Formula in Excel 365 2013 2010 2007 2003

How to generate series of dates

Often you'll want to insert a series of dates into a worksheet. The most efficient way to enter a series of dates doesn't require any formulas - just use Excel's AutoFill feature.

Using Solver

Solver tool allows you to specify multiple adjustable cells and constraints on the values that the adjustable cells can have, generate a solution that maximizes or minimizes a particular worksheet cell, generate multiple solutions to a problem.

Goal Seeking

Goal seeking is a useful feature that works in conjunction with your formulas. If you know what a formula result should be, Excel can tell you which values of one or more input cells you need to produce that result.

Calculating the difference between two time stamps

Because timestamps are represented as serial numbers, you can subtract the earlier time from the later time to get the difference.

Calculating the number of work days between two dates

When calculating the difference between two dates, you may want to exclude weekends and holidays.

Excel Formula auditing tools

If you would like to understand better how some of these complex array formulas work, consider using a handy tool - Formula Evaluator:

Counting the number of unique values

You can easily count the number of unique values of the range using a simple formula.

How to avoid misleading numbers

Applying a number format to a cell doesn't change the value, but only how the value appears in the worksheet. Formatting can play a joke with you, e.g., the sum of values seems incorrect because Excel displays a limited number of decimal places, and their sum is not equal to the real sum.

How to insert functions into formulas

The easiest way to enter a function into a formula is to use the Excel program's Insert Function dialog box.

Combining text and formatted values

The Excel TEXT function enables you to specify numbers and date format.