25 most-used Excel functions with simple examples and clear explanations.
=VLOOKUP("101", A:B, 2, FALSE)
Find “101” in column A and return matching value from B (exact match).
=HLOOKUP("Maths", 1:2, 2, FALSE)
Search first row and fetch value from row below.
=XLOOKUP("101", A:A, B:B)
Modern replacement for VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP.
=INDEX(B:B, 5)
Return value from row 5 of column B.
=MATCH("Alia", A:A, 0)
Find the row position of “Alia”.
=FILTER(B:B, A:A="Fruits")
Filter rows where category = Fruits.
=UNIQUE(A:A)
Remove duplicate items.
=IF(B2>=35, "Pass", "Fail")
Check condition and return Pass/Fail.
=IFS(B2>=90,"A", B2>=75,"B", B2>=60,"C", TRUE,"D")
Multiple conditions in order.
=AND(B2>=35, C2>=35)
TRUE only if all conditions true.
=OR(B2="Yes", C2="Yes")
TRUE if at least one condition is true.
=SUM(B:B)
Simple: Add all the numbers in column B.
example: Add all pocket money amounts written in the B column.
=SUMIF(A:A, "Fruits", B:B)
Simple: Add values in B where A equals “Fruits”.
example: Add prices only for items that are fruits.
=SUMIFS(C:C, A:A,"North", B:B,"Apples")
Simple: Add values in C when A is “North” and B is “Apples”.
example: Add only the sales where Region = North and Product = Apples.
=COUNT(B:B)
Simple: Count how many numeric cells are in column B.
example: Count how many marks are written (numbers only) in B column.
=COUNTIFS(A:A,"Fruits", B:B,">=50")
Simple: Count rows where A = “Fruits” and B ≥ 50.
example: Count how many fruit items have price 50 or more.
=LEFT(A2, 3)
Simple: Take the first 3 characters from cell A2.
example: From “BANANA”, take “BAN”.
=RIGHT(A2, 4)
Simple: Take the last 4 characters from A2.
example: From “NOTEBOOK”, take “BOOK”.
=MID(A2, 2, 3)
Simple: From A2, start at character 2 and take 3 characters.
example: From “ORANGE”, start at “R” and take “RAN”.
=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A:A)
Simple: Join text values with commas; skip blanks.
example: Make one line like “Apple, Banana, Mango” from a list.
=TRIM(A2)
Simple: Remove extra spaces from text, keep single spaces only.
example: Clean “ Hello World ” to “Hello World”.
=TODAY()
Simple: Returns today’s date. Changes automatically every day.
example: Like a calendar that always shows today.
=EOMONTH(A2, 0)
Simple: From a date in A2, return the last day of the same month.
example: If A2 is 10-Jan, it gives 31-Jan.
=SORT(A:B, 1, TRUE)
Simple: Sort the table A:B by column 1 (A) in ascending order.
example: Arrange names A to Z using the first column.
=SUBSTITUTE(A2, "-", "")
Simple: Replace a part of text with something else (here: remove dashes).
example: Change “AB-123-XY” to “AB123XY”.
Tip: Use XLOOKUP instead of VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP — it’s better and safer.