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Excel Formulas Cheat Sheet

Search twelve verified everyday Excel functions by name, category, syntax, or purpose and copy the vendor-style argument signature.

Privacy: your files never leave your device. All processing happens locally in your browser.

How to use

  1. 1.Search by function, category, or task.
  2. 2.Read the signature and note which bracketed arguments are optional.
  3. 3.Compare the example with your ranges, locale, and Excel version.
  4. 4.Copy the syntax and validate the completed formula with known test cases.

About Excel Formulas Cheat Sheet

Excel Formulas Cheat Sheet is a focused reference for twelve widely used spreadsheet functions. Search by function name, category, signature, or purpose, inspect an example, and copy the argument syntax. The list covers SUM, AVERAGE, IF, COUNTIF, SUMIF, XLOOKUP, INDEX, MATCH, TEXT, ROUND, CONCAT, and TODAY. It is intentionally compact: the goal is to help users recall the shape of a formula, not to reproduce the entire Excel function catalog or replace Microsoft documentation.

Square brackets in a signature mark optional arguments; they are notation and should not normally be typed into the formula. Ellipses indicate that additional arguments may follow. Argument separators can differ by regional configuration, so a workbook may require semicolons where the examples show commas. Function names may also appear localized in some Excel installations. The examples use English names, commas, A1 references, and a leading equals sign. Adjust them to the locale, workbook structure, table names, and data types in the destination file.

Lookup functions require special care. XLOOKUP accepts separate lookup and return arrays plus optional not-found, match, and search behavior. MATCH returns a relative position, while INDEX returns a value at a position; they are often combined. Exact and approximate matching have different assumptions, and unsorted data can make an approximate lookup misleading. Confirm the match mode and inspect duplicates, blanks, text-versus-number mismatches, and error values before trusting a result in financial, operational, or reporting work.

Conditional functions also depend on criteria syntax. COUNTIF counts matching cells, while SUMIF adds values associated with a matching range. Quotation marks are required for many text criteria and operators. IF chooses between two return values but does not validate that the underlying business rule is correct. A formula that calculates successfully can still encode the wrong range, omit rows, use an unintended absolute reference, or hide an error behind a fallback. Audit precedents and test known cases.

TEXT converts a numeric value to formatted text, which can affect later arithmetic and sorting. TODAY is volatile with respect to the current date and changes when the workbook recalculates. ROUND changes a value rather than only its display. CONCAT joins text but does not automatically add delimiters. These distinctions matter when formulas feed other calculations, exports, or automation. Preserve raw values where possible and use display formatting when the value must remain numeric.

The reference runs entirely in the browser. It does not open, upload, evaluate, or modify a workbook, and it cannot see your Excel version. Function availability varies: XLOOKUP is not present in some older perpetual releases. Verify critical syntax and compatibility against the linked vendor documentation and the target version. For decisions involving money, compliance, safety, or large datasets, use independently checked examples, error handling, workbook protection, peer review, and controlled test data before deployment. Save a recoverable copy before changing an important workbook, and recalculate and inspect representative rows after edits rather than trusting one visible cell. Confirm named ranges too.

Methodology & sources

Stores twelve source-checked function records with unique names and signatures, enforces table size and uniqueness in tests, searches normalized name/category/syntax/description text, and copies the displayed vendor-style signature without evaluating a workbook.

Frequently asked questions

Should I type the square brackets?
Usually no. In reference syntax, square brackets indicate optional arguments rather than literal characters.
Why does my Excel use semicolons?
Regional settings can change the list separator. Adapt commas, function names, date formats, and decimal notation to the workbook locale.
Does the sheet evaluate my formula?
No. It is a searchable reference only and never opens or calculates a workbook. Test completed formulas in the target Excel version.

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