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EXCEL DATA ANALYSIS

SUM CELLS WITH THE AUTOSUM BUTTON

ou can apply the AutoSum button on the Standard In the worksheet, Excel draws a blue colored border around
toolbar to quickly sum adjoining cells in a worksheet. the cells that it will sum together. You can change the range
Y The AutoSum button helps an analyst automatically to include more or less cells. If you modify the selected range
create a SUM function in the active cell. The range of cells of cells, an adjoining cell to the formula cell must remain part
in the formula always includes a cell that is adjoining the of the selected range. For example, if the formula is in cell
active cell. D11, the range of cells must include either cell D10 or C11
because both of these cells adjoin D11. You can also modify
When you activate the AutoSum button, Excel examines the the range of cells by manually typing a new range in the
cells' values and determines whether to sum the cells formula. See Chapter 1 for more on selecting a range of cells.
located to the left of the active cell or those above the active
cell. For example, if cells D1 through D10 contain a list of After you specify the range of cells to sum, you can accept
numbers and the active cell is D11, when you select the or reject your entries using the Enter or Cancel buttons on
AutoSum button, Excel creates a formula to sum the values the Formula bar. The result of the formula appears in the
in cells D1 through D10, and places the formula in D11. selected cell, and Excel moves to the next cell. If you are not
familiar with building formulas in Excel, see Appendix D.

SUM CELLS WITH THE AUTOSUM BUTTON

CREATE THE FORMULA ¤ Click the AutoSum button. ■ Excel outlines the range of ‹ Press Enter or click the
cells to sum. Enter button to accept your
⁄ Click the cell where you entries.
want to place the sum. ■ The formula contains the
range of cells to sum. ■ You can click the Cancel
button to clear the Formula
bar.
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