SUM function: Description, Usage, Syntax, Examples and Explanation

What is SUM function in Excel?

SUM function is one of Math and Trig functions in Microsoft Office Excel that adds all numbers in a range of cells and returns the result.

Syntax of SUM function

The syntax for the SUM function in Microsoft Excel is:

SUM( number1, [number2, ... number_n] )

OR

SUM ( cell1:cell2, [cell3:cell4], ... )

Note: You can sum combinations of both numbers and ranges of cells using the SUM function.

SUM formula explanation

number

A numeric value that you wish to sum.

cell

The range of cells that you wish to sum.

Returns

The SUM function returns a numeric value.

Example

Let’s look at some Excel SUM function examples and explore how to use the SUM function as a worksheet function in Microsoft Excel:

Based on the Excel spreadsheet above, the following SUM examples would return:

=SUM(A2, A3)
Result: 17.7

=SUM(A3, A5, 45)
Result: 57.6

=SUM(A2:A6)
Result: 231.2

=SUM(A2:A3, A5:A6)
Result: 31.2

=SUM(A2:A3, A5:A6, 500)
Result: 531.2