Lamisa Musharrat
Are you having difficulties while trying to sum random cells in Excel? Summing is one of the most used and well-known tasks to do in Excel. If you want to learn how to sum random cells, then here are the 4 simplest methods for you.
📁 Download Excel File
Download this Excel file we used to create this article, and you can practice it yourself.
Learn to Sum Random Cells in Excel with 5 Simple Approaches
The 4 useful methods to Sum Random Cells in Excel are explained here.
1. Using SUM Function
The built-in SUM is a very common and one of the most used functions. But have you ever thought that you can use it to sum random cells in Excel? Here the procedure is explained and illustrated for you.
Here we have the dataset of a list of students and their exam marks in different subjects. We want to calculate the SUM of the marks of some random students.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- First, select a cell where you want to see your summation of the data. In this, it is cell G4 that was selected to show the SUM.
- Then, type the SUM function beginning with the Equal (=) sign.
- After that, select the random cells that you want to sum. Or, you can simply write those cell names by using a comma in between For this case, I evaluated the SUM of cell D6, cell D9, cell D12, cell D13, and cell D15.
The formula in the selected cell.
=SUM(D6,D9,D12,D13,D15)
- Finally, press the Enter key and you can see the total or summation of your data.
📕 Read More: 7 Easy Ways to Sum Colored Cells in Excel Without VBA
2. Applying AUTOSUM to Sum Random Cells in Excel
The SUM operation can also be done automatically using the AUTOSUM feature of Excel. If you use this sum, you don’t have to do much as Excel handles it well. All you have to do is, just click on the AUTOSUM symbol and the formula will be inserted for you. Follow the steps below to make it easier.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- Select the cell you want to display the SUM of your dataset. For my dataset, I’ve chosen cell G4.
- Now, click on the AUTOSUM symbol as shown below, you can find it in the Home tab, under the Editing option.
- The function “=SUM()” will appear automatically.
- Finally, use the Ctrl button and hold it to select the desired numbers which you want to sum. Here, in this case, I’ve evaluated the SUM of cells D8, D11, and D14.
The formula used in the selected cell
=SUM(D8,D11,D14)
- Now, press Enter to get the answer.
📕 Read More: 3 Quick Approaches to Sum Top N Values in Excel
3. Utilising SUMIF Function
This process may be a bit more complex than the others mentioned above, but it’s worth trying, especially when you have a fixed criterion.
Criteria means, maybe you are trying to find a sum of specific data that is repeated several times all over the dataset. It’s really tedious to select those data individually and then execute the SUM function. Instead of this, you can specify the criteria and can get the SUM by just using the SUMIF function. Follow the steps below.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- First, select two cells, one for criteria other for displaying the SUM. Here, I want to get the SUM of Joffery’s marks, so in my criteria, I’ve put Joffery in cell G4 and cell G5 to display the sum.
- Then write a function inside the cell that you’ve selected to do the SUM. Don’t forget to start with an equal “=” sign.
- Type the function SUMIF, or select it from the drop-down menu bar.
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- Select the range (you have to select the entire column or the data you want to look for your criteria). Here, in this case, I have taken the range from C5 to C16, an entire column of Student Name, by using the array C5:C16. (If I had taken the range until cell 14 then the last data for Joffery would have not been counted).
The formula used in the selected cell
=SUMIF(C5:C16,G4,D5:D16)
- Then, select the criteria. Here, it is at cell G4.
- After that, select the sum_range. In my data, it is the Marks Column.
- Finally, press the Enter button.
📕 Read More: 4 Easy Ways to Add a Range of Cells in Excel
4. Sum Random Cells Using Simple Arithmetic Calculation
Maybe this is the simplest among all the methods used in this article. You don’t have to do much to sum random cells in Excel. Just use the addition (+) symbol, and perform a simple arithmetic calculation. Follow the steps below-
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- Select a cell where you want to see the value of your summation. We used cell G4, to show the result.
- After that, enter the equal (=) sign, and select some random cells you want to add by using the addition (+) sign. In this case, we’ve summed up the cells D7, D11, D5, and D9.
- So, we typed
=D7+D11+D5+D9
- Finally, just press Enter key, to see the result of the addition.
5. Using SUBTOTAL Function
Here you will be using another built-in function of Excel, the SUBTOTAL function.
Let’s discuss the steps below-
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- First, select any cell where you want to display your summation. I’ve chosen cell G4.
- Start to write the function by inserting an equal (=) sign, and type SUBTOTAL, or select it from the drop-down menu.
- There you will be seeing a function number, which is 9 for SUM. Select or type this.
- Put a comma after the function number, and select random cells that you want to add together, but don’t forget to put a comma between every cell number. For example, here I have selected cells D5, D8, and D15 to add together.
- The function used in the selected cell.
=SUBTOTAL(C5:C16,G4,D5:D16)
- Press Enter, to get the final value.
📕 Read More: 5 Ways to SUM Last 5 Values in Row in Excel
📝 Takeaways from This Article
From this article
📌 We have learned how to sum random cells in Excel.
📌 You will have an insight into different functions of Excel such as the SUM, AUTOSUM, SUMIF, and SUBTOTAL functions.
📌 You will be able to practice these by yourself just by downloading the Excel file attached.
Conclusion
Though performing addition or summing data in excel may seem like one of the easiest tasks, it can give you a tough time in case you are handling huge amounts of data. Hopefully, this article covered each and every possible method to make your task easier. Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions or questions. Don’t forget to visit our Excelden page to enhance your Excel-related knowledge.
