EXCEL FORMULARS

AND FUNCTIONS
FOR BEGINNERS 2021
A Practical Guide with illustrations on How to use Microsoft Excel
Formulas and Functions with Ease

John Shipman
 Copyright
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without
the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a
book review.
While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the
date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any
legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no
warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.
Printed on acid-free paper.

Printed in the United States of America

© 2021 by John Shipman
 Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
Carry out basic and advanced calculations with formulas in Excel.
Checking a formula
How does Excel formula look
Calculation operators in Excel formula
Using functions and Nested functions in Excel formula
Define and use names in Excel formula
How to create or change a cell reference
How to create a cell reference on the same worksheet
Using the Link cell command to create a cell reference
How to remove or delete a formula
How to delete a formula but keep the result of the formula (for
Windows users)
Delete an array formula
Delete a formula but keep the results (for web users)
Avoiding broken formula in Excel
CHAPTER TWO
The “IF” function
The “IF” syntax
Simple IF cases
Using the “IF” function to confirm if a cell is blank
The IFS Function
Simple syntax
The Counta Function
The COUNTIFS function
EXCEL KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS (for Windows users)
Ribbon keyboard shortcuts
Use the Access keys for ribbon tabs
 Navigate through the main areas
Navigate the ribbon tabs
Navigate the ribbon
Navigate the worksheet
Use Search
VLOOKUP
How to get started
How to combine your data from many tables onto a single
worksheet using the VLOOKUP function
ABOUT AUTHOR
 CHAPTER ONE
Carry out basic and advanced calculations
with formulas in Excel.
Make a formula that can be used to refer to values in some
other cells
- Click on a cell
- Enter the equal to (=) sign
- Choose a cell or enter the cell address in the selected cell

- Fill in the appropriate operator in the cell. For instance, + for

addition.
- Hit the Enter key and you will see the result of your
calculation appearing inside the cell with the formula.

Checking a formula
- When you enter a formula inside a cell, you will also see the
formula appearing in the formula bar. The space highlighted in
red below is the formula bar.

- To view a particular formula, choose a cell containing the

identity of the formula and you will see the formula appearing in
 the formula bar.

How does Excel formula look

In the screenshot above, the number 1 to number 4 represent the

following;

1. Functions: The pi function will return the pi value which is

3.142…
2. References: The A2 will return the actual value in the cell
A2.
3. Constants: Numbers or texts that are just directly present
in a formula
4. Operators: The caret ^ operator in the above formula will
raise a particular number to a certain power.

Calculation operators in Excel formula

Operators are the ones that usually tell the kind of calculation that
you plan to carry out on the elements of a particular formula. The
general mathematical prompts for mathematical calculation are also
the one that Excel emulates in carrying out its mathematical
operation. These mathematical prompts include; Parentheses
, Exponents , Multiplication and Division , and Addition and
Subtraction , or for easy remembrance the acronym PEMDAS
(which can means Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally). When you
use parentheses in an operation, you will be able to change the
order of calculation.
Types of operators: There exists four important categories of
calculation opera-tors which include; arithmetic , reference,
comparison , and text concatenation.
- The Arithmetic operators
To properly carry out basic mathematical calculations, like
subtraction, multip-lication, addition or division; combine various
numbers; and bring out numeric result, the following arithmetic
operators are best;
- Plus sign: Use the + sign for addition purpose. Example 3+8
- Minus sign: Use the minus sign for subtraction purpose.
Example 5 – 3
- Asterisk: Use this sign for multiplication purpose. Example
5*3
- / Forward slash: Use this sign for division purpose. Example
12/4
- Percent (%) sign: Use the percent sign to carry out
percentage operation. Example 60%
- Caret (^): Use this symbol to raise a certain number to the
power of another.
- The Comparison operator: Two values can be compared by
using the operators below. When you compare two entities with
these operators, you will get a logical value, which can either
be True or False. See screenshot below;
- Concatenation operator: The ampersand symbol (&) is a
concatenation operator that can be used to combine one or
more text strings to get a single piece

- Reference Operator: Can be used to combine some range

of cells for the purpose of calculation.
 Using functions and Nested functions in
Excel formula
When we talk about predefined formulas that are used to carry out
calculations by using some specific values referred to as arguments
using some particular structure or order, we are most times referred
to as Functions. You can use Functions to carry out simple or hard
calculations. Tap on the Formula tab at the top to explore all of
Excel functions.

▪ Excel function syntax

To understand function syntax, consider the Round function below
designed to round off a particular number in cell A10;
1. Structure . An equal to symbol (=) is used to initiate the structure
of any function in Excel, then followed by the name of the function,
opening parenthesis, the function’s argument which is usually
separated by a comma, and a closing parenthesis.
2. Function name : For a list of available functions, select a cell and
click SHIFT+F3 , and you will see the Insert function dialog.

3. Arguments : The arguments can be texts, numbers, logical

values like TRUE or FALSE , error values like #N/A, arrays or cell
references. The designated argument must be one that can give a
value that is valid for the argument. The Arguments can as well be
formulas, constant or some other functions.
4. Argument tooltip . As you are entering the function, you will see
a tooltip with the arguments and syntax. For instance,
enter =ROUND ( and you can see the tooltip coming up. Note that
the Tooltip is only available for built-in functions.
▪ Entering Excel functions
When you build a formula that has a function, you will be able to
enter worksheet function with the Insert Function dialog box. Once
a function is selected from the Insert Function dialog, a function
wizard will be launched by Excel, which will show the function name,
function’s description, argument description, the result’s function,
and the entire formulas result.

To make it especially easier to build and edit formulas while at the

same time minimizing syntax and typing error, you can enter an =
(equal sign) and starting letters of an errors, use Formula
AutoComplete . After function, Excel will bring a dynamic drop-
down list of arguments, valid functions, and names that match those
letters. You can then choose one from the drop-down list and it will
be entered for you by Excel.

▪ Nesting Excel functions

In few cases, there might be a need for you to use a function as one
of the argume-nts of another function. For instance, the formula
below uses a nested AVERAGE function and then compares the
output with the value 50.

1. The SUM and the AVERAGE functions are nested within the IF
function.
Valid returns : When you use a nested function as an argument, the
nested function must be able to return the exact type of values that
the argument uses. For instance, the nested function must send
back a TRUE or FALSE value. If the function is unable to do this,
then Excel will bring a #VALUE! error value.
Nesting level limits : One formula can have up to 7 levels of nested
functions. When a particular function, say function B, is deployed, as
an argument in another function say Function A, we will say that the
function B is acting as a second level function. For instance, the
SUM function and the AVERAGE Function are considered to be
second-level functions if they are deployed as arguments of the IF
function. A function that is nested within the nested AVERAGE
function will now be considered as a third-level function, and so on.

Define and use names in Excel formula

When you use names in a formula, the formula can be made very
easy to maintain and comprehend. You will also be able to define
names for a cell range, constant, function, or table. Once you follow
the practice of deploying names in your workbook, the names
become easy to audit, update and manage.
Naming a cell (For Windows users)
Choose a cell.
Enter a name inside the Name Box.

Click Enter.
Define names from a selected range
Choose the range that you wish to name, including the
column or row labels.
Choose Formulas, and tap Create from Selection.
From the dialog box of the Create Names from Selection ,
assign the location containing the labels by clicking on the
Left column, Top row , Bottom row , or the Right column
check box.
Click OK .

Excel will assign names to the cells based on the labels in the
designated range.
Use names in formulas
Choose a cell and input a formula.
Position your cursor exactly where you plan to deploy the
name in the formula.
Enter the first letter of the name, and choose the name from
the displayed list.

Or, choose Formulas , select Use in Formula and choose the

name that you wish to use.
Click Enter.
Managing names in your workbook with Name Manager
On the Ribbon, navigate to Formulas, click on Defined Names and
select Name Manager . From there, you can create, delete, edit and
locate all the names deployed in the workbook.
Naming a cell (For macOS users)
Choose a cell.
Enter a name inside the Name Box.

Click Enter.

Define names from a selected range

Choose the range that you wish to name, including the
column or row labels.
Choose Formulas, and tap Create from Selection.
From the dialog box of the Create Names from Selection ,
assign the location containing the labels by clicking on the
Left column, Top row , Bottom row , or the Right column
check box.
Click OK .
Excel will assign names to the cells based on the labels in the
designated range.

Use names in formulas

Choose a cell and input a formula.
Position your cursor exactly where you plan to deploy the
name in the formula.
Enter the first letter of the name, and choose the name from
the displayed list.

Or, choose Formulas , select Use in Formula and choose the

name that you wish to use.
Click Enter.

Managing names in your workbook with Name Manager

On the Ribbon, navigate to Formulas, click on Defined Names and
select Name Manager . From there, you can create, delete, edit and
locate all the names deployed in the workbook.
Creating a name range in Excel
Check below to design a name range for your Excel spreadsheet;

1. Select Define Name from the Define Names selection from

the Formulas tab.
 2. You will be prompted with a “New Name” dialog box where
you can enter the name that you wish to use. Be aware that
this name here cannot be more than 255 characters in length.
3. The scope of the named range can be specified by selecting
Workbook or the worksheet name from the Scope dialog box
as shown in the above screenshot.
You will have a named range that has been set to a Workbook scope
available for use throughout the workbook, whereas you will only be
able to use a range set to a particular sheet's scope right within the
sheet only.

4. Although optional, you can fill in a descriptive comment inside

the Comm-ent box, up to about 255 characters.
5. Inside the Refers to box, carry out any of the actions below;
▪ Select Collapse Dialog (and the dialog box will shrink
temporarily), choose the cells on the worksheet, and tap Expand
Dialog .
▪ To input a constant, simply type = (equal sign) and then enter
the value of the constant.
▪ To input a formula, simply type = and then enter the formula.

6. Select OK .

How to create or change a cell reference

A cell reference can be used to refer to a particular cell or a range of
cells on a particular worksheet and can often be deployed inside a
formula to allow Excel calculate the value or data that you want the
formula to find.
In a single or many formulas, cell reference can be used to refer to;
▪ Data from single or more adjacent cells on a worksheet.
▪ Data available in different parts of a worksheet.
▪ Data available on other worksheets inside the same workbook.
See the screenshot below for example;
 How to create a cell reference on the same
worksheet
1. Click on the cell where you wish to enter your formula.
2. Inside the formula bar , enter the = (equal sign).
3. Carry out any of the actions below;

▪ Reference a single or more cells : Click on a cell or range of

cells available on the same worksheet to create a reference.
The border of the cell selection can be dragged in order to move the
selection, or expand selection by dragging the edge of the border.
▪ Reference a defined name : You can create reference to a
specific name by carrying out any of the action below;
▪ Enter the name.
▪ Click F3, choose the name inside the Paste name box,
and then tap OK.
4. Perform any of the actions below;

- Click Enter if a reference is being created in a single cell.

- Use the Ctrl + Shift + Enter when you are creating a reference
in an array formula (such A1:G4.
The reference can actually be a range of cells or a single cell, and
the array formula can also be a formula that can calculate multiple or
single results.

Using the Link cell command to create a cell

reference
As an alternative, cell reference can be copied and pasted, and you
can then deploy the Link Cells command to create your cell
reference. The Link cells command can be used to;
- Easily show important details in a way that will make them
look very prominent. Let us assume that you have a particular
 workbook that has many worksheets, and on each of the
worksheets there exists a cell that shows summary information
about the other cells on that same worksheet. If you want to
make the summary cells to appear more prominent, a cell
reference can be created to them on the very first worksheet of
the workbook, which allows users to access summary
information about the entire workbook on the very first
worksheet.
- Make it especially very easy to design cell references
between workbooks and worksheets. The Link Cells
command will paste the actual syntax for users automatically.
To create a cell reference by using the Link Cell command;
- Select the cell where the data that you want to link is
available.
- Select Ctrl+C, or navigate to the Home tab, and tap Copy
from the Clipboard group.

- Click Ctrl+V, or navigate to the Home tab, and click Paste

from the Clipboard group category.
By default, you will see the Paste Options button once you
paste the data you copied.
- Select the Paste Options button, and then select Paste Link
.
To create a cell reference if you are using the Excel for Web,
follow the prompts below;
- Click on the cell where you wish to enter your formula.
- Inside the formula bar , enter the = (equal sign).
 - Carry out any of the actions below;
▪ Reference a single or more cells : Click on a cell or range of
cells available on the same worksheet to create a reference.
The border of the cell selection can be dragged in order to move the
selection, or expand selection by dragging the edge of the border.
▪ Reference a defined name : You can create reference to a
specific name by carrying out any of the action below;
▪ Enter the name.
▪ Click F3, choose the name inside the Paste name box,
and then tap OK.
- Perform any of the actions below;
- Click Enter if a reference is being created in a single cell.
- Use the Ctrl + Shift + Enter when you are creating a reference
in an array formula (such A1:G4.
The reference can actually be a range of cells or a single cell, and
the array formula can also be a formula that can calculate multiple or
single results.

How to remove or delete a formula

Deleting a particular formula will also delete the result of the said
formula. If you are not planning to delete the result of the formula,
you can instead remove the formula. To delete a formula;
- Click on the cell that or the range of cells where the formula is
contained.
- Select Delete.

How to delete a formula but keep the result

of the formula (for Windows users)
To do this, the formula should be copied and then pasted inside the
same cell by using the Paste Values option.
 1. Click on the cell or the range of cells where the formula is
contained.

If the said formula is an array formula,all the cells in the range of

cells that contain the array formula should be selected first.

Select a cell from the array formula.

From the Home tab, under the Editing group, select
Find & Select , and then tap Go To .
Select Special .
Choose Current array .

2. From the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, select Copy

.
3. From the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, tap the arrow
below Paste , and then choose Paste Values .

Delete an array formula

To delete a particular array formula, ensure that all the cells in the
cell range that contains the array formula are selected. To do this;
Select a cell from the array formula.
From the Home tab, under the Editing group, select
Find & Select , and then tap Go To .
Select Special .
Choose Current array .
Select DELETE .

Delete a formula but keep the results (for web users)

1. Choose the cell or the range of cells where the formula is

contained.
2. Choose Home , and select Copy (or simply use the Ctrl + C
shortcut).
 3. Select Home , click on the arrow below Paste and choose
Paste Values .

Avoiding broken formula in Excel

When Excel is unable to resolve any formula you are trying to create,
you will most often get an error prompts below;

Unfortunately, what this indicates is that the Excel program is unable

to compr-ehend what you are about to do, so you might consider
starting over.
Begin by choosing OK or simply click on ESC button to dismiss the
error prompt.
You can then go back to the cell that has the broken formula (you will
meet the cell in Edit mode ready to be edited), and the Excel
program will highlight the actual spot where the problem originates
from.If you are confused about what you want to do from here, you
can consider starting over by pressing the ESC again, or choose
the Cancel button inside the formula bar, which will bring you out of
the edit mode.

If you decide to move forward, you can consider the following

troubleshooting steps to guide you in figuring out what actually went
wrong;
- The formula is not calculating: This is usually a common
problem exp-erienced by users. When you observe that your
formula is not calculating as expected, you should check if you
have enabled Automatic calculation. Your formula will not
compute if it is the manual calculation that is enabled. Proceed
with the prompts below to confirm automatic calculation;
- Click on the File tab, choose Options , and then click on the
Form-ulas category.
- From the Calculation options section, under Workbook
Calculation , ensure that you select the Automatic option.
[[
 - Does your function actually start with an equal to sign?
If the formula you entered doesn’t start with an equal to (=) sign,
then it is obviously not a formula, and will not be computed. This is
also a common mistake, and you should try and avoid this as much
as possible.
When you enter calculation such as SUM(B2:B10) , Excel will
instead display the text string SUM(B2:B10) instead of bringing forth
a formula. Also, if you enter 12/3, Excel will bring a date, such as 3-
Dec or 12/03/2021, instead of actually dividing 12 by 3. To avoid
misrepresentation like this, endeavor to always start your function
with an equal to symbol. For instance, type: =SUM(B2:B10)
and =12/3 .
- Is the opening parentheses matching with the closing
parentheses?
When a particular function is being used in a formula, each of the
opening parentheses will require a closing parenthesis for that
particular function to work effectively. Ensure that all the
parentheses you are using are a matching pair of parentheses.
For instance, the formula =IF(B5<0),"Not valid",B5*1.05) will not
work simply because the closing parentheses there are two, but
there is only one opening parentheses. The formula will be correct
if it actually looks like: =IF(B5<0,"Not valid",B5*1.05) .
- Does your formula contain multiplication without the
asterisk sym-bol?
 It is a common mistake to think that Excel will accept x as a
multiplication operator instead of an asterisk (*). By now, you
should understand that Excel only recognizes asterisk as its
multiplication operator. If a constant is present in your formula,
Excel will display an error message, and the program will help fix
the formula by substituting the asterisk symbol in place of an x.

However,when you deploy cell references,the program will output

a #NAME? error.

- Ensure that you are evaluating a nested formula one

after the other
Evaluating a formula allows you to see how a nested or complex
formula com-putes the final result.
1. Choose the formula that you wish to evaluate.
2. Click Formulas , and select Evaluate Formula .
 3. Choose Evaluate to confirm the actual value of the
underlined expression. You will get the result of the evaluation
in italics.

4. If the underlined area of the formula is actually a reference to

another formula, click Step In to display the other formula in
the Evaluation box. Click on Step Out to navigate back to
the previous formula and cell.

The Step In button will not be available the second time the
reference shows in the formula—or if the formula refers to a cell in
another workbook.
5. Continue until every part of the formula has been completely
evaluated.

The Evaluate Formula tool will not necessarily indicate why your
formula is actually broken, but it can actually help to point out where
the formula is broken. This can be a very useful tool in larger
formulas where it can seem very difficult to troubleshoot the problem.
 CHAPTER TWO
The “IF” function
The “IF” is among the most common functions in Excel, and it enables
users to carry out logical comparisons between expectations and a specific
value.
In essence, an IF statement can contain two results. The first result being
when the comparison is true, and the second result being when the
comparison is false.
For instance, =IF(B3=”Yes”,1,2) says IF(B3 = Yes, then return a 1, else
output a 2).

The “IF” syntax

The “IF” function can be considered a logical function capable of returning
one a value if a condition is true, and return a different value if the condition
is deemed false.
IF(logical_test, value_if_true, [value_if_false])
For instance:
▪ =IF(A2>B2,"Over Budget","OK")
▪ =IF(A2=B2,B4-A4,"")
 Simple IF cases

▪ =IF(C2=”Yes”,1,2)
In the case above, the cell D2 implies: IF(C2 = Yes, then return a 1, else
output a 2)

▪ =IF(C2=1,”Yes”,”No”)
In this instance, the formula in the cell D2 implies: IF(C2 = 1, then output
Yes, otherwise output No). It then becomes obvious that the “IF” function
can be deployed to evaluate both values and texts. The “IF” function can
as well be used to evaluate errors. With the “IF” function, you are not only
limited to confirming if one term is equal to another term and outputting a
single result, in fact you can deploy mathematical operators and carry out
extra calculations depending on what you want. Multiple “IF” functions can
also be nested together if you plan to do multiple comparisons.

▪ =IF(C2>B2,”Over Budget”,”Within Budget”)

In the above example, the IF function in D2 is saying IF(C2 Is Greater Than
B2, then return “Over Budget”, otherwise return “Within Budget”)

▪ =IF(C2>B2,C2-B2,0)
In the example above, rather than returning a text result, mathematical
computations will be returned instead. The formula in E2 above implies
IF(Actual is Greater than Budgeted, then Subtract the Budgeted amount
from the Actual amount, else return nothing).

▪ =IF(E7=”Yes”,F5*0.0825,0)
In the case above, the formula in F7 implies IF(E7 = “Yes”, then compute
the Total Amount in F5 * 8.25%, otherwise no Sales Tax is due so return 0)
Note: If you want to have texts inside a formula, the text should be
wrapped in quotes. One exception to this is using the TRUE or FALSE,
which Excel actually understands.
 Using the “IF” function to confirm if a cell is
blank
Sometimes you will have to confirm if a particular cell is blank, maybe
because you don't know your formula to bring an output without a tangible
input.

In a case like this, you can deploy the IF with the ISBLANK function:
▪ =IF(ISBLANK(D2),"Blank","Not Blank")
Which means that IF(D2 is blank, then return "Blank", else return "Not
Blank") . You can as well decide on your own formula to be used for the
"Not Blank" condition. In the following case, we will be using "" instead of
ISBLANK. The "" actually means "nothing".

=IF(D3="","Blank","Not Blank")
The above formula implies IF(D3 is nothing, then return "Blank", else "Not
Blank") . See below for a common means of using "" to prevent your
formula from calculating if a dependent cell is actually blank:
▪ =IF(D3="","",YourFormula())
IF(D3 is nothing, then return nothing, else calculate your formula).

The IFS Function

The IFS function can be used to confirm whether one or more conditions
have been met, and then output a value that truthfully corresponds to the
first TRUE condition. IFS can be used in place of multiple nested IF
statements, and is actually much easier to read with multiple conditions.

Simple syntax
Generally, the IFS function has a syntax that looks like the one below;
=IFS([Something is True1, Value if True1,Something is True2,Value if
True2, Something is True3,Value if True3)
Please note that the IFS function can actually allow users the chance to
test up to 127 different conditions. However, it is not advisable to nest too
many conditions with the IFS or IF statement. This is actually because we
don't recommend nesting too many conditions with IF or IFS statements.
This is because multiple conditions need to be entered in the correct order,
and can be very difficult to build, test and update.
Example 1

The formula for cells A2:A6 is:

▪ =IFS(A2>89,"A",A2>79,"B",A2>69,"C",A2>59,"D",TRUE,"F")
Which implies IF(A2 is bigger Than 89, then “A” should be returned, IF A2
is bigger Than 79, a “B” should be returned, and so on and “F” should be
returned for any other values that are particularly less than 59).
Case 2
The formula in cell G7 is: =IFS(F2=1,D2,F2=2,D3,F2=3,D4,F2=4,D5,F2=5
,D6,F2=6,D7,F2=7,D8)
Which implies IF(the value in cell F2 equals 1, then the value in cell D2
should be returned, IF the value in cell F2 equals 2, then the value in cell
D3 should be returned, and so on, finally ending with the value in cell D8 if
none of the other conditions are met).
Remarks
▪ To indicate a default result, input TRUE for the final logical_test
argument. If none of the other conditions are met, the corresponding
value will be returned. In the Example 1 above, rows 6 and 7 (that
contains grade 58) actually demonstrate this.
▪ If a logical_test argument is provided without a corresponding
value_if_true , the function will bring a "You've entered too few
arguments for this function" error prompt.
▪ If a logical_test argument is being evaluated and a value different from
the TRUE or FALSE value is returned, this function will output a
#VALUE! error.
▪ If no TRUE conditions available, the function will returns #N/A error.

The Counta Function

The COUNTA function will counts the number of active cells in a range
that are not empty.
Syntax
COUNTA(value1, [value2], ...)
Then following arguments are contained in the syntax of the COUNTA
function;
▪ value1 Required. This is the first argument that represents the
values that you plan to count.
▪ value2, ... Optional. This is like an additional argument that
represents the values that you plan to count, up to a maximum of 255
arguments.
Remarks
▪ The COUNTA function actually counts cells that contain any kind of
information, including empty texts ("" ) and error values. For instance, if
the range has a formula that can output an empty string, then
the COUNTA function will counts that value. The COUNTA function will
not compute cells that are empty.
▪ If you do not need to count texts, logical values, or error values (in
other words, if you only plan to count only the cells that have numbers),
deploy the COUNT function.
▪ If you plan to count only the cells that meet some specific criteria,
deploy the COUNTIF function or the COUNTIFS function.
Example
The Example data in the example below can be copied by users and then
paste inside the cell A1 of a new Excel worksheet. You will have to select
formulas for them to display results, click F2 and then hit the Enter button.
If you wish, the column width can be adjusted to access all the data.
The COUNTIFS function
The COUNTIFS function uses criteria to cells across many ranges and
also counts the actual number of times that all criteria are met.
Syntax
COUNTIFS(criteria_range1, criteria1, [criteria_range2, criteria2]…)
The following arguments are contained in the syntax of the COUNTIFS
function:
▪ criteria_range1 Required. The first range in which to evaluate the
associated criteria.
▪ criteria1 Required. The criteria in the form of an expression,
number, cell reference, or text that indicate which cells will be counted.
 For instance, criteria can be expressed as 67, ">88", A4, "orange", or
"32".
▪ criteria_range2, criteria2, ... This is optional. Additional ranges and
their associated criteria. Up to 127 range/criteria pairs are actually
allowed.
Important: Each extra range must contain the same number of columns
and rows as the argument for criteria_range1 . The ranges do not actually
need to be adjacent to each other.

Remarks
▪ At a time, each range's criteria will be applied to one cell. The count
will normally increase by one (1) if all of the first cells actually meet their
associated criteria. The count will usually increase by one (1) again
when all of the second cells also meet their associated criteria, and this
will continue until all cells have been evaluated completely.
▪ Any cell that is empty is treated as zero value by the COUNTIFS
function if the criteria argument is a reference to an empty cell.
▪ You can deploy the wildcard characters— consisting of the question
mark (?) and an asterisk (*) — in criteria. The question mark will match
any single character, while the asterisk will match any character
sequence. To find an actual asterisk or an actual question mark, simply
insert a tilde (~ ) before the character.

EXCEL KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS (for Windows

users)
For some users, working with an external keyboard with keyboard shortcut
for Excel allows them to work more perfectly. For some other users with
vision impairment or some other disabilities, keyboard shortcuts can be
better than using their computer’s touchscreen, and can even provide a
viable alternative to using a mouse.
Notes:
The shortcuts highlighted here only work for US Keyboard layout. If you
have a computer that doesn’t comply with the US Keyboard layout, these
shortcuts might not work.
A positive symbol (+) in a shortcut implies that you will have to click
multiple keys at the same time.
A comma symbol (,) in a shortcut implies that you will have to click multiple
keys in order.
Frequently used shortcuts
The table below highlights many of the most commonly used shortcuts in
Excel.

Actions to be done What to do

Terminate a workbook Press Ctrl+W
Launch a workbook Press Ctrl+O
Navigate to the Excel Home tab Press Alt+H
Save your workbook Use Ctrl+S
Copy anything Highlight the item, then hit
Ctrl+C
Paste anything Press Ctrl+V
Undo an action Use Ctrl+Z

Remove a cell contents Delete

Select a fill color Press Alt+H, H
Cut an item/word/anything at all Press Ctrl+X
Navigate to the Insert tab Press Alt+N
Bold Highlight the item, then press
Ctrl+B
Position cell contents with center Press Alt+H, A, C
alignment
Navigate to the Page Layout tab Press Alt+P
Navigate to the Data tab Press Alt+A
 Navigate to the View tab Press Alt+W
Open the context menu Use Shift+F10, or
Context key
Add borders in Excel Press Alt+H, B
Delete a column Press Alt+H, D, C
Navigate to the Formula tab Use Alt+M
Hide the selected rows Ctrl+9
Hide the selected columns Ctrl+0

Ribbon keyboard shortcuts

Related options are usually grouped on tabs. For instance, the Number
group contains the Number Format option on the Home tab. You can
bring the ribbon shortcut (key tips) by pressing the Alt key as letters
identified in small images next to the tabs and options as shown in the
image below.

You will be able to combine the Alt key with the Key Tips letters to produce
the Access Keys shortcuts for the ribbon options. For instance, click Alt+H
to access the Home tab, and click on Alt+Q to scroll to the Search field
or Tell me field. Click on the Alt key once again again to access the
KeyTips for the options for the selected tab.
In the Office 2013 and the Office 2010, some of the old Alt key menu
shortcuts will still work, too. Nonetheless, you will still have to know the
complete shortcut. For instance, click Alt, and then click on one of the old
menu keys E for (Edit), V for (View), I for (Insert), and so on. You will
receive a notification pops up telling you that you are using an access key
from an earlier version of Microsoft Office. If you know the entire key
sequence, go ahead and use it. If you don't know the sequence, press Esc
and use Key Tips instead.
 Use the Access keys for ribbon tabs
To go straight to a tab on the ribbon, click one of the access keys below.
You might see additional tabs depending on what you select in the
worksheet.

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Excel

Experiment with Excel by using your screen reader and the keyboard to
navigate and explore the app elements and main view, and to equally
between functions and views.
Navigate through the main areas
To move between the Excel main areas, click F6 (forward) and click
Shift+F6 (backward). The main areas include;
▪ Sheets tabs
▪ Worksheet table grid
▪ Ribbon tabs
▪ Status bar
 Navigate the ribbon tabs
The key menu bars in Excel are the ribbon tabs. To get to the ribbon tabs,
click on F6 till you hear "Ribbon tabs," and then followed by the name of
the current tab. To scroll between tabs, deploy the Right and the Left arrow
keys. When you get to a tab, you will see a tab-specific ribbon appearing
below it.
The listed below are examples of some of the most common tabs and what
you can achieve with each tabs;
▪ Home
The Home tab is where you can format and align numbers and text, and
also add new columns and rows.
▪ Insert
The Insert tab is where you can add shapes, pictures tables, and charts
inside your worksheet.
▪ Page Layout
The Page Layout tab is where you can set the orientations, margins, and
size of your worksheet page.
▪ Formulas
The Formula tab is where you will be able to add various formulas and
functions inside your worksheet.

▪ Data
This tab will be used to import data from different sources, sort the data
and filter it, and also enjoy data tools like the “remove duplicate rows” tools.
▪ Review
Check the spelling and accessibility of your worksheet, and collaborate
with others using comments and notes.
▪ View
Select a view such as Normal View or Page Layout view, and set the
page zoom level.
▪ Help
This tab is used to access the Microsoft Excel Help, contact support, and
drop feedback.
In addition to the ribbon tabs, you will also need to access the File menu
for some other important commands. To open the File menu, use the Alt+F
shortcut. The File menu will be launched in a new pane. To explore the
main commands, deploy the Down and the Up arrow keys, then utilize the
Tab key and the Up and Down arrow keys to explore the various options for
that particular command.
From the File menu, a new workbook can be initiated, save a file, launch
an existing workbook, share or print the document you are working on
currently, and also access Excel options. To dismiss the File menu and get
back to your worksheet, click on the Esc button.

Navigate the ribbon

After successfully navigating to the right ribbon tab as said previously, click
the Tab key to scroll to the ribbon and to explore its options and
commands. You can click Shift+Tab to go backwards. Click Enter to choose
or click on the Esc button to leave the ribbon and go back to the worksheet.

Navigate the worksheet

On opening an Excel sheet workbook, the focus is often on the worksheet
table grid. If the focus has been moved out of the worksheet, click F6 until
the screen announces the location of the table grid cell. See below for how
to navigate inside worksheet and between the other workbooks and
sheets;
▪ The arrow keys can be used to navigate between the cells in the grid
table. The screen reader will announce the row and column of each cell
including the content of the cell.
▪ Use the Shift+F10 shortcut to access the context menu for the active
cell. Deploy the Down and Up arrow keys to explore the menu, and click
Enter to choose or click Esc to go back to the worksheet.
▪ To navigate to the previous or next worksheet in your workbook, use
F6 until the name of your active sheet tab is heard, deploy the right and
the Left arrow keys to locate the right sheet, and click Enter to choose it.
▪ To move to the next available workbook when there are more than one
opened workbook, simply press Ctrl+F6. The name of the workbook will
be announced by the screen reader.

Use Search
To navigate through an option or to quickly carry out a particular action,
utilize the Search field. To do this, follow the prompts below;
 1. Select the place or the item in your Excel spreadsheet where you
plan to carry out an action. For instance, click on a range of cells in
your spreadsheet.
2. Use the Alt+Q shortcut to navigate to the Search field.
3. Fill in the search words for the exact action that you wish to carry
out. For instance, if you wish to insert a bulleted list, simply
type bullets.
4. Deploy the Down arrow key to navigate through the results.
5. Once you have seen the result that you need, click Enter to select
the result and to carry out the action.

VLOOKUP
Use the Vlook up when you need to locate items in a table or range by
rows.
1. Choose a cell.
2. Input =VLOOKUP( and then choose the value that you want Excel
to lookup.
3. Enter a comma (,) and then choose the table or range to look for
that value.
4. Enter a comma (,) and the exact number of the column where that
lookup value is actually located.
5. Enter ,FALSE) to locate an exact match.
6. Click Enter.

The VLOOKUP formula can look like this;

=VLOOKUP(A7, A2:B5, 2, FALSE).
In the simplest form, the VLOOKUP function implies:
=VLOOKUP(lookup value, range containing the lookup value, the column
number in the range containing the return value, optionally specify TRUE
for approximate match or FALSE for an exact match).

How to get started

To build syntax for VLOOKUP, the following pieces of information are
required;
 1. The exact value that you wish to look up, this value is also referred
to as the lookup value.
2. The range where that lookup value is particularly located. For
VLOOKUP to work properly, the LOOKUP value must always be
inside the first column in the range. For instance, if the lookup value
is in the cell C2 then, obviously, your range should begin with C.
3. The column number from the range that features the return value.
For instance, if B2:D11 is specified as the range, B should be
counted as your first column, C should be counted as the second
column, and so on.
4. Optionally, TRUE can as well be specified if an approximate match
is required or you can specify FALSE if an exact match of the return
value is needed. If nothing is specified, approximate match or
TRUE will always be taken as the default value.

Now, you can combine all of the above together as follows;

=VLOOKUP(lookup value, range containing the lookup value, the column
number in the range containing the return value, Approximate match
(TRUE) or Exact match (FALSE)).
See the examples of VLOOKUP function below;
How to combine your data from many tables onto
a single worksheet using the VLOOKUP function
The VLOOKUP can be used to combine as many tables as possible into a
single table, so far one of those tables contains fields in common with all of
the other tables. This can be useful especially when you are required to
share a workbook with those who have older models of Excel that do not
actively support data features with multiple tables as data sources - by
simply combining the data sources into a single table and changing the
data source of the data features to the new table. When you do this, you
will be able to use the data features in older copies of Excel (provided the
data feature itself is supported by the older version).
 1. The table that contains common fields should be copied onto a new
worksheet. The table should be assigned a name.
2. Click on Data , select Data Tools and choose Relationships to
launch the Manage Relationships dialog box.

3. For each relationship listed, you should note the following:

▪ The field that links the tables (this will be listed for you in parentheses
in the dialog box): This is actually the lookup_value for the VLOOKUP
formula.
▪ The Related Lookup Table name: This will represent the table_array
in the VLOOKUP formula.
▪ The field (column) from the Related Lookup Table that features the
data you need in your new column: You will not be able to see this
information inside the “Manage Relationships” dialog – as you will have
to look at the Related Lookup Table to know which field you actually
want to retrieve. You may decide to note the column number of that
column (A=1) - this will be the col_index_num in your formula.
4. If you wish to add an extra field to the new table, fill in your
VLOOKUP formula inside the first empty column by using the
information that you have gathered in step 3.

In the example above, it was obvious that column G deploys Attorney

(the lookup_value ) to obtain the Bill Rate data from the fourth column
(col_index_num =4) from the worksheet table that contains Attorneys,
tblAttorneys (the table_array ), with the formula =VLOOKUP([@Attorne-
y],tbl_Attorneys,4,FALSE) .
The formula can as well deploy a range reference and a cell reference. In
the insta-nce above, the formula would be
=VLOOKUP(A2,'Attorneys'!A:D,4,FALSE ).
5. Continue to add fields until you have all the required fields that you
actually need. If you want to prepare a workbook that has data
features which uses multiple tables, you can simply change the
source of data of the data feature to the new table.
 ABOUT AUTHOR
John Shipman is a certified Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert
(MCSE ) with many years of experience working with all of the
Microsoft Office packages. He has written many instructional guides
for Microsoft office packages, especially the Microsoft Word and
Excel.