Questions tagged [formulas]
Formulas used in spreadsheets edited by web applications like Excel Online, Google Sheets, among others.
2,028
questions
150
votes
9
answers
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Google Sheets formula for "if contains"
I'm trying to figure out how to identify IF a list of items in one cell containing a value or string.
EXAMPLE
Cell A1 contains sites, sheets, docs, slides.
I want cell B1 to display a 1 'if' cell A1 ...
- 2,857
58
votes
6
answers
132k
views
ISBLANK() function
Is there any way I can check whether a cell is empty?
There is a function ISBLANK() but it returns false when there's a formula in a cell even thought the formula doesn't return anything (or an empty ...
- 2,205
48
votes
9
answers
87k
views
Stop a '+' from generating a formula
I'm having a bit of a struggle. I'm creating a spreadsheet which uses plus signs (+) regularly. I want a semi-permanent fix for +'s turning into addition formulae.
- 585
45
votes
4
answers
87k
views
Add 3 hours to Date value (DD/MM/YYYY 00:00:00)
I have cells with dates in this format: DD/MM/YYYY 00:00:00 and I want to add 3 hours because I'm in a different GMT zone.
Is possible to use dates in a formula?
Something like: 30/12/2012 22:15:00 ...
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42
votes
6
answers
37k
views
Cumulative Sum without Script
For this question, I've created a Google Apps Script function, that calculates the cumulative sum of a range. Martin Hawksey on Google+ made a comment about a more efficient way of calculating the ...
- 22.8k
38
votes
3
answers
79k
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FILTER(condition OR condition) syntax?
I am using FILTER() to display a value from Sheet 2 where the Name columns match.
My problem is where I want:
=FILTER(Sheet2!A:F, Sheet2!A:A="Combat Medic" OR Sheet2!A:A="Universal")
as OR results ...
- 421
36
votes
9
answers
256k
views
How to Fill a Column with Sequential Dates in Google Sheets
In Excel, you can right-click drag a date downwards to fill a column with the next dates in the sequence. For example, if you enter 9/1/2014, select that cell, then right-click drag down over the ...
- 521
36
votes
5
answers
59k
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Short number format in Google Sheets; 1,024 → 1K, 1,816,724 → 1.8M
Any recipes out there for a "smart" number formatting formula for Google Sheets that's "scale-aware," a la Rails ActionView's distance_of_time_in_words method?
I would expect to enter a number like: ...
- 465
34
votes
5
answers
59k
views
Concatenating only filled cells
I currently have a spreadsheet to keep track of scores in a card game. There can be between two and five players. I have the following:
| Players |
|----------|
| Dave |
| Paul |
| John ...
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34
votes
12
answers
77k
views
Can I use column headers in a =QUERY?
Reading the documentation for the =QUERY function1, 2, 3, some of it seems to imply that I should be able to use column headers directly in my query. For example, the =QUERY function takes a third ...
- 17.1k
32
votes
4
answers
19k
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How do I convert a cell to RFC 3986 standard (URLEncoded) in Google Spreadsheets?
Is it possible to convert text from a certain cell to RFC 3986 (http://url-encoder.org/) in a Google Spreadsheet?
Lets say C4 has the value John Doe, then D4 must be John%20Doe.
- 481
29
votes
1
answer
101k
views
How do I combine a cell value with a string in a Google Spreadsheets formula?
I have the following IF condition in some cell:
=IF(A1>A2, "value is <C5>", "value is <D5>")
where <C5> and <D5> should be the values of cells C5 and D5.
I know it is a ...
- 393
28
votes
3
answers
71k
views
How do I output a string containing quotation marks?
I am not super computer literate. I am trying to use the equations to grade my Google quiz, the problem is that there is a quote in the answer. Is there a different symbol I need to use?
This is what ...
- 281
27
votes
5
answers
47k
views
How to get the intersection of two sets
I have two lists (unique sets) in a spreadsheet and I want to get the intersection of the two.
Is there an easy way to do this?
Here's an example of what I want to achieve:
List 1 List 2 ...
- 403
26
votes
2
answers
88k
views
IF OR Statements
How do you do an IF ... OR ... THEN statement in a Google spreadsheet? In PHP I would do this:
if($C7 == "U.S.A." || $C7 == "Canada"){ ...
How to do the same as a spreadsheet formula?
At the ...
- 746
24
votes
9
answers
65k
views
How to stop NOW function from auto-updating?
I'm using Google Spreadsheet's NOW() function as a shortcut to insert the current timestamp now.
However, the value in the cell changes whenever the spreadsheet is modified in any way, even when the ...
- 6,043
23
votes
3
answers
9k
views
Complete reference documentation for Google Spreadsheets formulae?
As a programmer, I find myself somewhat frustrated when trying to use Google Spreadsheets, because there seems to be no definitive description of the syntax that I can use for formulae. For instance, ...
- 527
20
votes
1
answer
75k
views
How to use ARRAYFORMULA with QUERY in Google Sheets
I have a query that needs to be run for every row in a list. It works nicely when written for a single row:
QUERY(MaraRankData,
"select J,I,H,G,F,E where
A='"&E3&"' and
B='"&...
- 355
17
votes
4
answers
65k
views
How to skip blank cells when copying a range from source to destination by Formula
I have three levels of hierarchical data in Google Spreadsheets that looks something like this:
As data is being entered in here, I want it collect in three separate sheets like this:
The ...
- 315
16
votes
4
answers
25k
views
How to add a note or comment into a formula in Google Sheets?
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel has this feature where one can add a note into a formula with the N() function. It looks like this:
Source: Add Comments to a Formula in Excel for Your Future ...
- 1,730
16
votes
6
answers
42k
views
Perform basic maths on contents of Google Document (not spreadsheet)
In Microsoft Word, it is possible to use very simple formula e.g. =SUM(ABOVE) to display the total of a column or =SUM(LEFT) etc. Is it possible to do something similar in Google Docs? Obviously this ...
- 263
15
votes
4
answers
45k
views
Is there a way to generate number of days in a month?
The title kind of says it all but just to give you the use case, I have a spreadsheet where I track monthly advertisement revenue and want to end up with a daily revenue column.
Here's a simplified ...
15
votes
1
answer
19k
views
Select subrange of an array-returning formula like GOOGLEFINANCE()
In Google Sheets, GOOGLEFINANCE returns an array of values, like so:
The formula is entered in A1 but the result extends into other rows and columns. I would like to "select" (not sure what the exact ...
- 549
15
votes
6
answers
30k
views
Change date format [YYYYMMDD] to [MM/DD/YYYY]
I generated a report that formats date as 20160509 and my Google Sheets locale is already set to United States. I've played around with various options within Format > Number > Date Format but I can't ...
- 253
15
votes
4
answers
27k
views
Compare two lists and display missing items in a Google Spreadsheet
I'm trying to find a solution to compare two separate lists (invited - attended) and create a 3rd list (absent).
The function must look at the key in "Attended List (D,E,F)" and compare it with the ...
- 2,857
15
votes
2
answers
19k
views
Sum of all cells in Google Spreadsheet where matching row fits a value
I want to return the sum of all cells in ColumnA only if the value of a cell on the same row is equal to a specific value.
For example, sum C4 if D4 = "Bob". Assuming there are six rows whereby "Bob"...
- 159
14
votes
3
answers
67k
views
How can I create a unique list of data across multiple rows AND columns?
Google Sheets has a UNIQUE() function which when given a column of values, will output a column of all unique values.
This works well for column-specific data, however, you have multiple columns and ...
- 297
14
votes
4
answers
43k
views
How to interpolate data in a range in Google Sheets
I have an array with data:
X Y
3 50
5 60
9 120
11 130
18 90
20 150
The data is entirely non-linear. X is guaranteed to be sorted.
Now for any given value,...
- 733
14
votes
2
answers
10k
views
Combine Custom Formula with Colour Scale in Conditional Formatting
In Conditional Formatting in Google Sheets, I'm wondering if it is possible to combine the Format Cells if - Custom Formula is with a Colour Scale?
It would appear not, but is there a clever ...
- 143
13
votes
2
answers
62k
views
Calculating shaded cells
I am using Google Spreadsheets to create a matrix (time/activity) as a daily schedule for staff to sign into.
Is there a formula to calculate the number of cells in a column that are shaded (or not ...
- 131
13
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Looking for an "isFormula" formula for Google Spreadsheets
Is there a function that will tell if a specific cell has a plain (manually entered) value or has a formula?
- 253
12
votes
6
answers
88k
views
Is there an option to add a time picker on Google Sheets?
I don't need timezones or anything complicated, just a string on the HH:MM format, that matches the custom format available. I don't need days, months or anything like that, just the time.
- 171
12
votes
4
answers
12k
views
Combine two columns into a list of all possible combinations of entries
I have two columns such as:
a 1
b 2
c
and I need to combine them like:
a 1
a 2
b 1
b 2
c 1
c 2
Is it possible with a formula?
- 155
12
votes
4
answers
19k
views
How to write AverageIf (Not an Empty String) in Google Sheets?
I have the answer to this question. However, it took me a few wasted hours of research and work to figure it out. I couldn't find an answer anywhere online, so I thought I'd write out a question and ...
- 357
12
votes
1
answer
14k
views
HAVING clause in Google Sheets QUERY
My Problem
I have built a count query that returns the most common elements from column H in the final sheet:
=QUERY(final!H2:H,"SELECT H, COUNT(H) GROUP BY H ORDER BY COUNT(H) DESC")
I would like ...
- 1,793
12
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Average of last 7 non-empty non-blank cells in Google Sheets
I have numbers in range D7:D and there are times when some cells are empty. I want the average of the last 7 numbers but to skip blanks. So if in the last 7 there's only 3 that are full, I want it to ...
12
votes
2
answers
12k
views
Retrieve a cell having a column and a row header in Google Spreadsheets
I have a spreadsheet in Google Docs like this:
Johan Mark Gil Pablo
Course 1 45 50 80 50
Course 2 250 300 50 270
Course 3 19 50 ...
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12
votes
5
answers
59k
views
Conditionally formatting a cell based on another cell's value in Google Spreadsheet
I did some searching on this and came across this post.
However, this solution uses an onEdit() trigger. I would like to see a solution that uses a formula approach, so in the OP's example from that ...
- 305
11
votes
4
answers
23k
views
Is there any way to use a formula in a Google Sheets filter view?
I have a sheet with a column of numbers. I'd like to create a filter view that only shows rows with a value greater than 500, but I can't find any way to do that. There are lots of different numbers, ...
- 212
11
votes
4
answers
56k
views
Return a blank when cell reference is blank
I am using the following formula in a Google Sheets to calculate the number of days between two dates (dates are in columns G and AL):
=ARRAYFORMULA(if(row(A:A)=1, "Readmission Days", (G:G)-(AL:AL)))
...
- 111
10
votes
2
answers
21k
views
Adding one column to a string to dynamically create a URL in the next column
I have a spreadsheet of product ID codes that I'd like to turn into links, and from everything I've read, the concat or concatenate functions in Google Sheets should work for that, but so far ...
- 248
10
votes
3
answers
19k
views
Which formula extracts the domain name from an email address ([email protected] -> example.com)?
Which Google Spreadsheets formula do I use to get the domain part from an email address?
Example: [email protected] → example.com
- 8,714
10
votes
5
answers
45k
views
Count the number of words in a string in Google Sheets
I have a simple Google spreadsheet with a number of text strings. I just want the number of words contained in each cell. Is there an in-built Google spreadsheet function I may use?
Nishant
10
votes
2
answers
32k
views
Ignore formula if cell is blank
I'm attempting to create a formula that essentially counts the days between today's date and the date entered in a cell. So far I believe it works. See below:
=DATEDIF(H3, Today(), "D")
My dates ...
- 101
10
votes
6
answers
30k
views
Split content of one row into multiple rows?
I have a table where each row contains data like this:
Team name | First member | Second member | Third member | Team description
Would it be possible to transform/break this data so that each row ...
- 1,864
10
votes
7
answers
29k
views
Function to find distance between cities
I'm working with Google Docs and want to create a spreadsheet of the following form:
Point A Point B Mileage
Los Angeles Miami 292100
Palo Alto San Francisco ...
- 209
9
votes
3
answers
24k
views
Are Excel formulas and Google Spreadsheet formulas the same?
I want to be sure all my Google Spreadsheet work can be converted OK to Excel. How many of the Excel formulas match the formulas of Google spreadsheets?
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9
votes
2
answers
23k
views
Comparing times on Google spreadsheet
I want to check if a set of fields indicate times of the day that are before 11am. The dates are stored in this format: 8:42:00 AM
I tried A1<"11:00:00 AM" but it always returns True, even if it ...
- 335
9
votes
1
answer
4k
views
How to refer to a cell in the same column at given row?
I would like to get a cell in a particular row above the current cell.
This is to be used in conditional formatting, so I can't specify a particular cell, e.g. A$4—the reference would be the same for ...
- 353