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5 Excel SUM Function Tricks

You are here: Home / Excel Formulas / 5 Excel SUM Function Tricks
January 6, 2022 by Mynda Treacy

I know you’re probably thinking that everyone knows how to use the SUM function, but I’m willing to bet that most people don’t know all the shortcuts and tricks I’m about to show you. These are SUM function tricks you can use every day, and some also apply to all Excel functions.

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Excel SUM Function Tricks

Trick 1: AutoSum

AutoSum detects the range you want to sum by looking for rows/columns adjacent to the cell you have selected that contain numbers. You’ll find it on the home tab:

Excel AutoSum

However, I find the keyboard shortcut ALT+= easier to use.

Tip: Select the whole table plus a blank row and column for the sum formulas and ALT+= to automatically enter the SUM formulas for each row and column:

Excel Sum Function Tricks

Bonus tip: you can select non-contiguous ranges and press ALT+= to insert multiple AutoSums – see video for demo.

Trick 2: CTRL shortcut for non-contiguous ranges

If you want to sum non-contiguous cells, hold the CTRL key while you select the cells with your mouse to have Excel automatically insert the comma separators for you. This works for other functions too.

Bonus tips not in the video from Bob Umlas - AutoSum Subtotals: To insert a Grand Total for a range of cells containing sub-totals, select the whole range including the cell you want your grand total in > ALT+=

AutoSum Subtotals

Or simply SUM the entire range and divide by 2 e.g. using the example data above in cell C47 enter this formula:

=SUM(C16:C45)/2

Trick 3: Running Total

To insert a running total reference the first cell in the range, then Absolute reference the first cell in the range before copying the formula down:

Excel running total

Trick 4: SHIFT for 3D ranges

Sum multiple contiguous sheets by selecting the cell on the first sheet and while holding the SHIFT key, select the last sheet in the range:

Excel 3D Sum formula

Caution: This will sum all sheets from Jan to Dec. If you drag another sheet inside this range, it will also be included in the sum.

Trick 5: Insert multiple SUM formulas in one go with CTRL+ENTER

Select all the cells you want your SUM formulas in, then enter the first formula and CTRL+ENTER to complete the formula:

Excel Sum Function Tricks

If you have a SUM tip or trick, please share it in the comments below.

Mynda Treacy

Microsoft MVP logo

AUTHOR Mynda Treacy Co-Founder / Owner at My Online Training Hub

CIMA qualified Accountant with over 25 years experience in roles such as Global IT Financial Controller for investment banking firms Barclays Capital and NatWest Markets.

Mynda has been awarded Microsoft MVP status every year since 2014 for her expertise and contributions to educating people about Microsoft Excel.

Mynda teaches several courses here at MOTH including Excel Expert, Excel Dashboards, Power BI, Power Query and Power Pivot.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jan Smith

    August 7, 2023 at 8:10 am

    It has been a long time since I used MC excel. I’ve been retired many years and I haven’t had the need to do formulas for bookkeeping and other documents. I am trying to make an Estate checkbook for my son, that I need to keep an record of incoming monetary amounts and Debits going out and balance. I have tried several formulas that I remember but its not working for me. Is there any temp plate or an formula that you could email me?
    Thank you for your help.

    Jan Smith

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      August 7, 2023 at 9:30 am

      Hi Jan,

      I don’t have a template as such, but you might find these tutorials on running totals helpful:

      Running Total Formula – not Excel Tables
      Running Total Formula – for Excel Tables

      You might also find this tutorial on my personal finance dashboard relevant for the reporting.

      Mynda

      Reply
  2. Johnny Poonan

    June 30, 2022 at 10:26 pm

    Hi
    Please assist me with a countifs formulae
    STATUS No of Quotes Value of Quotes
    Accepted 4 0
    Pending 3 0
    ReQuote 1 0
    Cancelled 2 0
    Total Quotes Issued 10
    QUOTE NO DATE CUSTOMER VALUE STATUS
    160285 2022-06-10 Unilever R 2 500.00 Accepted
    160286 2022-06-11 Sab R 1 680.00 Accepted
    160287 2022-06-12 Colgate R 1 120.00 Pending
    160288 2022-06-14 Cipla R 3 600.00 ReQuote
    160289 2022-06-20 Unilever R 850.00 Cancelled
    160290 2022-06-21 Cipla R 925.00 Pending
    160291 2022-06-22 Sab R 865.00 Cancelled
    160292 2022-06-24 Unilever R 340.00 Accepted
    160293 2022-06-24 Unilever R 2 800.00 Pending
    160294 2022-06-25 Unilever R 1 468.00 Accepted

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      July 2, 2022 at 8:21 am

      Hi Johnny,

      Please see this COUNTIFS tutorial. If you get stuck please post your question on our Excel forum where you can also upload a sample file and we can help you further.

      Reply
  3. Brian Murphy

    January 9, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    This is great!!

    Can I access the workbook to practice?

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      January 9, 2022 at 9:48 pm

      Glad you liked it, Brian. Please see the link to the workbook in the post above which I’ve just added.

      Reply
  4. Ahmed Mahrous

    January 8, 2022 at 12:17 am

    Everything else

    Reply
  5. Ben McClave

    January 8, 2022 at 12:00 am

    I will definitely add ALT+= to my list, thanks!

    May not be as fast as keyboard shortcuts, but the Quick Analysis toolbar can add not only SUM, but AVERAGE, COUNT, % TOTAL and RUNNING TOTAL to rows or columns. Also, if you are just interested in getting an idea of those numbers without actually adding the formulas, it gives you a preview of the result. Just highlight the range with your numbers and click the Quick Analysis icon that pops up on the lower right of your selection.

    Great post as usual, thanks again!

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      January 8, 2022 at 10:03 am

      Great to hear, Ben! Thanks for sharing your tips too.

      Reply
  6. Andrei Columban

    January 7, 2022 at 3:14 am

    Thanks so much Mynda for another great & clear how to!
    Here are some other useful tricks:

    Example 1: Summarize absolute values
    {=SUM(ABS(A1:A4))} – this is an array formula; the curly braces don’t need to be manually typed, as they are automatically inserted by using CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER
    Example 2: Summarize the last 10 values in a list (cell A1 is header)
    =SUM(OFFSET(A1,ROWS($A$2:$A$25),0,-10))
    Example 3: Summarize intersection of ranges
    =SUM(B2:F6 D4:H8)
    Example 4: Summarize only the integer part of the numbers from a list
    {=SUM(TRUNC(A1:A4))} – this is an array formula (see previous note)
    Example 5: Summarize Top 5 numbers from a list
    {=SUM(LARGE(A1:A10,{1,2,3,4,5}))} – this is an array formula (see previous note)
    or
    {=SUM(LARGE(A1:A10,ROW(INDIRECT(“1:5”))))} – this is an array formula (see previous note)
    Example 6: Summarize the digits of a number
    {=SUM(1*MID(A1,ROW(INDIRECT(“1:”&LEN(A1))),1))} – this is an array formula (see previous note)

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      January 7, 2022 at 9:58 am

      Thanks so much for sharing, Andrei!

      Reply

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