How to Use the MAX Function and Formula in Excel
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use the Excel MAX function.
MAX() is a function to get the largest number in a set of numbers.
MAX Syntax
The syntax of the MAX() function is as follows:
=MAX(value1, [value2], ...)
Arguments
- value1: The first argument
- value2: Optional. The second argument
Remarks
- You can specify up to 255 arguments.
- Arguments (value1, value2, ...) can be numbers, arrays, or references that contain numeric values.
- If the arguments contain no numbers, MAX() returns 0.
- MAX() ignores the text, empty cells, or logical values in the array or reference.
MAX Function Examples
Finding the largest number in a group of numbers
The following examples get the max value among 10, 30, 20, 20, 80, and 50:
=MAX(10,30,20,20,80,50)
The above formula returns 80.
Next, let's see more examples below.
Demo data:
A | B | C | D | E | F | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Date | Item Code | Item Name | Qty | Unit Price | Amount |
2 | 12/4/2019 | Item0001 | HP Desktop White 1 | 2 | 1200 | 2400 |
3 | 12/4/2019 | Item0002 | HP Desktop Black 2 | 1 | 1240 | 1240 |
4 | 12/5/2019 | Item0003 | HP Desktop Blue 3 | 3 | 1130 | 3390 |
5 | 12/5/2019 | Item0003 | HP Desktop Blue 3 | 4 | 1130 | 4520 |
6 | 12/5/2019 | Item0002 | HP Desktop Black 2 | 5 | 1240 | 6200 |
7 | 12/6/2019 | Item0001 | HP Desktop White 1 | 1 | 1120 | 1120 |
8 | 12/7/2019 | Item0001 | HP Desktop White 1 | 7 | 1150 | 8050 |
9 | 12/9/2019 | Item0003 | HP Desktop Blue 3 | 3 | 1100 | 3300 |
10 | 12/9/2019 | Item0002 | HP Desktop Black 2 | 8 | 1200 | 9600 |
11 | 12/10/2019 | Item0003 | HP Desktop Blue 3 | 2 | 1000 | 2000 |
Finding the largest number in a single range of cells
You can find the largest number in a range of cells, as the following example shows:
=MAX(F2:F11)
MAX() returns 9600, which is the largest number in the range F2: F11.
Finding the largest number in multiple ranges of cells
You can find the largest number in multiple ranges, as the following example shows:
=MAX(320,F2:F4,F6:F8,F10:F11, 10000)
The above formula returns 10000.
MAX() Ignores text, empty cells, or logical values
MAX() ignores text, empty cells, or logical values.
MAX() returns 0 if the arguments contain no numbers.
Here is an example:
=MAX(C2:C11)
The above formula returns 0 because there isn't a number in the range.
In this tutorial, you've learned how to use the Excel MAX function.
MAX is a function to get the largest number in a group of numbers.