Excel Commands

List of Top 10 Commands in Excel

Be it engineering, medical, chemistry or any field excel spreadsheet is the common tool for data maintenance. Some of them use for just maintain their database and some others use this tool as a weapon to turn fortune for the respective companies they are working on. So you too can turn things around for yourself as well by learning some of the most useful excel commands.

#1 VLOOKUP Function to Fetch Data

Having the data in multiple sheets is a common thing in many offices, but to fetch the data from one worksheet to another and also from one workbook to another is the challenge for beginners in excel.

If you have struggled to fetch the data then VLOOKUP will help you to fetch the data. Assume you have two tables below.

In table 1 we have the subject list and their respective scores and in table 2 we have some subject names but we don’t have scores for them. So using these subject names in table 2 we need to fetch the data from table 1.

• Ok, let’s open the VLOOKUP function in E2 cell.

• Select the lookup value as D3 cell.

• Select the table array as A3 to B8 and make them absolute reference by pressing the F4 key.

• Column Index Number is from the selected table array from which column you need to fetch the data. So in this case from the second column we need to fetch the data.

• For the last argument range lookup select FALSE as the option or else you can simply enter 0.

• Close the bracket and hit enter key to get the score of Sub 4 and also copy the formula and paste to below cell as well.

Here you go, you have learned a formula to fetch values from different tables based on a lookup value.

#2 IF Condition to Do Logical Test

IF condition will be your friend in many situations because of its ability to conduct logical tests. Assume you want to test the scores of students and give the result, below is the data for your reference.

In the above table, we have students’ scores from the examination and based on these scores we need to arrive at the result as either PASS or FAIL. So to arrive these results criteria are if the score is >=35, then the result should be PASS or else FAIL.

• Open IF condition in C2 cell.

• The first argument is a logical to test so in this example we need to do the logical test of whether the score is >=35, select the score cell B2 and apply the logical test as B2 >= 35.

• Next argument is value if true i.e. if the applied logical test is TRUE then what is the value we need? In this case, if the logical test is TRUE then we need the result as “Pass”.

• So the final part is value if false i.e. if the applied logical test is FALSE then we need the result as “Fail”.

• Close the bracket and fill the formula to remaining cells as well.

So Student A & F scored less than 35 so the result has arrived as FAIL.

#3 CONCATENATE Function to Combine Two or More Values

If you want to combine two or more values from different cells then we can use the CONCATENATE function in excel. Below is the list of First Name and Last Name.

• Open CONCATENATE function in the C2 cell.

• For first argument Text 1 select the first name cell and for text 2 select last name cell.

• Ok, apply the formula to all the cells to get the full name.

• If you want space as the first name and last name separator then use space character in double-quotes after selecting the first name.

#4 Count Only Numerical Values

If you want to count only numerical values from the range then you need to use the COUNT function in excel. Take a look at the below data.

From the above table, we need to count only numerical values, for this, we can use the COUNT function.

The result of the COUNT function is 6. Total count of cells is 8 but we have got the count of numerical values as 6. In cell A4 & A6 we have text values but in cell A8 we have date value. COUNT function treats the date also as numerical value only.

Note: Date and Time values are treated as numerical values if the formatting is correct otherwise it will be treated as text values.

#5 Count All Values

If you want to count all the values in the range then you need to use the COUNTA function. For the same data, I will apply the COUNTA function and see the count.

This time we got the count as 8 because COUNTA function has counted all the cell values.

Note: Both COUNT and COUNTA functions ignores blank cells.

#6 Count Based on Condition

If you want to count based on condition then you have to use COUNTIF function. Look at the below data.

From this city list if you want to count how many times “Bangalore” city is there then open COUNTIF function.

The first argument is RANGE so select the range of values from A2 to B9.

The second argument is Criteria i.e. what you want to count i.e. “Bangalore.

Bangalore has appeared 3 times in the range A2 to B9 so COUNTIF function returns 3 as the count.

#7 Count Number of Characters in the Cell

If you want to count the number of characters in the cell then we need to use the LEN function in excel. LEN function returns the number of characters from the selected cell.

“Excel” word has 5 characters so the result is 5.

Note: Space is also considered as one character.

#8 Convert Negative Value to Positive Value

If you have negative values and you want to convert them to positive ABS function will do it for you.

#9 Convert All Characters to UPPERCASE Values

If you want to convert all the text values to UPPERCASE then use UPPER formula in excel.

And if you want to convert all the text values to LOWERCASE values then use the LOWER formula.

#10 Find Maximum and Minimum Values

If you want to find maximum and minimum values then use MAX and MIN functions in excel respectively.

Things to Remember

• These are some of the important formulas/commands in excel which are used regularly.
• We can use these functions in the advanced level as well.
• There are move advanced formulas in excel which come under advanced level courses.
• Space is considered as one character.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to Excel Commands. Here we discuss the list of top 10 commands in excel along with examples and a downloadable template. You may learn more about excel from the following articles –

• Break-Even Point in Excel
• Basic Excel Formulas List
• Create Custom Functions in Excel
• Write Formula in Excel