Formula Friday: Master the SUM Formula in Excel and Google Sheets

Hey there, spreadsheet lovers! 🎉 Welcome back to Formula Friday, where we dive into a new formula each week to help you level up your Excel and Google Sheets skills. Today, we’re starting with one of the most useful and beginner-friendly formulas out there—SUM.

What Does the SUM Formula Do?

Let’s start with the basics: the SUM formula adds up numbers from a range of cells in a spreadsheet. It’s perfect for anyone who works with data and needs quick totals, whether it’s for expenses, sales figures, or tracking progress.

Think of it as your digital calculator. Instead of manually adding up each number, you let the formula do the work for you in just a couple of clicks!

How to Use the SUM Formula

Now, let’s get hands-on. Here's how to use the SUM formula in both Excel and Google Sheets.

• Formula: =SUM(number1, [number2], ...)

In most cases, you’ll be summing a range of numbers in a column or row. For example, to add up the values in cells A1 through A5, the formula looks like this:

 

Hit enter, and boom—you've got your total!

SUM Formula in Action

Let’s look at a few everyday examples:

Expenses: Need to add up all your monthly expenses? Just highlight the column where you’ve listed your costs (say A2) and use =SUM(A2:A12) to get the total amount.

Sales Totals: Track your sales numbers quickly by summing up your data from a range like B2:B15. Easy!

Scores & Grades: Got a list of student grades or quiz scores? Use SUM to quickly calculate the total score from a range like D2:D20.

Quick Tip: AutoSum to the Rescue

Want to save even more time? Use the AutoSum feature in Excel! Instead of typing out the formula, you can let Excel do the work:

Excel: Click on the cell where you want the total, then press Alt + = (or click the Sigma button on the toolbar). Excel will automatically sum the range of numbers right above or next to the selected cell.

Google Sheets: In Google Sheets, you can highlight the cells you want to sum, and click the Sigma (Σ) icon in the toolbar to instantly insert the SUM formula.

Pro Tip: SUM Across Multiple Ranges

If you need to add up numbers from multiple non-adjacent ranges, you can do that too! Simply list the ranges separated by commas like this:

 

This will add up the values from both A1 to A5 and C1 to C5—super useful for combining totals from different sections of your spreadsheet.

Try It Yourself!

I’d love for you to give the SUM formula a try. It’s one of those formulas that’s simple but super powerful once you get the hang of it. Next time you need to total up a list of numbers, give SUM a go and see how much time it saves!

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What’s Next? Next week on Formula Friday, we’ll dive into another essential formula to help streamline your work in Excel and Google Sheets. Until then, happy summing! 😊