“Spreadsheet Sorcery: The Top 10 Google Sheets Formulas You Need to Know (Explained with Puns and Pizzazz)”

Shamanth B C
2 min readApr 9, 2023

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Do you want to impress your awe someone with your spreadsheet skills? Do you want to make your friends go “ooh” at your data-crunching prowess? Then you need to know these top 10 formulas in Google Sheets. And don’t worry, we’ll explain them in a way that’s funny, simple, and easy to understand. Let’s get started!

  1. SUM: This formula is like a magical calculator. Just type “=SUM(A1:A5)” (without the quotes) and Sheets will add up all the numbers in cells A1 through A5. It’s like having a tiny accountant living in your computer!
  2. AVERAGE: Want to know the average of a bunch of numbers? Just type “=AVERAGE(A1:A5)” (you know the drill) and Sheets will do the math for you. You don’t even need a calculator!
  3. MAX and MIN: These formulas will tell you the highest and lowest numbers in a range of cells. Just type “=MAX(A1:A5)” or “=MIN(A1:A5)” and Sheets will give you the answer. It’s like having a virtual high and low bar for your data.
  4. COUNT: This formula is like a digital headcount. Just type “=COUNT(A1:A5)” and Sheets will tell you how many cells in that range have data in them. It’s like a spreadsheet census!
  5. CONCATENATE: This is a fancy word for “stick things together.” If you want to combine two or more cells into one, just type “=CONCATENATE(A1,B1)” (where A1 and B1 are the cells you want to combine) and Sheets will mush them together like Play-Doh.
  6. IF: This formula is like a digital Magic 8-Ball. If a certain condition is met, Sheets will do one thing. If not, it will do something else. For example, if you want to know if a student passed or failed a test based on their score, you can type “=IF(A1>=70,”Pass”,”Fail”)” and Sheets will give you the answer.
  7. VLOOKUP: This formula is like a digital scavenger hunt. If you want to find a specific piece of information in a table, just type “=VLOOKUP(A1,A2:B5,2,FALSE)” (where A1 is the thing you’re looking for, and A2:B5 is the table where it might be hiding) and Sheets will find it for you. It’s like a game of Where’s Waldo for data!
  8. DATE: This formula is like a digital calendar. If you want to know what day it is, just type “=DATE(YEAR(TODAY()),MONTH(TODAY()),DAY(TODAY()))” and Sheets will tell you. You don’t even need a physical calendar!
  9. NOW: This formula is like a digital stopwatch. If you want to know what time it is right now, just type “=NOW()” and Sheets will tell you down to the second. It’s like having a timekeeper living in your computer!
  10. RAND: This formula is like a digital roll of the dice. If you want a random number between 0 and 1, just type “=RAND()” and Sheets will give you a number. It’s like playing craps with your data!

Congratulations! You now know the top 10 formulas in Google Sheets. Wasn’t that fun and easy? Now go forth and practice.

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