Have you looked at our other Excel guides that we have recommended below? For more formulas we advise looking at formulas and functions on the Office Support site.

If you want to minus the cells A1 and A5 for example, enter the formula A1-A5, then press enter on your keyboard. Use the SUM function to add negative numbers in a range. Simply enter a formula in a cell using the sign (-) and then press enter.Īdding a negative number is identical to subtracting one number from another. LEN (A1) 0 (so youd think the cell is empty. The basic formula for subtracting two values in Excel is: value1-value2. A1 formula: IF (10>0,'','X') 10 is > 0 so the formula returns blank ''. It can do quite complex mathematical equations and formulas and offer visual mathematical data including graphs and pie charts. After converting formula blanks to values there is some kind of leftover 'junk' in the cell even though you cant see it or calculate it. If you used the example numbers, the result is -2.Excel is a Microsoft spreadsheet application that can help with budgeting and accounts. If you don't see the status bar, on the View menu, click Status Bar.

On the status bar, look at the value next to Sum=. If you see a date instead of the result that you expected, select the cell, and then on the Home tab, under Number, click General on the pop-up menu. If you used the example numbers, the result is 2. In cell E1, type an equal sign ( =) to start the formula. Instead of directly typing numbers in the formula, you can ask the formula to look at a particular cell for a number. For most calculations in Excel, however, you’ll end up using cell references rather than actual numbers. When you use cell references in a formula instead of the cell value, you can change the value without having to change the formula. 75-25 Press Enter and Excel will instantly display the answer in the cell. If you use the example numbers, the result is 32.Ī cell reference combines the column letter and row number, such as A1 or F345. The total is 86.Ĭlick any blank cell, and then type an equal sign ( =) to start a formula.Īfter the equal sign, type a few numbers that are separated by a minus sign (-).

On the status bar, look at the value next to Sum. or using cell references containing the values to be subtracted. Type a few numbers in a column, or in a row, and then select the range of cells that you just filled. If you see a date instead of the result that you expected, select the cell, and then on the Home tab, select General. If you change the value of C1 or D1 and then press RETURN, the value of E1 will change, even though the formula did not.

Formula to subtract cells in excel