Best Excel Functions Everyone Should Know

Excel becomes much more useful once you know the right functions. Microsoft’s official Excel functions reference highlights a set of core functions it considers especially useful, including SUM, IF, SUMIFS, XLOOKUP, COUNTIFS, COUNT, LET, FILTER, UNIQUE, and TEXTBEFORE. Microsoft describes these as featured functions that can improve your spreadsheet experience.

For most users, the best Excel functions are not the most advanced ones. They are the ones that help with everyday work like adding totals, checking conditions, finding matching data, filtering lists, and counting results. If you learn a small group of these well, Excel becomes much easier to use for school, work, and personal projects.

The Most Useful Excel Functions to Learn First

These are the ones most people should know before moving to more advanced formulas.

SUM

Microsoft says SUM is used to add the values in cells. This is one of the most basic and most-used Excel functions, especially for budgets, totals, reports, and simple calculations.

Example:
=SUM(B2:B10)

This adds all the values from cell B2 to B10.

IF

Microsoft says IF returns one value if a condition is true and another value if it is false. This makes it one of the most useful logic functions in Excel.

Example:
=IF(C2>=60,"Pass","Fail")

This checks whether the value in C2 is at least 60 and returns either Pass or Fail.

XLOOKUP

Microsoft says XLOOKUP searches a range or array and returns an item that matches the first result it finds. If a match does not exist, it can also return the closest approximate match.

Example:
=XLOOKUP(E2,A2:A20,B2:B20)

This looks for the value in E2 inside A2:A20 and returns the matching result from B2:B20.

For many users, XLOOKUP is one of the most useful modern Excel functions because it simplifies lookup tasks.

Best Excel Functions for Counting and Conditions

These are great for tracking data, reports, and lists.

COUNT

Microsoft says COUNT is used to count how many numbers are in a list of arguments. It also notes that COUNTA is used when you want to count how many values are present more generally.

Example:
=COUNT(A2:A20)

This counts how many numeric values are in the range.

COUNTIFS

Microsoft says COUNTIFS counts the number of cells within a range that meet multiple criteria.

Example:
=COUNTIFS(B2:B20,"Yes",C2:C20,">=70")

This counts rows where column B equals Yes and column C is at least 70.

SUMIFS

Microsoft says SUMIFS adds cells in a range that meet multiple criteria. This makes it one of the most useful functions for reports and filtered totals.

Example:
=SUMIFS(D2:D20,B2:B20,"North",C2:C20,"Approved")

This sums values in column D only where the row matches both conditions.

Best Modern Excel Functions

These functions are especially useful in newer Excel versions.

FILTER

Microsoft says FILTER is used to filter a range of data based on criteria you define. It can return matching results dynamically without needing manual filter steps.

Example:
=FILTER(A2:C20,B2:B20="Yes")

This returns only the rows where column B equals Yes.

UNIQUE

Microsoft says UNIQUE returns a list of unique values from a list or range. This is very useful when you want to remove duplicates without editing the original data.

Example:
=UNIQUE(A2:A20)

This returns one instance of each unique value from the range.

LET

Microsoft says LET assigns names to calculation results. This can make long formulas easier to read and manage.

This is more advanced than SUM or IF, but very useful once formulas become more complex.

Best Excel Text Functions to Know

Text functions are helpful when you work with names, codes, labels, or imported data.

TEXTBEFORE

Microsoft says TEXTBEFORE returns the text that occurs before a given character or string. It also notes that TEXTAFTER can return the text after that point.

Example:
=TEXTBEFORE(A2,"-")

This returns the part of the text before the dash.

These text functions are especially useful when cleaning imported data or splitting labels.

Which Excel Functions Matter Most for Beginners?

If you are just starting, the best functions to learn first are:

SUM
IF
COUNT
COUNTIFS
SUMIFS
XLOOKUP
FILTER
UNIQUE

These cover the most common spreadsheet needs:

totals
logic
counting
conditions
lookups
filtering
removing duplicates

Microsoft’s featured-functions list supports this as a very practical starting point.

Why These Excel Functions Matter

These functions matter because they solve real spreadsheet problems without making formulas unnecessarily complicated. Instead of doing everything manually, you can let Excel calculate totals, test conditions, return matching data, and clean lists automatically. Microsoft’s official descriptions show that these functions are aimed exactly at those kinds of common tasks.

For most users, learning a few strong functions is more useful than memorizing dozens of rare ones.

FAQ

What are the best Excel functions for beginners?

Some of the best Excel functions for beginners are SUM, IF, COUNT, COUNTIFS, SUMIFS, and XLOOKUP. Microsoft includes these in its featured-function list.

What is the most useful function in Excel?

There is no single answer for everyone, but SUM is one of the most widely used because Microsoft describes it as the function for adding values in cells.

Is XLOOKUP better than older lookup methods?

Microsoft says XLOOKUP searches a range or array and returns the matching item, and it can also return an approximate match if needed. It is widely considered one of Excel’s most useful modern lookup functions.