Sometimes you only want to glance at a number: the total of a column, the average of a few rows, the largest value. Typing =SUM, =AVERAGE and =MAX into empty cells and then deleting them later works, but it leaves stray formulas behind when you forget to clean up.
TL;DR: Select the numbers and look at the bottom-right corner of the window.
Steps
- Drag to select the cells with numbers.
- The status bar at the bottom right shows Average, Count and Sum for the selection straight away.
- To add more, click the small arrow at the end of the status bar and turn on Minimum and Maximum. They appear alongside the others.
In our test in the free Excel for the web, a seven-cell selection showed Average 178.57, Count 7, Sum 1250, Minimum 80 and Maximum 340.
In desktop Excel, right-click the status bar to choose which of these to show.
Why it's handy
Nothing gets written into the sheet. You get the answer, the table stays clean, and there's no leftover formula for someone else to wonder about.
It also updates as you change the selection, so you can compare a few ranges quickly by reselecting.
Things to know
Count counts non-empty cells, including text. If your selection includes a header, Count will be one higher than the number of values. Desktop Excel has a separate Numerical Count option if you only want numbers.
The status bar is for looking, not for keeping. When the number has to live in the sheet or go into a report, that's when a formula makes sense.
The script equivalent
When the data is already in pandas, the closest equivalent is a quick summary:
df["Amount"].agg(["mean", "count", "sum", "min", "max"])
It answers the same "what's in this column?" question. For a number you need once while looking at a sheet, the status bar is quicker than opening a notebook.
This article was drafted with AI assistance. The figures come from a test in Excel for the web.
Top comments (0)