• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

My Online Training Hub

Learn Dashboards, Excel, Power BI, Power Query, Power Pivot

  • Courses
  • Pricing
    • Free Courses
    • Power BI Course
    • Excel Power Query Course
    • Power Pivot and DAX Course
    • Excel Dashboard Course
    • Excel PivotTable Course – Quick Start
    • Advanced Excel Formulas Course
    • Excel Expert Advanced Excel Training
    • Excel Tables Course
    • Excel, Word, Outlook
    • Financial Modelling Course
    • Excel PivotTable Course
    • Excel for Customer Service Professionals
    • Excel for Operations Management Course
    • Excel for Decision Making Under Uncertainty Course
    • Excel for Finance Course
    • Excel Analysis ToolPak Course
    • Multi-User Pricing
  • Resources
    • Free Downloads
    • Excel Functions Explained
    • Excel Formulas
    • Excel Add-ins
    • IF Function
      • Excel IF Statement Explained
      • Excel IF AND OR Functions
      • IF Formula Builder
    • Time & Dates in Excel
      • Excel Date & Time
      • Calculating Time in Excel
      • Excel Time Calculation Tricks
      • Excel Date and Time Formatting
    • Excel Keyboard Shortcuts
    • Excel Custom Number Format Guide
    • Pivot Tables Guide
    • VLOOKUP Guide
    • ALT Codes
    • Excel VBA & Macros
    • Excel User Forms
    • VBA String Functions
  • Members
    • Login
    • Password Reset
  • Blog
  • Excel Webinars
  • Excel Forum
    • Register as Forum Member

Excel MIN MAX SMALL and LARGE Functions

You are here: Home / Excel Formulas / Excel MIN MAX SMALL and LARGE Functions
Excel MIN MAX SMALL and LARGE Functions
April 20, 2011 by Mynda Treacy

The MIN, MAX, SMALL and LARGE functions in Excel are fairly straight forward, but I’d like to show you a couple of tricks that won’t be obvious from reading the Excel help files.

First of all the syntax for MIN and MAX functions:

=MIN(number1, [number2],….)
=MAX(number1, [number2],….)

The ‘number’ can be keyed directly into the formula, or you can enter a cell range (e.g. B15:F15) or a range name.

Syntax for SMALL and LARGE functions:

=SMALL(array,k)
=LARGE(array,k)

Where the ‘array’ can be a cell range or a range name, and ‘k’ is the position in the array you want found.

Note the following formulas give the same result:

=LARGE(array,1) is the same as =MAX(number1,[number2]…) both return the biggest number.
=SMALL(array,1) is the same as =MIN(number1,[number2]…) both return the smallest number.

In these cases it is more efficient to use MAX or MIN as they require less computing by Excel.

Whilst this may not be an issue for small workbooks, if you work with large volumes of data, as is common when working with statistics, then you’ll want to preserve all your CPU for the more complex formulas.

MIN, MAX, SMALL, LARGE Examples

Let’s look at an example or each using the values below:

min max small large example values

 

=MIN(B4:F4)

= 1

=MAX(B4:F4)

=7

=SMALL(B4:F4,2) i.e. the second smallest

= 2

=LARGE(B4:F4,2) i.e. the second largest

= 5

MIN and MAX Trick

What say we want to calculate when overtime occurs? We know that the normal hours per day are 7.5 and anything higher than that is deemed to be overtime.

We could set up a table like this:

min max small large timesheet example

Where the formula in cell B20 for Ordinary Hours is:

=MIN($B$10,B22) 

i.e. If B10 (normal hours) is smaller than B22 (total hours) then enter the value from B22 (total hours) in the cell, otherwise enter the value in B10 (normal hours).

And the formula in cell B21 for Overtime is:

=MAX(0,B22-$B$10)

i.e. If 0 is bigger than B22-B10 (total hours minus normal hours) then enter 0 in the cell, otherwise enter the result of B22-B10 (total hours minus normal hours).

LARGE and SMALL Trick

So we know that

=LARGE(array,2)

will return the second largest number in the array, but what if we wanted to sum the top 3 numbers in the array?

Let’s use our original values below for this example:

min max small large example values

 

We sum the top 3 values using a formula like this:

=SUM(LARGE(B4:F4,{1,2,3}))

=15

Likewise we can sum the bottom 3 values like this:

=SUM(SMALL(B4:F4,{1,2,3}))

=6

Take note of the use of curly brackets { } in these formulas. These are typically used in array formulas but in this instance you don’t need to enter the formula using SHIFT+ENTER as you normally do for an array formula, it will work just like a regular formula.

Excel MIN MAX SMALL and LARGE Functions

More Statistical Posts

Excel COUNT, COUNTA and COUNTBLANK Functions

Excel COUNT, COUNTA and COUNTBLANK Functions

Microsoft Excel Standard Deviation Functions

Microsoft Excel Standard Deviation Functions

Excel COUNTIF and COUNTIFS Formulas Explained

How to write Excel COUNTIF and COUNTIFS formulas. Including workbook download.

More Excel Formulas Posts

ai-aided excel formula editor

AI Aided Excel Formula Editor

Save time with this free AI Excel formula editor add-in that writes, edits, improves and interprets formulas for you!
top excel functions for data analysts

Top Excel Functions for Data Analysts

Must know Excel Functions for Data Analysts and what functions you don’t have to waste time learning and why.
excel advanced formula environment

Excel Advanced Formula Environment

Excel Advanced Formula Environment is a long awaited, new improved way to write, name and store Excel formulas.
Pro Excel Formula Writing Tips

Pro Excel Formula Writing Tips

Must know Excel formula writing tips, tricks and tools to make you an Excel formula ninja, including a new formula editor.
excel shaping arrays

New Array Shaping Excel Functions

The Excel Shaping Array Functions makes it easier than ever to reshape arrays and ranges using these purpose built functions
excel nested if functions what not to do

Excel IF Formulas and What Not To Do

Excel IF formulas can get out of hand when you nest too many IFs. Not only do they become unwieldy they’re difficult for anyone to understand
excel image function

Excel IMAGE Function

The Excel IMAGE Function enables you to embed images in a cell using a formula. It supports BMP, JPG/JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, ICO, and WEBP files

Excel VSTACK and HSTACK Functions

New Excel VSTACK and HSTACK functions makes combining arrays of cells easy and with some clever tricks we can extend their capabilities.
identify overlapping dates and times in excel

Identify overlapping dates and times in Excel

How to identify overlapping dates and times in Excel with a formula that checks a range of cells. Works with Dates and Times.
New Excel Text Functions

TEXTSPLIT, TEXTBEFORE and TEXTAFTER Functions

TEXTAFTER, TEXTBEFORE and TEXTSPLIT are exciting new Excel Text functions. They’re fairly self-explanatory, however TEXTSPLIT has some cool features.


Category: Excel FormulasTag: statistical
Previous Post:Microsoft Excel Standard Deviation FunctionsMicrosoft Excel Standard Deviation Functions
Next Post:Excel CHOOSE FunctionExcel CHOOSE Function

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gopal

    November 30, 2022 at 11:15 pm

    Hi,
    I need formula for serial number in oldest to newest date range and if any date duplicate need same serial number.
    please guide…

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      December 1, 2022 at 9:04 am

      Hi Gopal, we’d love to help you. Please post your question on our Excel forum where you can also upload a sample file and we can help you further.

      Reply
      • Gopal

        December 5, 2022 at 7:07 pm

        Sure, thanks

        Reply
  2. Robert

    May 3, 2019 at 11:46 pm

    HI!

    I am creating a trucking calculator in which the user enters a weight, and the amount to pay the trucker is displayed. The user selects the town from a drop down list, and it calculates the rate depending on the town.
    I have a VLOOKUP table which lists the towns and their rates. There are only 2 rates which are divided into zones (1 and 2), and a “Special” rate which will only show the word special. The columns in the VLOOKUP is:
    Column 1: town name,
    Column 2: rate
    Column 3: either the number 1,or 2 (which classifies the towns into 2 zones), or the word “Special”.

    so far I have the calculator showing the rate once the weight is entered, and the town selected. or the word “Special” if it is a special rate:

    =IF(I8=”SPECIAL”, “SPECIAL”, D4*I8)

    Now I want to use MAX because there are minimum fees associated. So if the value that is calculated in E13 is less than 26.25, it will display 26.25 instead of the total.
    now, the minimum in zone 1 (26.25) is different that zone 2 (29.40).

    I need to create a formula that can identify what zone is being used, which can be identified by the number 1, or 2 in cell K8, and apply that minimum charge depending on it.

    Reply
    • Catalin Bombea

      May 4, 2019 at 3:42 pm

      Hi Robert,
      Please upload your sample data on our forum, it will be easier to help you. (create a new topic after sign-in)

      Reply
  3. Dany

    January 8, 2019 at 9:17 am

    Hi,
    Using drop-down lists i come across two limitations :
    – Only items are displayed. If I want to select the 9th+ item, I need to scroll down.
    – The font is smaller than that I use in the surrounding cells.
    I would like to define the number of items displayed and the font used to display them on-the-fly in a drop-down list in VBA.
    Is it possible ? And if yes, how ?
    Thanks in advance and Happy New Year !!!

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      January 8, 2019 at 3:16 pm

      Hi Dany,

      You can’t do this with regular data validation lists, but you could try ActiveX form controls. There is a drop down list available that you can format and program with VBA.

      Mynda

      Reply
  4. Sunetra

    December 15, 2017 at 6:06 pm

    I want to sum the two smallest values in a range of cells only if the range contains negative numbers.Please advise

    Reply
    • Catalin Bombea

      December 16, 2017 at 10:31 pm

      Hi Sunetra,
      Try these formulas:
      =IF(COUNTIF(A1:A10,”<0"),SMALL(A1:A10,1)+SMALL(A1:A10,2),"")
      =IF(COUNTIF(A1:A10,"<0"),SUM(SMALL(A1:A10,{1,2})),"")
      They should give you the same result.
      Catalin

      Reply
  5. George Duffey

    September 9, 2014 at 2:02 am

    I need to find the unique (only one) smallest number in a set of cells that are not contiguous (not in a row next to each other.) It seems neither small nor min will give me this as a unique number in a series. Can you help? I then want to use conditional formatting to make these stand out as a bigger or colored number.
    If it is not a unique number, then I do not wish to use conditional formatting.

    Reply
    • Catalin Bombea

      September 9, 2014 at 2:43 pm

      Hi George,
      Please upload a sample file to Help Desk so we can see your data structure. Is data on rows, on columns, or in a range of multiple rows and columns?
      Catalin

      Reply
  6. Uma

    March 31, 2014 at 2:30 am

    Hi Mynda,
    Can you please check this?

    If B10 is smaller than B22, as per the formula B10 value will be entered in the cell and not B22

    Where the formula in cell B20 for Ordinary Hours is:

    =MIN($B$10,B22)
    i.e. If B10 (normal hours) is smaller than B22 (total hours) then enter the value from B22 (total hours) in the cell, otherwise enter the value in B10 (normal hours)

    Reply
    • Catalin Bombea

      March 31, 2014 at 10:18 pm

      Hi Uma,
      Your example:
      “i.e. If B10 (normal hours) is smaller than B22 (total hours) then enter the value from B22 (total hours) in the cell, otherwise enter the value in B10 (normal hours)” is translated into a formula like this:
      =IF(B10Help Desk.
      Catalin

      Reply
  7. marilyn

    January 23, 2014 at 7:09 pm

    cOULD YOU PLEASE HElp me with the formula to be used , i have an employee masterlist having column(empno,name,date of birth,age,gender,section ,so on and so forth.But i need to generate on separate sheet , showing number of employees who are female and male, considering thier age range from 21-30,31-40,41-50,51-60,above and need to filter per section.
    Could yu please give me appropriate formula for this?

    Reply
    • Catalin Bombea

      January 23, 2014 at 8:45 pm

      Hi Marilyn,
      Can you please upload a sample workbook with your data structure? From you generic explanations, the answer is vague: you can use an INDEX MATCH combination, or an all matches formula, like: =IFERROR(INDEX($A$5:$B$11,SMALL(IF($A$5:$A$11=$E$4,ROW($A$5:$A$11)-4),ROW(A1)),2),””), from the tutorial: https://www.myonlinetraininghub.com/excel-factor-17-lookup-and-return-multiple-matches
      Any detail you can give is important to help us understand exactly your situation.
      You can use our Help Desk: https://www.myonlinetraininghub.com/helpdesk/
      Catalin

      Reply
  8. ANIL

    June 29, 2013 at 11:57 am

    THANKS

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      June 29, 2013 at 1:31 pm

      You’re welcome, Anil 🙂

      Reply
  9. Joe78man

    May 14, 2013 at 8:46 am

    Hi Mynda,

    Is there any formula to give the number and have in return its place?

    ‘Large’ returns the place of a number in a row. I want something going the other way. Such as =Place(array,cell)

    e.g.:
    A
    1 12
    2 5
    3 7
    4 1
    5 8

    Formula: =place(A1:A5,3)
    Result: 8 (8 is the third higest value)

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Joe78man

      May 14, 2013 at 8:48 am

      Or any other solution you might now in order to achieve the same goal. I have a list of values, I need to have a column with a number indicating its place in the list.

      Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      May 14, 2013 at 1:44 pm

      Hi Joe,

      I’m confused. Isn’t 7 the third highest value? If so you could use this formula to return the location of 7 in the list:

      =MATCH(LARGE(A1:A5,3),A1:A5,0)

      Answer: 3 i.e. row number 3 in the list.
      Where your list is in cells A1:A5.

      Kind regards,

      Mynda.

      Reply
  10. Ann Piech

    May 3, 2013 at 9:12 am

    I need to extract (and sum) the largest 18 values from a set of 24. Is there a shorter command than replacing the {1,2,3} in your example by {1,2,3,4,etc}. I have tried using ROW(1:18) as the second argument to LARGE, but cannot properly copy and paste the command (the argument of ROW is updated according to the row of the new data).

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      May 4, 2013 at 8:07 pm

      Hi Ann,

      You could do this:

      =SUMPRODUCT(LARGE(A1:A24,ROW(1:18)))

      Where your values are in cells A1:A24

      Kind regards,

      Mynda.

      Reply
  11. Kay Hawley

    August 11, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    add the three smallest values in 6 noncontiguous cells

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      September 5, 2012 at 2:48 pm

      Hi Kay,

      I’m sorry I’ve taken so long to reply…I missed your comment.

      =SUM(LARGE(B4,C6,D8,E10,F4,J8,{1,2,3}))

      Kind regards,

      Mynda.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Excel ROWS and COLUMNS Functions • My Online Training Hub says:
    January 20, 2016 at 4:46 pm

    […] SMALL formula evaluates like […]

    Reply
  2. Set Same Min and Max Axis Values on Multiple Charts says:
    July 22, 2014 at 2:35 pm

    […] the ‘Ghost Series’ to fix the axis minimum and maximum dynamically based on the overall MIN and MAX values for all of the […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Current ye@r *

Leave this field empty

Sidebar

More results...

Featured Content

  • 10 Common Excel Mistakes to Avoid
  • Top Excel Functions for Data Analysts
  • Secrets to Building Excel Dashboards in Less Than 15 Minutes
  • Pro Excel Formula Writing Tips
  • Hidden Excel Double-Click Shortcuts
  • Top 10 Intermediate Excel Functions
  • 5 Pro Excel Dashboard Design Tips
  • 5 Excel SUM Function Tricks
  • 239 Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

100 Excel Tips and Tricks eBook

Download Free Tips & Tricks

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Receive weekly tutorials on Excel, Power Query, Power Pivot, Power BI and More.

We respect your email privacy

Guides and Resources

  • Excel Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Excel Functions
  • Excel Formulas
  • Excel Custom Number Formatting
  • ALT Codes
  • Pivot Tables
  • VLOOKUP
  • VBA
  • Excel Userforms
  • Free Downloads

239 Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

Download Free PDF

Free Webinars

Excel Dashboards Webinar

Watch our free webinars and learn to create Interactive Dashboard Reports in Excel or Power BI

Click Here to Watch Now

mynda treacy microsoft mvpHi, I'm Mynda Treacy and I run MOTH with my husband, Phil. Through our blog, webinars, YouTube channel and courses we hope we can help you learn Excel, Power Pivot and DAX, Power Query, Power BI, and Excel Dashboards.

Blog Categories

  • Excel
  • Excel Charts
  • Excel Dashboard
  • Excel Formulas
  • Excel PivotTables
  • Excel Shortcuts
  • Excel VBA
  • General Tips
  • Online Training
  • Outlook
  • Power Apps
  • Power Automate
  • Power BI
  • Power Pivot
  • Power Query
microsoft mvp logo
trustpilot excellent rating
Secured by Sucuri Badge
MyOnlineTrainingHub on YouTube Mynda Treacy on Linked In Mynda Treacy on Instagram Mynda Treacy on Twitter Mynda Treacy on Pinterest MyOnlineTrainingHub on Facebook
 

Company

  • About My Online Training Hub
  • Disclosure Statement
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Guarantee
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Testimonials
  • Become an Affiliate

Support

  • Contact
  • Forum
  • Helpdesk – For Technical Issues

Copyright © 2023 · My Online Training Hub · All Rights Reserved. Microsoft and the Microsoft Office logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks featured or referred to within this website are the property of their respective trademark holders.