Now, the AVERAGE function has one funny quirk. It can be easily tricked by an extreme number. If you’re averaging five ice cream shop sales and one shop sold a banana split worth $1,000, the average will look huge and misleading.
For situations like that, you might want a different tool called “MEDIAN.” It’s the average’s more stubborn cousin. But for everyday “How much did I spend on coffee this month?” the plain old AVERAGE is your best buddy.
Don’t overthink it. For 90% of life’s questions, the standard average tells you exactly what you need to know. It’s the default setting for “What’s normal here?”
How to actually use it (no stress)
Just click an empty cell. Type =AVERAGE(. Then drag your mouse over the numbers you want to include. Close with a parenthesis and hit Enter. That’s it. Seriously.
You can even do fancy stuff like =AVERAGE(A1:A10, B1:B10) to average two different columns at once. It’s like ordering a combo meal—why get just a burger when you can have fries and a drink too?
Averageif In Excel Formula : Excel AVERAGEIF function to average cells
And here’s the mind-blowing part: you can wrap it inside other functions. Want the average of only the sales over $50? You can do that with a little help from “AVERAGEIF.” But that’s a story for another day.
