At the core, this formula uses the INDEX function to retrieve 10 random names from a named range called “names” which contains 100 names. For example, to retrieve the fifth name from the list, we use INDEX like this…
Add row numbers and skip blanks
In the example shown, the goal is to add row numbers in column B only when there is a value in column C. The formula in B5 is:
=IF(ISBLANK(C5),””,COUNTA($C$5:C5))
The IF function first checks if cell C5 has…
Cell contains all of many things
The key is this snippet:
ISNUMBER(SEARCH(things,B5)
This is based on another formula (explained in detail here) that simply checks a cell for a single substring. If the cell contains the substring, the formula…
Count cells that are blank
The COUNTBLANK function counts the number of cells in the range that don’t contain any value and returns this number as the result. Cells that contain text, numbers, dates, errors, etc. are not counted. COUNTBLANK is…
Last row in mixed data with no blanks
This formula uses the COUNTA function to count values in a range. COUNTA counts both numbers and text to so works well with mixed data.
The range B4:B8 contains 5 values, so COUNTA returns 5. The number 5 corresponds…
Count unique values
This example uses the UNIQUE function to extract unique values. When UNIQUE is provided with the range B5:B16, which contains 12 values, it returns the 7 unique values seen in D5:D11. These are returned directly to the…
Dynamic named range with OFFSET
This formula uses the OFFSET function to generate a range that expands and contracts by adjusting height and width based on a count of non-empty cells.
The first argument in OFFSET represents the first cell in the…
Running count group by n size
The core of this formula is the COUNTA function, configured with an expanding range like this:
COUNTA($B$5:B5)
As the formula is copied down the column, the range starting with B5 expands to include each new row, and…
Count cells not equal to many things
First, a little context. Normally, if you have just a couple things you don’t want to count, you can use COUNTIFS like this:
But this doesn…
Project complete percentage
In this example if a task is marked “Done”, then it is considered complete. The goal is to calculate the percent complete for the project by showing the ratio of complete tasks to total tasks, expressed as a percentage…
Count sold and remaining
The COUNTA function counts non-blank cells that contain numbers or text. The first COUNTA counts non-blank cells in the range B5:B11 and returns the number 7:
COUNTA(B5:B11)
The second COUNTA function…
Generate random text strings
The new dynamic array formulas in Excel 365 make it much easier to solve certain tricky problems with formulas.
In this example, the goal is to generate a list of random 6-character codes. The randomness is handled by…
Sort by random
The SORTBY function allows sorting based on one or more “sort by” arrays, as long long as they have dimensions that are compatible with the data being sorted. In this example, there are 10 values being sorted, the…
Score quiz answers with key
This formula uses the named range “key” (C4:G4) for convenience only. Without the named range, you’ll want to use an absolute reference so the formula can be copied.
In cell I7, we have this formula:
=SUM(–(C7:G7=…
Reverse a list or range
The heart of this formula is the INDEX function, which is given the list as the array argument:
=INDEX(list
The second part of the formula is an expression that works out the correct row number as the formula is…