alculate the smallest or largest number in a range

Let's say you want to find out who has the the smallest error rate in a production run at a factory or the largest salary in your department. There are several ways to calculate the smallest or largest number in a range.

What do you want to do?

If the cells are in a contiguous row or column

If the cells are not in a contiguous row or column

Function details

If the cells are in a contiguous row or column

Select a cell below or to the right of the numbers for which you want to find the smallest number.

On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click the arrow next to AutoSum , click Min (calculates the smallest) or Max (calculates the largest), and then press ENTER.

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If the cells are not in a contiguous row or column

To do this task, use the MIN, MAX, SMALL, or LARGE functions.

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

How to copy an example

Create a blank workbook or worksheet.

Select the example in the Help topic.

NOTE   Do not select the row or column headers.

Selecting an example from Help

Press CTRL+C.

In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.

To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the Show Formulas button.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

A

Data

10

7

9

27

0

4

Formula

Description (Result)

=MIN(A2:A7)

Smallest number in the range (0)

=MAX(A2:A7)

Largest number in the range (27)

=SMALL(A2:A7, 2)

Second smallest number in the range (4)

=LARGE(A2:A7,3)

Third largest number in the range (9)

Function details

LARGE

MAX

MIN

SMALL

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Applies To: Excel 2007

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