Autosum

When working with numeric data, you often need to carry out typical operations on it and output the result in a separate cell, for example, to calculate the sum or display the average value for selected columns or rows. For this purpose, it is convenient to use the Autosum command. The command allows you to use five popular data processing functions: SUM, MIN, MAX, AVERAGE, COUNT.

Autosum recognizes the cell range with numeric data and substitutes it into the function. The cells selected before the operation will determine where the result of the calculation will be output and what range of data will be used. For example, to calculate the sum for a column, you can:

•Select an empty cell below the column. The result will be inserted into this cell.

•Select the entire column. The result will be inserted into the empty cell under the column closest to the range.

•Select a cell range if you want to use only part of the cells in the calculation. The result will be inserted into the empty cell under the column closest to the range.

It is important to take into account the following:

•If the range contains several cells with the results of the same function, only such cells will be automatically included in the range. This is convenient when any subtotals have already been calculated in the column, and the final total will be their sum.

•If an empty cell next to an area with numbers is selected, all numbers after the nearest cell with text, an empty cell, or a cell with the same function will automatically be included in the range:

•If a cell range, column or row is selected, the function will include all data after the cell with the same function:

To enter a function using the Autosum command, follow the steps below:

1.Select an empty cell next to the data, a column, row, or cell range.

2.Run the Autosum command in one of the following ways:

•Click  Autosum in the Formula bar or in the Data tab. The SUM function will be used. If you want to use another function, click the arrow to the right of the  Autosum button and select the desired function from the drop-down list.

•When working in macOS, select Data > Autosum command from the command menu.

•Press Alt+= (Windows, Linux) or  Option+= (macOS).

3.If necessary, edit the function arguments or add additional ones to them.

4.To finish entering the function, click the button in the Formula bar or press Enter. To cancel entering a function, click the button in the Formula bar or press Esc.