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Basic Excel Formulas

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Updated Nov 6, 2025
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List of Top 10 Basic Excel Formulas & Functions

Here is the list of the top 10 basic formulas and functions in Excel.

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  1. SUM
  2. COUNT
  3. COUNTA
  4. COUNTBLANK
  5. AVERAGE
  6. MIN Excel
  7. MAX Excel
  8. LEN Excel
  9. TRIM Excel
  10. IF Excel

Now, let us discuss each of them in detail –

Basic-Excel-Formulas

#1 SUM in Excel

This basic Excel formula is used to get the sum of the value in one or more cells or ranges.

Basic Sum Function Formula

Example

=SUM(A1:A5) 

Basic Sum Function Example 1

Result = 41 (See Image below)

Basic Sum Function Example 1-1

#2 COUNT Excel Function

This basic Excel function counts the numeric value in one or more cells or ranges.

Basic Count Formula

Example

=COUNT(A1:A5)

Basic Count Example 2

Result = 4 (This will exclude cell A3 since this formula calculates the only numeric value. Please see the image below).

Basic Count Example 2-1

#3 COUNTA in Excel

This formula counts the value in one or more cells (This will measure the cells irrespective of the number or text value).

Basic COUNTA Formula

Example

=COUNTA(A1:A5)

Basic COUNTA Example 3

Result = 5 (This will Include Cell A3 since this formula calculates both text and numeric value. See Image below).

Basic COUNTA Example 3-1

#5 AVERAGE in Excel

This basic formula in Excel is used to get the value average in one or more cells or ranges.

Basic Average Formula

Example

=AVERAGE(A1:A5) 

Basic Average Example 5

Result = 4 (See image below)

Basic Average Example 5-1

#4 COUNTBLANK in Excel

This Excel basic function counts the blank value in the range. (Note: We will not consider only space in a cell a blank cell).

Basic COUNTBLANK Formula

Example

=COUNTBLANK(A1:A5)

Basic COUNTBLANK Example 4

Result = 2 (This will calculate the number of blank cells in the range. See image below).

Basic COUNTBLANK Example 4-1

Basic Excel Formulas – Explained in Video

#6 MIN Formula in Excel

This Excel basic function is used to get the minimum value in cells or ranges.

Basic Min Formula

Example

=MIN(A1:A5). Result = 2 (See Image below)

Basic Min Example 6
Basic Min Example 6-1

#7 MAX Formula in Excel

This basic Excel function gets the maximum value in cells or ranges.

Basic Max Formula

Example

=MAX(A1:A5)

Basic Max Example 7

Result = 9 (See Image below)

Basic Max Example 7-1

#8 LEN in Excel

This basic function of Excel calculates the number of characters in a cell or text.

Basic Len Formula

Example

=LEN(A1)

Basic Len Example 8

Cell A1 value is Shivam, which has a 6-character length. So, the result would be 6 (See image below).

Basic Len Example 8-1

#9 TRIM in Excel

This basic Excel function removes unnecessary space in a cell or text.

SYNTAX: TRIM(TEXT)

Basic Trim Formula

Example

=TRIM(A1)

Basic Trim Example 9

Cell A1 has two spaces between the first, middle, and last names. This function will remove extra space to give the result. (See image below).

Basic Trim Example 9-1

#10 IF in Excel

IF function can perform a logical test in Excel.

Basic IF Formula

Example

=IF(A1>33,”P”,”F”). A value in cell A1 is 50, and a logical test is if the value is greater than 33. Then the result would be P. Else, the result would be F.

Basic IF Example 10

Since the value 50 is greater than 33, the result would be P. (See image below).

Basic IF Example 10-1

Things to Remember

  • A formula should always start with an equal sign. Else, it will show an error.
  • If we enter any text value instead of giving a cell address, we should provide the text value within an inverted comma (“”).
  • Before entering the function in a cell, ensure that the cell format is general. If a text format is selected, then the formula will not work.
  • Space (_) is always counted as a single character. So, if you are working with blank cells, remember that if a cell has only space, it will not be counted as a blank cell.

Recommended Articles

This article is a guide to Basic Formulas in Excel. We discuss a list of the top 10 basic Excel formulas and functions with examples with a downloadable Excel template. You may learn more about excel from the following articles –