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A Master List of Basic Excel Functions You Need To Know

One productivity skill you must master as you advance your career is Microsoft Excel. Over 80% of jobs are reported to need proficiency in Microsoft Excel. 

It’s an important skill that not only saves time but also brings enormous efficiency to your workflow. Whether you are an inventory manager or a digital marketer, mastering how to organize and interpret data sets is essential. 

If you haven’t really used Excel other than creating a simple table, this is your time to get started. 

In this article, I introduce you to over 40+ basic Excel functions you have to master to up your productivity at work. 

45 Best Basic Excel Functions

Sure, here are 45 basic Excel functions that everyone should master:

  1. SUM: Adds up a range of cells. =SUM(number1, [number2], …)
  2. AVERAGE: Calculates the average of a range of cells. =AVERAGE(number1, [number2], …)
  3. MIN: Finds the smallest value in a range of cells. MIN(number1, [number2], …)
  4. MAX: Finds the largest value in a range of cells. MAX(number1, [number2], …)
  5. COUNT: Counts the number of cells in a range. COUNT(number1, [number2], …)
  6. COUNTA: Counts the number of non-blank cells in a range. COUNTA (value1, [value2], …)
  7. IF: Performs a logical test and returns one value if the test is true and another value if it’s false. IF (logical_test, [value_if_true], [value_if_false])
  8. SUMIF: Adds up the values in a range of cells that meet specified criteria. SUMIF(range, criteria, [sum_range])
  9. AVERAGEIF: Calculates the average of the values in a range of cells that meet specified criteria. =AVERAGEIF(number1, [number2], …)
  10. COUNTIF: Counts the number of cells in a range that meet specified criteria. COUNTIF(range, criteria)
  11. CONCATENATE: Joins together two or more strings of text. CONCATENATE(text1, [text2], …)
  12. LEFT: Extracts a specified number of characters from the left-hand side of a string. LEFT(text, [num_chars])
  13. RIGHT: Extracts a specified number of characters from the right-hand side of a string. RIGHT(text,[num_chars]) 
  14. MID: Extracts a specified number of characters from the middle of a string. MID(text, start_num, num_chars)
  15. TRIM: Removes extra spaces from a string of text. TRIM(text)
  16. FIND: Finds the position of a string of text within another string of text. FIND(find_text, within_text, [start_num])
  17. REPLACE: Replaces a specified number of characters in a string of text with another string of text. REPLACE(old_text, start_num, num_chars, new_text)
  18. SUBSTITUTE: Replaces all occurrences of a specified string of text within another string of text with another string of text. SUBSTITUTE(text, old_text, new_text, [instance_num])
  19. LEN: Calculates the length of a string of text. LEN(text)
  20. UPPER: Converts a string of text to all uppercase letters. UPPER(text)
  21. LOWER: Converts a string of text to all lowercase letters. LOWER(text) 
  22. PROPER: Converts the first letter of each word in a string of text to uppercase. Proper(text) 
  23. DATE: Creates a date based on year, month, and day values. =DATE(year, month, day)
  24. TODAY: Returns the current date. =TODAY()
  25. NOW: Returns the current date and time. =NOW()
  26. DAY: Extracts the day from a date value. =DAY ()
  27. MONTH: Extracts the month from a date value. = MONTH ()
  28. YEAR: Extracts the year from a date value. =YEAR ()
  29. EOMONTH: Calculates the last day of the month for a given date. EOMONTH(start_date, months)
  30. DATEDIF: Calculates the difference between two dates in years, months, or days. DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, unit)
  31. ROUND: Rounds a number to a specified number of decimal places. ROUND(number, num_digits)
  32. ROUNDUP: Rounds a number up to a specified number of decimal places. ROUNDUP(number, num_digits)
  33. ROUNDDOWN: Rounds a number down to a specified number of decimal places. ROUNDDOWN(number, num_digits)
  34. ABS: Calculates the absolute value of a number. = ABS(number)
  35. SQRT: Calculates the square root of a number. SQRT(number)
  36. LOG: Calculates the logarithm of a number to a specified base. LOG(number, [base])
  37. EXP: Calculates the exponential value of a number. EXP(number)
  38. RAND: Generates a random number between 0 and 1. =RAND()
  39. RANDBETWEEN: Generates a random number between a specified range. RANDBETWEEN(bottom, top)
  40. VLOOKUP: Searches for a value in the first column of a table and returns a corresponding value from a specified column. VLOOKUP (lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])
  41. HLOOKUP: Searches for a value in the first row of a table and returns a corresponding value from a specified row. HLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, row_index_num, [range_lookup])
  42. INDEX: Returns the value at a specified row and column intersection in a table. INDEX(array, row_num, [column_num]) 
  43. MATCH: Finds the position of a value within a range of cells. MATCH(lookup_value, lookup_array, [match_type]) 
  44. OFFSET: Returns a range of cells that is a specified number of rows and columns away from a starting cell. OFFSET(reference, rows, cols, [height], [width])
  45. EXACT: EXACT(text1, text2)

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