Know more about IF function in Microsoft Excel 2010

Of all the Logical functions in Microsoft Excel 2010 IF function is the most important function. It is the most important logical function because you would use it the most. Do you know everything about this function and how it could be used for your benefit? Majority of the logical formulas that you might be required to use, contain IF condition in them. So it doesn’t hurt you if you knew more about this function, right? Here, we would be talking about a few important logical formulas which have IF function in them. Here are a few things you need to know about IF function in Microsoft Excel 2010.

SUMIF

With SUMIF functions, you could actually sum the rows and columns by using conditions. For example, you can sum up the values in alternative rows and columns if you had to, by using SUMIF function. Let’s see how the SUMIF function works. The SUM function in the SUMIF works only when the IF condition meets the criteria used in the function. The syntax of this function is =SUMIF(Range, Criteria, Sum_Range). In this formula, Range is the range of cells where the Criteria is applied. Sum_Range is the range of cells which are summed if the criterion is met. This is an important function that you might need to use in your daily life.

COUNTIF

COUNTIF is another powerful function which counts the number of times a specific value appears in a range of cells. Let consider this situation, you have huge data of customers from different cities. If you want to know how many customers are from a city, this function would check for the number of time a city name appears in the range and gives you the count. Isn’t that simple great? The syntax of this function is = COUNTIF(Range, Criteria). Range in this formula is the range where the value is searched for. Criteria is the where you need to give the value to be searched for.

Nested IF functions

The best example for nested IF function would be grading system. When you have to grade the scores of people, a nested function is used by majority of people. A nested function has one or more than one IF function in the main function. The syntax of a nested IF function is IF( condition1, value_if_true1, IF( condition2, value_if_true2, value_if_false2)). Only problem with this function is that you can only nest seven IF functions and Microsoft Excel 2010 will allow you to nest more conditions. But for grading which is most likely have four to five conditions, this function works perfectly.

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