Excel Tips: Find a Sum Without Using a Formula

Lesson 9: Find a Sum Without Using a Formula

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Find a sum without using a formula

Even if you've never created a formula, you can still find the sum, average, or count of a cell range. That's because Excel calculates these values automatically whenever you select a cell range.

It displays them in the lower-right corner of the window. This allows you to find quick information about your spreadsheet at a glance.

The video below will show you where to locate these specific values.


Steps

  1. Open your Excel spreadsheet that contains data.
  2. Select the cell range that you want to find the sum, average, or count for.
  3. Excel will automatically display the sum, average, or count in the lower-right corner of the Excel window. 
  4. Note that when selecting text values (like names), Excel will only display the count and not the sum or average.

Alternatively, you can use the AutoSum button to add up values, which looks like this: Ʃ. This button is located in the Home tab and in the Formulas tab on the Ribbon; select the values you want to sum, and hit Enter

Using Excel's automatic calculations is a fast and easy way to view basic information. It makes it so that you can still analyze your data without having to create complex formulas.

Stay tuned for Lesson 10–about why you should avoid merging cells. 

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