The simplest way to find an average in Excel

To find an average in Excel, click the cell where you want the result to appear, type =AVERAGE(, then select the cells you want to average, then type ) and press Enter. Excel will calculate the mean of all the numbers in those cells.

For example, if you have sales numbers in cells B2 through B10, click an empty cell below them, type =AVERAGE(B2:B10), and press Enter. The cell will show the average of those ten numbers. You do not need to select the cells by typing — you can click the first cell, hold Shift, and click the last cell to select the range instead.

This works the same way whether your numbers are whole numbers, decimals, or negative numbers. Excel ignores empty cells and text, so if one cell in your range contains a word instead of a number, Excel skips it and averages only the numbers.

Key Takeaways

  • The AVERAGE function is the fastest way to find a mean, and you type it directly into any empty cell.
  • You can select cells by typing the range (like B2:B10) or by clicking and dragging, and both methods work identically.
  • Excel automatically ignores empty cells and text when calculating an average, so you do not need to clean up your data first.
  • If you need to average only cells that meet a condition — like sales over $500 — use AVERAGEIF instead of AVERAGE.
  • The result updates automatically if you change any of the numbers in the cells you averaged.

Selecting the cells you want to average

You have two ways to tell Excel which cells to average. The first is to type the range directly: click the cell where you want the result, type =AVERAGE(B2:B10), and press Enter. The colon between B2 and B10 means "all cells from B2 to B10".

The second way is to let Excel select the cells for you. Type =AVERAGE(, then click the first cell you want to include. Hold Shift and click the last cell. Excel will highlight all the cells between them in blue. Then type ) and press Enter. This method is slower to describe but faster to do if you are not sure exactly which cells you need.

You can also select cells that are not next to each other. Type =AVERAGE(, click the first cell or range, then hold Ctrl (or Cmd on a Mac) and click additional cells or ranges. For example, you could average B2:B5 and D2:D5 together by typing =AVERAGE(B2:B5,D2:D5). The comma tells Excel to include both ranges.

When to use AVERAGEIF to set conditions

Sometimes you do not want to average all the numbers in a range — you want to average only the ones that meet a condition. For example, you might have a list of sales amounts and want to know the average sale that was over $500. The AVERAGE function cannot do this, but AVERAGEIF can.

Type =AVERAGEIF(, then select the range that contains the condition (the numbers you are checking), then type a comma and the condition in quotes, then a comma and the range to average. For example, =AVERAGEIF(B2:B10,">500",B2:B10) will average only the numbers in B2:B10 that are greater than 500. The condition goes in quotes: ">500" for greater than 500, "<100" for less than 100, or "=apple" to match text exactly.

If the condition is in one column and the numbers to average are in a different column, list them separately. For example, =AVERAGEIF(A2:A10,"apple",B2:B10) will average the numbers in column B only for rows where column A says "apple".

Understanding what Excel counts as a number

Excel treats numbers and text differently when you use AVERAGE. A cell containing 5 is a number. A cell containing "5" (with quotes, though you will not see the quotes on screen) is text that looks like a number. Excel will average the first but not the second.

In practice, this almost never matters. If you typed the number yourself or it came from another program, Excel treats it as a number. The only time you run into this is if you imported data from another source and some cells look like numbers but are actually stored as text. If AVERAGE gives you a result that seems wrong, check whether any cells in your range are left-aligned (text) instead of right-aligned (numbers). If they are, you may need to convert them.

Empty cells and cells containing text are always ignored by AVERAGE. If a cell is blank, Excel skips it. If a cell contains a word, Excel skips it. This is why you do not need to clean up your data before averaging — Excel handles it automatically.

Copying an average formula to other cells

Once you have written an AVERAGE formula in one cell, you can copy it to other cells and Excel will adjust the cell references automatically. For example, if you type =AVERAGE(B2:B10) in cell C2, then copy that cell and paste it into C3, Excel changes the formula to =AVERAGE(B3:B11) — it shifts the range down by one row.

To copy a formula, click the cell containing it, press Ctrl+C (or Cmd+C on a Mac), then click the cell where you want to paste it and press Ctrl+V (or Cmd+V). If you want to copy the formula to multiple cells at once, select the first cell, copy it, then select the range where you want to paste and paste once. Excel will fill all the selected cells with the formula, adjusting the references for each row or column.

If you do not want Excel to adjust the references — if you always want to average the exact same cells — put a dollar sign before the column letter and row number: =AVERAGE($B$2:$B$10). Now if you copy this formula anywhere, it will always average B2:B10, never adjusting the range.

Seeing the result as you type

While you are typing an AVERAGE formula, Excel shows you a preview of what cells you are about to average. As soon as you type =AVERAGE( and start selecting cells, Excel highlights them in blue and shows the range in the formula bar at the top of the screen. This preview helps you catch mistakes before you press Enter.

If you select the wrong cells, you can click different cells while the formula is still open (before you press Enter) and Excel will update the selection. This is much faster than typing the range by hand and then having to retype it if you made a mistake.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between AVERAGE and AVERAGEIF?

AVERAGE finds the mean of all numbers in a range. AVERAGEIF finds the mean of only the numbers that meet a condition you set. Use AVERAGE when you want the average of everything, and AVERAGEIF when you want to exclude some rows based on a rule.

Why does my AVERAGE formula show an error?

The most common cause is a typo in the formula — check that you have an opening parenthesis after AVERAGE and a closing parenthesis at the end. The second most common cause is selecting cells that contain only text or are all empty. If that is the case, Excel shows #DIV/0!, which means it has nothing to average.

Can I average cells from two different sheets?

Yes. Type =AVERAGE(Sheet1!B2:B10,Sheet2!B2:B10), replacing Sheet1 and Sheet2 with your actual sheet names. The exclamation point tells Excel to look in a different sheet. You can also click cells from different sheets while the formula is open instead of typing the sheet names.

Does AVERAGE include zero, or does it skip it like empty cells?

AVERAGE includes zero as a number. A cell containing 0 is counted in the average. Only truly empty cells (cells with nothing in them) are skipped. This matters if you have a column where some rows legitimately contain zero.

What if I want to round the average to a whole number?

Wrap the AVERAGE function inside ROUND: =ROUND(AVERAGE(B2:B10),0). The 0 means round to zero decimal places. Use 1 to round to one decimal place, 2 for two decimal places, and so on.