft Office Online: Excel Interactive Menu Tool
• Excel 2007 Help: Enter Formulas