Excel Functions

Here you'll find an index of common Excel Functions written in layman's terms and in a
language we all understand. No computer speak, just plain English and practical
examples of Excel functions used in formulas.

Before we dive into the examples, I want to cover some terminology that I’ll be using.

Anatomy of an Excel Function

Excel functions comprise of the function name and arguments, as you can see in the
example below:

The arguments are the inputs required by the function and are enclosed in parentheses.

Arguments surrounded by square brackets are optional. For example, the VLOOKUP
argument; ‘range_lookup’, is optional.

In some cases, if you omit optional arguments Excel will apply a default. This default will
be specific to each function.

Array Functions
FILTER Filter cells based on criteria.

RANDARRAY Returns an array of random numbers between 0 and 1.

Returns list of sequential numbers that increment as

SEQUENCE
specified.

SORT Sort cells or arrays in ascending or descending order.

SORTBY Sort a range or arrays based on criteria.

UNIQUE Extract a unique or distinct list from a range or array.

Database Functions
DSUM Sum a range based on criteria. Alternative to SUMIFS.

Date and Time Functions

DATE Build a date with separate year, month and day values.

Find the difference between two dates in days, months or

DATEDIF
years.

Convert dates stored as text to a date Excel can use in

DATEVALUE
formulas etc.

Returns the day of the month between 1 and 31 from a

DAY
date or text.

Returns the number of whole days between two date serial

DAYS
numbers. It ignores time portions where included.

Returns the number of days between two date serial

DAYS360 numbers based on a 360-day year, or twelve 30-day
months.

Returns the same date of the month, n months before or

EDATE
after the specified date.

Returns the last day of the month, n months before or after

EOMONTH
the specified date.

HOUR Returns the hour integer ranging from 0 to 24, from a time.

Returns the week number of a date serial number. The first

ISOWEEKNUM
Monday of the year marks the start of week 1.

MINUTE Returns the minute, ranging from 0 to 59, from a time.

MONTH Returns the month number, between 1 and 12, from a date.

Returns the number of whole working days between two

NETWORKDAYS
date serial numbers, excluding weekends.
 Returns the number of whole working days between two
NETWORKDAYS.INTL date serial numbers, excluding weekend days of your
choice.

Returns the current date and time from your computer

NOW
clock.

SECOND Returns the seconds, ranging from 0 to 59, from a time.

Build a time value by entering separate hour, minute and

TIME
second values.

Convert times stored as text to a time Excel can use in

TIMEVALUE
formulas etc.

Returns the current date serial number from your computer

TODAY
clock.

Returns the day number of the week from a date serial

WEEKDAY number. The default ranges from 1 for Sunday, through to
7 for Saturday.

Returns an integer representing the week number (from 1

WEEKNUM
to 54) of the year from a date serial number.

Returns the day number of the week from a date serial

WORKDAY number. The default return type ranges from 1 for Sunday
to 7 for Saturday.

Returns a date serial number that is the specified number

WORKDAY.INTL
of working days before or after the start date.

Returns the year as an integer between 1900 and 9999,

YEAR
from a date.

Calculates the fraction of the year represented by the

YEARFRAC
number of whole days between two dates.

Engineering Functions
CONVERT Converts inches to centimetres, pounds to grams etc.
Financial Functions
ACCRINT Returns the accrued interest that gets paid periodically.

Returns the effective annual interest rate, from the nominal

EFFECT
annual interest rate (APR).

FV Calculate the future value of an investment.

Calculates the number of periods to reach an investment

NPER
goal.

Returns the regular and constant repayments for a loan or

PMT mortgage required to reduce the balance to zero, or an
amount you specify.

Information Functions
Returns information about the formatting, contents or
CELL
location of a cell.

Converts a value to a number, but it's clever uses is where it

N
shines.

SHEET Returns the sheet number of a cell reference.

SHEETS Returns the count of sheets in a given reference.

Logical Functions
Test for a condition to be met and return a result if true, or
IF
false.

Allows for multiple logical tests without the need for nesting.
IFS
New in Excel 2016.

IFERROR Hide or handle formula errors.

 Looks up a value in a list of values, and returns the result
SWITCH corresponding to the first matching value. New in Excel
2016.

Performs an 'exclusive or' test on an array, range or one or

XOR
more expressions. New in Excel 2013.

Lookup and Reference Functions

ADDRESS Return a text value of a cell address.

CHOOSE Return a value from a list based on the position specified.

FILTER Filter cells based on criteria.

GETPIVOTDATA Get values from a PivotTable.

HLOOKUP Look up a value in the top row of a table.

HYPERLINK Insert links to internal or external locations.

lookup a range of cells and return a single value, an array of

INDEX
values, a reference to a cell or range of cells.

INDIRECT Convert text into a cell reference.

Returns the relative position of a value. The lookup range

MATCH
can take the shape of a row or column.

OFFSET Return a range of cells offset from a starting cell.

SORT Sort cells or arrays in ascending or descending order.

SORTBY Sort cells or arrays based on criteria.

UNIQUE Extract a unique or distinct list from a range or array.

VLOOKUP Look up a value in the first column of a table.

XLOOKUP Like VLOOKUP but much better!

Math Functions
Returns an aggregate (sum, average, min, max, count etc.)
AGGREGATE
of a list or database.

Returns the remainder after a number is divided by a

MOD
divisor.

MROUND Rounds numbers to the nearest multiple.

RANDARRAY Returns an array of random numbers between 0 and 1.

Returns list of sequential numbers that increment as

SEQUENCE
specified.

SIGN Returns the sign of a number.

Choose the aggregation method e.g. SUM, AVERAGE,

SUBTOTAL
COUNT etc. and ignore or include filtered rows.

Much more than just multiplying arrays and returning the

SUMPRODUCT
sum of the results.

Statistical Functions
FORECAST Forecast future values using linear regression.

Forecast future values using Exponential Triple

FORECAST.ETS
Smoothing and machine learning. New in Excel 2016

Returns a confidence interval for forecasted values.

FORECAST.ETS.CONFINT
New in Excel 2016

Forecast future values using linear regression. New in

FORECAST.LINEAR
Excel 2016, replacing the FORECAST function.

Return a rank for a dataset. Includes RANK.EQ and

RANK
RANK.AVG

Text Functions
 Returns a character based on its Windows-1252 character
CHAR
number.

CLEAN Removes non-printing characters from text.

CONCATENATE Joins text from separate cells together.

Define variables and intermediate calculations to names

LET
inside of a formula.

SUBSTITUTE Replaces new text for old text in a text string.

Checks whether a value is text, and returns the text if it is,

T
otherwise returns a blank.

TEXT Converts numbers to text in the format you specify.

Joins text together and can ignore empty cells. New in

TEXTJOIN
Excel 2019.

Remove the excess spaces from text, except for single

TRIM
spaces between words.