Excel SUM Function – a Function that Sums Numbers

How to Use the SUM Function in Excel

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use the Excel SUM function to sum numbers.

The SUM function is one of the most commonly used functions in Excel. Many people know very little about Excel functions, but they may hear about this function somewhere.

The calculation to get the total is just a matter of adding up all the numerical data you need. In Excel, you can use the format "=A1+B1+C1+D1" to add up the data one cell at a time, but with the SUM function, you can specify a range and sum up all the values within that range.

Therefore, you can expect very efficient work, and you will not make mistakes such as forgetting to choose the value to sum.

SUM is a function to add individual values, values in a range of cells, or cell references of values.

SUM() Syntax

The syntax of the SUM() function is as follows:

=SUM(number1, [number2], [number3], ...)

Arguments

  • Number1: The first number that you want to sum
  • Number2: [optional]. The second value that you want to sum
  • Number3: [optional]. The third value that you want to sum

Remarks

  • Arguments can be numbers, ranges, arrays, constants, cell references, and the results of the other functions or formulas. You can specify up to 255 arguments.
  • SUM() sums only the cell that value is number, and ignores any cells containing text value.

SUM() Function Examples

Example 1: Adding a group of individual values

The following formula shows how to add individual values:

=SUM(1000,250,100)

SUM() sums 1000, 250, and 100, and returns 1350.

Let's see more examples below.

Suppose you have the demo data, as shown below:

 ABCDEF
1DateItem CodeItem NameQtyUnit PriceAmount
210/4/2019Item001Dell Laptop 1212002400
310/4/2019Item002Dell Laptop 2112401240
410/5/2019Item003Dell Laptop 3311303390
510/5/2019Item003Dell Laptop 3411304520
610/5/2019Item002Dell Laptop 2512406200
710/6/2019Item001Dell Laptop 1111201120
810/7/2019Item001Dell Laptop 1711508050
910/9/2019Item003Dell Laptop 3311003300
1010/9/2019Item002Dell Laptop 2812009600
1110/10/2019Item003Dell Laptop 3210002000

Example 2: Adding values in a range of cells

Let's say you want to sum all the amounts in column F starting from cell F2 through F11.
The formula is as follows:

=SUM(F2:F11)

The formula returns 41820.

Example 3: Adding values in a range of cells and another cell reference of Value

You can add numbers in a range of cells and a cell reference of value, as the following example shows:

=SUM(F2,F7:F8)

The formula sums all the amount of the item001 in column F and returns 11570.

SUM()ignores any cells that contain text value. It sums only the cells containing value numbers.

Example 3: Adding values in multiple ranges of cells

You can add values in multiple ranges of cells, as the following example shows:

=SUM(F2:F3, F7:F8, F4:F6)

Summary

In this tutorial, you've learned how to use the Excel SUM function to sum numbers.

You can use the SUMIF function to add individual values, values in a range, or cell references of values. 

Note that the SUM function ignores any cells containing text values.

You will find that just by learning the SUM function, you can create various data you can frequently use in business situations.

If you need to sum values with a specified condition, use the SUMIF function.

Other functions include the SUMIFS function, which sums up the values that match multiple conditions within a range, and the SUMPRODUCT function, which calculates and sums the product of the corresponding elements of an array.


See also:
Excel ROUNDUP Function with Examples
Excel MIN Function with Examples
Excel COUNTA Function – Count Non-Blank Cells in Excel
Excel COUNTBLANK Function – Count Blank Cells in Excel
Excel SUMIFS Function – Multiple Criteria

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