I know, I know. Excel can be daunting, especially if you're not familiar with the software. But don't worry, I've got you covered! In this article, I'm going to teach you how to do sum in Excel. It's easy, I promise.
First things first, let's open Excel. Look for the Excel icon on your desktop or search for it in the Start menu. Once you've found it, click on it to launch the program.
Next, enter your data into the Excel spreadsheet. Let's say you want to add up the values in column A, rows 1 through 5. Simply enter the numbers into those cells, like so:
| A | B |
|---|---|
| 10 | |
| 20 | |
| 30 | |
| 40 | |
| 50 |
Once you've entered your data, highlight it. To do this, simply click and drag your mouse over the cells you want to include in your sum. In our example, we want to include cells A1 through A5, so we'll highlight those.
Now it's time to use the sum function! Click on the Home tab in the Excel ribbon and look for the "AutoSum" button, which looks like this:
Click on the "AutoSum" button and you'll see the sum of your highlighted cells appear in the cell just below your data. In our example, the sum of cells A1 through A5 is 150.
It's always a good idea to double check your work. Make sure the sum that Excel calculated is correct. If you notice a mistake, simply click on the cell with the incorrect sum and correct it. Excel will automatically recalculate the sum for you.
Finally, save your Excel file so you can refer back to it later. To save your file, click on the File tab in the Excel ribbon and choose "Save As." Give your file a name and choose where you want to save it on your computer.
And that's it! See, using Excel isn't so scary after all. With the sum function, you can easily add up values in your spreadsheet and get quick calculations. So the next time you're working on a project that requires some simple math, give Excel a try!
