Finding an average of a group of cells in Excel is done using the AVERAGE() function. It looks like this:
=AVERAGE(A1,A2)
Here are some examples of how it can be used:
| A | B | C | |
| 1 | 1 | ||
| 2 | 2 | formula: | results: |
| 3 | 4 | =AVERAGE(A1,A2) | 1.5 |
| 4 | 8 | =AVERAGE(A2:A4) | 4 |
| 5 | =AVERAGE(A:A) | 3.75 |
Select Individual Cells
Formula B3 is used to calculate the average value between several individually selected cells. In B3 you can continue passing arguments separated by commas to do an average on more cells. E.g.: =AVERAGE(A1,A2,A4) = 3.67.
Select a Range of Cells
Formula B4 shows how to calculate an average on a group of cells. Additional arguments are also permitted here, separated by a comma, to do more complex averages. E.g.: =AVERAGE(A1:A2,C4:C5) = 2.69.
Select an Entire Column
When dealing with a spreadsheet that has been laid out according to proper database rules with one type of data per column it could be desirable to average the entire column. The formula in B5 is an example of how to do this. E.g. =AVERAGE(A:A) = 3.75. Selecting a column in a formula is done by clicking on the column header (A) when entering the formula.
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