Subtract+w+excel

Subtract numbers

Let's say you want to find out how many inventory items are not profitable (total inventory minus profitable items) or how many employees are approaching retirement age (total employees minus employees under 55). There are several ways to subtract numbers.

What do you want to do?

Subtract numbers in a cell Subtract numbers in a range

Subtract numbers in a cell To do this task, use the - (minus sign) arithmetic operator.

For example, if you type the following formula in a cell:

=10-5 The cell displays the following result:

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Subtract numbers in a range To do this task, use the SUM function. Adding a negative number is the same as subtracting.

Note There is no SUBTRACT function in Excel. Use the SUM function and convert any numbers that you want to subtract to their negative values. For example, SUM(100,-32,15,-6) returns 77.

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. A 1 Data 2 15000 3 9000 4 -8000

Formula Description (Result) =A2-A3 Subtracts 9000 from 15000 (6000) =SUM Adds all numbers in the list, (A2:A4) including negative numbers (16000)