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Add calculations to your sheets with formulas. Type = in any cell to start a formula, then reference other cells, use functions, and build expressions.

Formula basics

Cell references

Reference any cell by its column letter and row number:

=A1          # Value of cell A1
=A1 + B1     # Sum of A1 and B1
=A1 * 1.1    # A1 multiplied by 1.1

Ranges

Reference a range of cells using a colon:

=SUM(A1:A10)     # Sum of cells A1 through A10
=AVERAGE(B2:B50) # Average of cells B2 through B50

Operators

Operator	Meaning	Example
`+`	Addition	`=A1 + B1`
`-`	Subtraction	`=A1 - B1`
`*`	Multiplication	`=A1 * B1`
`/`	Division	`=A1 / B1`
`^`	Power	`=A1 ^ 2`
`&`	Text concatenation	`=A1 & " " & B1`
`=`	Equal	`=IF(A1 = B1, "Yes", "No")`
`<>`	Not equal	`=IF(A1 <> 0, A1, "Empty")`
`>` `<`	Greater/less than	`=IF(A1 > 100, "Over", "Under")`

Function reference

Math functions

Function	Description	Example
`SUM`	Add values	`=SUM(A1:A10)`
`AVERAGE`	Calculate mean	`=AVERAGE(B1:B10)`
`MIN`	Smallest value	`=MIN(C1:C10)`
`MAX`	Largest value	`=MAX(C1:C10)`
`COUNT`	Count numeric cells	`=COUNT(A1:A10)`
`COUNTA`	Count non-empty cells	`=COUNTA(A1:A10)`
`ROUND`	Round to decimals	`=ROUND(A1, 2)`
`ABS`	Absolute value	`=ABS(A1)`

Logic functions

Function	Description	Example
`IF`	Conditional value	`=IF(A1 > 100, "High", "Low")`
`AND`	All conditions true	`=AND(A1 > 0, B1 > 0)`
`OR`	Any condition true	`=OR(A1 = "Yes", B1 = "Yes")`
`NOT`	Negate a condition	`=NOT(A1 = 0)`
`IFERROR`	Handle errors	`=IFERROR(A1/B1, 0)`

Text functions

Function	Description	Example
`CONCAT`	Join text	`=CONCAT(A1, " ", B1)`
`LEFT`	First N characters	`=LEFT(A1, 3)`
`RIGHT`	Last N characters	`=RIGHT(A1, 4)`
`MID`	Substring	`=MID(A1, 2, 5)`
`TRIM`	Remove extra spaces	`=TRIM(A1)`
`UPPER`	Convert to uppercase	`=UPPER(A1)`
`LOWER`	Convert to lowercase	`=LOWER(A1)`
`LEN`	Character count	`=LEN(A1)`

Lookup functions

Function	Description	Example
`VLOOKUP`	Vertical lookup	`=VLOOKUP(A1, D1:E10, 2, FALSE)`
`HLOOKUP`	Horizontal lookup	`=HLOOKUP(A1, A1:J2, 2, FALSE)`
`INDEX`	Value at position	`=INDEX(A1:A10, 5)`
`MATCH`	Find position	`=MATCH("Target", A1:A10, 0)`

Date functions

Function	Description	Example
`TODAY`	Current date	`=TODAY()`
`NOW`	Current date and time	`=NOW()`
`DATEADD`	Add to date	`=DATEADD(A1, 30, "days")`
`DATEDIFF`	Difference between dates	`=DATEDIFF(A1, B1, "days")`

Practical examples

Running total

=SUM($A$1:A5)

The $ signs lock row 1, so as you copy down, each row sums from row 1 to the current row.

Percentage of total

=A1 / SUM($A$1:$A$10) * 100

Conditional sum

=SUMIF(B1:B10, "Completed", C1:C10)

Sum values in column C only where column B equals "Completed".

Next steps

Data Visualization — create charts from your calculations
Creating Sheets — set up columns and structure
Introduction to Sheets — overview of all sheet features

Formulas & Functions