Part II: Working with Formulas and Functions
204
The Formula Autocomplete feature (introduced in Excel 2007) makes entering formulas easier than
ever. Here’s a quick walk-through that demonstrates how it works. The goal is to create a formula that
uses the AGGREGATE function to calculate the average value in a range that I named TestScores. The
AVERAGE function will not work in this situation because the range contains an error value.
- Select the cell that will hold the formula, and type an equal sign (=) to signal the start of a
formula. - Type the letter A. You get a list of functions and names that begin with A (see the figure here).
This feature is not case sensitive, so you can use either uppercase or lowercase characters. - Scroll through the list, or type another letter to narrow down the choices.
- When AGGREGATE is highlighted, press Tab to select it. Excel adds the opening parenthesis
and displays another list that contains options for the first argument for AGGREGATE, as
shown in the figure here.
Using Formula Autocomplete