How to use XLOOKUP in Excel?

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In this article, learn all about the XLOOKUP Excel function, it’s syntax, parameters and how to use it with real-world xlookup examples.

Xlookup example with syntax

=XLOOKUP(lookup_vaule, lookup_array, return_array)

What is XLOOKUP?

Using XLOOKUP, we can search for an item in a list using the lookup value and return a matching item. For example, you can lookup for salesperson “Jackie” and return their sales amount from the data below using the XLOOKUP function, as depicted above.

It is the newest member of Excel’s lookup function family. You may already know the other members of this group – VLOOKUP, LOOKUP, HLOOKUP, INDEX+MATCH.

How to use XLOOKUP – step by step instructions

Let’s say you have data for salespeople like above and you want to find the Net Sales for “Jackie”. Follow below steps to create the XLOOKUP function in Excel.

  1. Write =XLOOKUP( in a cell
  2. For the lookup_value, Type the name of the salesperson in double quotes (ex: “Jackie”)
  3. Tip: If you have the name of the person in a cell (like G4), you can point to the cell instead of typing the name
  4. Now for the lookup_array, select the names column of your data.
  5. and for the return_array, select the net sales column of your data.
  6. Close the brackets and hit enter.
  7. Congratulations, you’ve just created your first XLOOKUP formula in Excel.

Here is how the formula and result look in my data:

Demo - How to create XLOOKUP formula in Excel - step by step instructions.

What if the lookup value is not in the lookup array?

Using the if_not_found option with XLOOKUP to fix errors

One of the most common scenarios of lookups in Excel is not finding the value you are looking for. Imagine, you are looking for the salesperson “Chandoo”, but he doesn’t exist in the dataset. In this case, XLOOKUP will return #N/A error.

But we can use the 4th parameter of XLOOKUP – if_not_found to set an optional value to display when there is an error.

Here is an example formula with that:

How to lookup in the middle with XLOOKUP (INDEX MATCH replacement)?

We can use any column or range as lookup array with XLOOKUP. This means, we no longer need to use INDEX +MATCH formulas to do lookups!

Let’s say you want to lookup the sales amount of $726 and return the name of the person (in this case, Jessy). Previously, you needed to use the INDEX+MATCH combination for this. But XLOOKUP let’s us specify any range or column for lookup_array portion. so, no more INDEX+MATCH… Yay!

No more need for index match formulas - thanks to XLOOKUP

To perform the “net sales” lookup and return the name of the person, we can use the below formula:

The above XLOOKUP example assumes that G4 contains the net sales value you want to lookup.

How to lookup higher than / lower than using XLOOKUP? (approximate match)

xlookup with approximate match example

Say, you want to find out the closest person with the net sales of $1300. In this case, we don’t have anyone with that value in the data. You can still use XLOOKUP to get the approximate matching value, either next higher or lower in the data.

For this we can use the 5th parameter of the XLOOKUP function – match mode.

There are 4 match modes in XLOOKUP.

  • 0 or Exact match. This is the default value for XLOOKUP.
  • 1 or next larger match. This looks up for the exact or next highest value in the lookup array.
  • -1 or next smaller match. This looks up for the exact or next lowest value in the lookup array.
  • 2 or wildcard match. This looks up based on a pattern you have mentioned in the lookup value. More on this further down in the article.

To get the next highest matching value:

The above formula returns “Jonathan” in the sample data, as he has the next highest amount – $1316.

To get the next lowest matching value:

This formula returns “John” as he has the next lower value – $1088.

Getting Partial Matches with XLOOKUP (Wildcard / Pattern Matching)

XLOOKUP also allows for a powerful and elegant pattern matching in your data. Let’s say you want to find the net sales for the person whose name begins with the letters Jam. In this case, we can use the match mode 2 (wild card) along with the wildcard operators * (asterisk) and ? (question mark) to create our XLOOKUP.

To find the net sales of the person whose name begins with Jam,

  1. Use the formula =XLOOKUP(H4&”*”,B4:B21,D4:D21,”No such person”,2)
  2. Here H4 contains the first few letters of the name, i.e. Jam
  3. The lookup value is H4 & “*”. This tells XLOOKUP that we want the name to begin with the value of H4 (Jam) and then there can be any number of characters.
  4. Rest of the XLOOKUP parameters are as per usual.
  5. Don’t forget the match mode operator as 2. We need this for Wild card – pattern matching.

Refer to above illustration for more on the pattern matching xlookup.

Additional Pattern Matching Tricks with XLOOKUP

Refer to below handy table for some extra tips on using the partial matching feature of XLOOKUP.

SituationFormulaExplanationSample Result
Name ends with ved=XLOOKUP(“*ved”, B4:B21,D4:D21,”No such person”,2)To find a word ending with, we use * (asterisk) at the beginning of the patternJaved, $2277
Name contains ack=XLOOKUP(“*ack*”, B4:B21,D4:D21,”No such person”,2)We can use two * symbols – one at the beginning of the pattern and one at the end. Jackie, $1610
Name has 5 letters and begins with Je=XLOOKUP(“Je???”,B4:B21,D4:D21,,2)In this case, we can use the ? (question mark) symbol to indicate that we can have any one character. So the pattern is Je???Jessy, $726
Name begins with J and ends with d=XLOOKUP(“J*d”, B4:B21, D4:D21,”No such person”, 2)J*d means the lookup value begins with J, contains any number of letters and ends with dJaved, $2277

What if there are two matching values?

xlookup finds the first matching item if there are more than one in your data.

If you have more than one matching item for the lookup value in your data, XLOOKUP, just like all other lookup functions in Excel, will always return the first matching item’s corresponding value.

As you can see in the above illustration, we have two sales persons with the name Johnson in our data.

When using =XLOOKUP(“Johnson”, B4:B21, D4:D21) we are going to get the net sales of the first Johnson ie $1540.

But what if I need to get the second or third or all the matching values?

In this case, you can use the new FILTER() function in Excel to get the second or all matching items.

Here is the formula.

For more information on FILTER function, refer to this article.

Horizontal Lookup with XLOOKUP (HLOOKUP replacement):

XLOOKUP can be used with horizontal data too, thus replacing hlookup formula.

XLOOKUP works just as good with horizontal data too, thus replacing any need for HLOOKUP function.

In the above example, I have monthly budget table and I want to lookup the budget value for April 2024.

We can use this XLOOKUP formula to do just that.

Returning entire row of information with XLOOKUP:

Another powerful feature of XLOOKUP is that it can return multiple values all corresponding to the same lookup value. For example, I want to see the budget, actual and balance information for the month of April 2024, from my budget spreadsheet below. We can use XLOOKUP for that easily.

In the above formula, by using multiple rows (C4:N6) as the return array, we can return all corresponding values for the lookup value in C10 – ie April 2024. Excel will automatically spill these values into separate cells on the worksheet.

xlookup formula can return all the values for the month of April 2024 - and spill them on the screen thru dynamic array behavior of Excel

XLOOKUP – things to keep in mind:

When using XLOOKUP, you must keep these points in mind:

  • XLOOKUP needs Excel 365 or Excel on the web or Excel 2021: This function is not available in all the versions of Excel. So check your version of Excel before you start using xlookup. If you notice #NAME errors when working with XLOOKUP, that means your version of Excel does not support this function. Instead, use INDEX+MATCH formula.
  • Use the If not found option to fix errors: To avoid any lookup errors (#N/As), use the fourth argument of the XLOOKUP function – if_not_found.
  • Lock cell references when creating lookups: If you are writing multiple XLOOKUPs in a range, don’t forget to lock your cell references to absolute mode (change B4:B21 to $B$4:$B$21) so that when you drag or fill the formula down, your lookup and return array ranges don’t change. This is a common mistake and you will end up with wrong results. (absolute vs. relative references)
  • Or better yet, convert your lookup data to a table: A simple fix to the relative reference issue is to use tables on your data. This way, you can write simple XLOOKUP formulas like this: =XLOOKUP(“Jackie”,sales[Sales Person],sales[Net Sales])
  • In case of multiple matches, XLOOKUP always returns the first (or last matching item, if you used search mode option) value. This is why it is important to also learn how to use the FILTER function in Excel.

How is XLOOKUP better?

  • XLOOKUP makes the most used formula in Excel straight forward and less error prone. You just write =XLOOKUP(what you want to find, the list, the result list) and boom, you get the answer (or #N/A error if the value is not found)
  • Looks up exact match by default: One of the annoyances of VLOOKUP is that you must mention FALSE as last parameter to get correct result. XLOOKUP fixes that by doing exact matches by default. You can use match mode parameter to change the lookup behavior if you want.
  • 4th parameter to support value not found scenario In most business situations, we are forced to wrap our lookup formulas with IFERROR or IFNA formulas to suppress errors. XLOOKUP offers 4th parameter (read more about it below) so you can tell what default output you want if your value is not found.
  • XLOOKUP offers optional parameters to search for special situations. You can search from top or bottom, you can do wildcard searches and faster options to search sorted lists.
  • It returns reference as output, not the value. While this may not mean much for normal users, pro Excel user’s eyes light up when they discover a formula that can return refs. That means, you can combine XLOOKUP outputs in innovative ways with other formulas. For example: XLOOKUP to create dependant drop down in Excel.
  • It is so much cooler to type, you just type =XL. I am not sure if this is a happy coincidence but saying =XL to get this formula is just awesome.

XLOOKUP Syntax

Simple case:

=XLOOKUP(what you want to look, lookup list, result list)

=XLOOKUP("Jackie", sales[Sales Person], sales[Net Sales]) 

returns Jackie’s [Net Sales] if the name can be found in [Sales Person]

Optional parameters:

By default, you just need 3 parameters for XLOOKUP, as shown above. But you can also use 4th, 5th and 6th parameter to specify how you want the lookup to be done.

4th parameter for XLOOKUP: IF not found (no more IFERROR!!!)

The newly introduced XLOOKUP has an even newer feature. It now supports if not found option. This is the 4th parameter.

For example, use:

=XLOOKUP(“Chandoo”, sales[Sales Person], sales[Net Sales],”Value not found”) to return “Value not found” if the lookup value is not available in the search column – sales[Sales Person].

5th parameter for XLOOKUP: Match mode or type:

Use this to tell Excel how you want your MATCH to happen. The default is 0 (exact match) but you can also use these other options, shown below.

5th parameter - match mode

6th parameter for XLOOKUP: Search mode

Try this if you want to search from bottom to top. The default direction is top down (1).

search mode - 6th parameter

XLOOKUP with two sheets

How to use XLOOKUP with two sheets in Excel?

If you have data in two seperate sheets (or files), you can use XLOOKUP to quickly combine the data and get what you want.

Refer to my XLOOKUP with two sheets article for detailed instructions and formula examples.

XLOOKUP – Video Tutorial:

Here is a simple but effective video tutorial on how to use XLOOKUP function and how it can replace VLOOKUP and INDEX+MATCH functions. You can also watch the xlookup tutorial on my channel.

Download XLOOKUP examples – workbook

Click here to download the 13 XLOOKUP examples file.

And one more example file, this with INDEX+MATCH replacements.

Final thoughts on XLOOKUP

In my opinion, XLOOKUP is a terrific function and a must have for any data professional. It is part of my essential Excel formulas list for data analysts.

When we nest XLOOKUP formulas, we can also perform more complex lookups like 2-WAY lookups or search across different worksheets. I discuss some of these advanced scenarios in a recent video on my YouTube channel. Please watch it here.

The only downside of XLOOKUP is the compatibility. It doesn’t work in all versions of Excel. For this reason, I still think there is value in learning how to use VLOOKUP and INDEX MATCH functions.

Do let me know what you think about XLOOKUP and if you have any questions about it using the comments section.

Learn more about Data Analysis with Excel:

This post is part of my data analysis with Excel series. Please learn other topics too and improve your data skills with Excel.

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75 Responses to “What is Excel SUBTOTAL formula and 5 reasons why you should use it”

  1. Gregor Erbach says:

    I use SUBTOTAL all the time, could not live without it.

    Another neat feature about SUBTOTAL is that you will be able to collapse/expand sections of your data set with the +/- buttons that magically appear to the left of the rows containing a subtotal which was created with the Data menu (Excel 2003).

  2. Dan Murray says:

    I have been using the subtotal formula for years. It's especially useful when you have very large lists. Instead of putting your SUBTOTAL function at the bottom of each row, place it at the top of the columns that you want totals, counts, averages, etc.

    If you frequently extract data from transaction systems, for example, billing records - the subtotal function placed at the top of you data (above the headings) is a particularly useful way to summarize data in conjunction with filtering.

    The only problem with SUBTOTAL is its inability to perform a SQL COUNTD (Count Distinct) function. This can be a big problem if you want to summarize (for example) billing records that include invoice line-item details.

    Using Excel's AVERAGE subtotal function will not result in the correct answer. It will compute the average of all of the rows in the list. In SQL, COUNTD effectively deals with this problem. I've read about some exotic methods that address this problem. All of them are a bit of a pain to implement.

  3. Patricia says:

    A nice feature of using the Subtotal is that you can nest subtotals. Simply remove the check from the checkmark out of Replace Current Subtotals.

  4. Annie says:

    I LOVE subtotals!!! When I discovered them, really sped up a lot of my accounting work in a second. Thanks for this blog I share it with everyone I work with 🙂

  5. Glen Feechan says:

    Great post. I've never used SUBTOTAL much myself as I tend to jump straight to Pivot Tables, however your post has ensured I will be exploring it a bit more!

  6. campingshadow says:

    I love your posts and have learned so much from them. I am always eager to get the next one. My only suggestion is that you slow down the animation on the examples. They go so fast it is hard to quickly understand what you are trying to show us. Other than that...great job.

    I have used subtotals in the past, but never dreamed they were so versatile. I never could figure out how to add subtotals while ignoring other subtotals in the range. Wow! This is great.

  7. Steve says:

    Great work on this XL stuff. I've been using SUBTOTAL for years, and especially together with Filters, they add powerful productivity to a spreadsheet full of too many numbers. I think a clarification is needed for this line: "So, for example, =SUBTOTAL(9,A1:A10) will give us the sum of all values in A1:A10, provided none are filtered(more on this filtering thing below)."

    Actually, while it is true if nothing is filtered, =SUBTOTAL(9,A1:A10) is terrific in a filtering situation: as you add filtering, it does indeed change to reflect the filtered values. That is its strength. And as Dan said, put those SUBTOTALS at the top of the tables, above the Headers for example (with at least one blank row between them!), and they are then obvious to the reader, and already labelled.

    As to using the "109" function, to ignore "hidden" row data, I stay away from it, for two reasons: one, I don't like a "Total", or "SUBTOTAL", showing that the reader cannot check on their own - if they find it doesn't add up, their confidence in the entire spreadsheet is broken; two, I think sometimes when setting and resetting filters that these hidden rows become unhidden.

    hth
    Steve

  8. R.M. says:

    I really like to use it to create reports for teachers' testing data because it also will create a page break (when using the menu). I can download an entire school's data, subtotal and print for each teacher in a matter of minutes . . . .

  9. Don Scott says:

    COL A COL B
    a 100
    a 50
    SUBTOTAL 150
    NOT A SUBTOTAL 1000
    b 125
    b 25
    SUBTOTAL 150
    c 145
    c 5
    SUBTOTAL 150
    GRAND TOTAL 1450 ADDS EACH SUBTOTAL
    FORMULA PLUS THE "NOT A
    SUBTOTAL" ROW.

    USE WITH CAUTION; THE "GRAND TOTAL" IS A SUBTOTAL FORMUA
    FOR ALL OF THE ROWS. THE RESULT OF 1,450 IS CLEARLY MISLEADING.

  10. Justin B says:

    Controlling the 'Type of Total' variable with option buttons is a great way of saving real estate on Dashboards & adding a small wow-factor to end user functionality.

    • jack says:

      could you explain a little more about how to create the SUBTOTAL to dynamically summarize data? i mean how the formula vary according to the selection from the drop down of the otions button.
      Thanking you in anticipation.
      regards
       

  11. Chandoo says:

    @Dan... I have no idea about the COUNTD and other database functions. Never had the opportunity to use them either.

    @Patricia: That is a good one, thanks for sharing it.

    @Annie... Thanks for the love 🙂

    @Glen.. yeah Subtotals are very robust. I have realized that only last week while doing something else.

    @Campingshadow... thanks for your feedback. I will slow down the animations in later posts 🙂

    @Steve.. good points. Yes, I know that subtotals work with filters amazingly well. I have mentioned that in the post further down.

    Also, I have used totals at bottom so that it is easy to read in the post. But one can easily override that by un-checking "totals at bottom" box.

    @Don.. If the value "1000" doesnt contribute to SUBTOTALs, why is it part of the report?

    @Justin: thanks...

  12. sachin gohel says:

    “type of total” is a parameter to SUBTOTAL this working i cant do it pls. teach me

  13. bill mcnair says:

    Thank you for this article. I use COUNTIFS and SUMIFS for most of my work as you can have tons of them and it won't slow down the calculations like the DBSUM and DBCOUNT, etc always seem to do . Have not really explored SUBTOTAL but like what has been brought to our attention. I would be really, really be pleased to see the COUNTIFS and the SUMIFS idea extended to MIN, MAX, AVERAGE, STDEV, PRODUCT, and VAR. (filters in the formula, not because the database is filtered and rows hidden) Again, Thank you for this article.

  14. Nimesh says:

    I too did not used it before.
    But as you have highlighted these good points about SubTotals I intend to use it more and more.
    Thanks.

  15. lavkesh bhatia says:

    Tables such as shown in 5 with nested subtotals are frequently used to summarize data

    For a small data set, one quick way of generating this is the use of 'alt + =' keyboard shortcut.

    instead of manually typing formulas or using the wizard nested sum can be generated

    The best part is when 'alt + =' is used for the grand total it adds up only the subtotals and not all the figures.

  16. kev23f says:

    Hi, great post, but can you explain in a bit more detail how number 3 works? Or else provide a sample file?
    Thanks in advance.

  17. Chandoo says:

    @Sachin & Kev23f: good question. Here is a bit more detail. If you are not able to reproduce it, I can post the file online.

    In a bunch of cells define types of totals you want. For eg. say cells D1:D3 have,

    Sum
    Average
    Max

    Now, let us use the cell A1 to control what type of total you want. Go to A1, select data validation > list and then specify D1:D3 as the source range (this will ensure that only one these three values can be typed in the cell and also shows an in-cell drop down to select the values - here is a tutorial: http://chandoo.org/wp/2008/08/07/excel-add-drop-down-list/ )

    Now, write a formula in another cell (where will show the result based on selected summary type) like this,

    =CHOOSE(MATCH(A1,D1:D3,0),SUBTOTAL(for sum),SUBTOTAL(for avg), SUBTOTAL(for max))

    Help on MATCH formula is here: http://chandoo.org/wp/2008/11/19/vlookup-match-and-offset-explained-in-plain-english-spreadcheats/

  18. [...] Then we are asking excel to tell how many values are there after filter in the same range using SUBTOTAL() formula [introduction to excel SUBTOTAL formula]. [...]

    • Naveen Kumar Pokala says:

      This is very easy using vlookup setup and drop-down validation list. Just put a validation list for all the "function_num" at some corner to control the Summary Types. AND using drop-down select the summary type. This way we can accommodate many summary types without creating a long formula, and changes can be easily made in the future.

  19. Goodwyn says:

    Would anyone have excel template to form a baseline towards loan depreciation using VaR. Would you have a monte carlo simulation to represent your answer?

    Brgds.
    Stewart

  20. Giel Verbeeck says:

    Thanks, I'd like to know if subtotals can be used for calculation of a weighted average using in addition to the current column data from another column in the same table. Any suggestions?

  21. John says:

    Quick query ,,, this has been bugging me for a couple of hours and I probably know the answer, but having stared at this I think I am going numbers blind ...... I am building a Dashboard and have various table and charts with data, but I want to add a tracker that shows a Target volume, Order volume and a History view ..... across 13 wks ( so I guess 13 columns, albeit each column would be about 13 pixels each ) ,,,, kind of like a Bar chart, without actually using a Bar Chart.

  22. Hui... says:

    @Giel
    Subtotal can do Sums and Products but not of 2 or more columns
    For a weighted Avberage you need to sum the products of each row so you have 2 options
    1. Add another column to do the products and then use Sub Totals to Sum up the Products
    2 Use Sumproduct, which can do the SubTotals and Weighted Averages in one formula and isn't reliant on having a sorted data set.

    You can read about Sumproduct here: http://chandoo.org/wp/2009/11/10/excel-sumproduct-formula/

  23. Chandoo says:

    @John.. I think you are trying to add an incell chart. See the examples here: http://chandoo.org/wp/tag/in-cell-charting/

  24. naveed says:

    Im not able to function Subtotal as in my data i have qty and its subtotal. when im functioning subtotal it actually calculating subtotal and also qty which gives me double total in my final figure.

    Plz suggest what to do

  25. Hui... says:

    @Naveed
    Replace your sub-totals with a Subtotal function
    That way it will automatically update as you add data, and automatically total to a Grand Total ignoring previous sub-totals

  26. Jeff Jones says:

    Excellent discussions of subtotals. I have just discovered this to help analyze old 15 minute rainfall data and summarize it by day; great way to simplify 35000+ lines of data!

    My only disappointment is I can't find a way to export my results to a usable table; I need 365 day values to organize for further analysis, and don't want to copy and paste them all out. Any ideas?

  27. BWAMBALE says:

    thanks

  28. Paul B says:

    @Dan Murray makes a good point. I'm having the same issue trying to find the average or sum of the top ten values but only the subtotaled rows. SUM functions can grab the top ten values but I want to be able to auto filter rows out and only average or sum the rows that haven't been filtered. Any thoughts?

  29. David says:

    This is a great post. However, please explain how to accomplish #3: to dynamically summarize data. How do you create the dropdown window? How does the formula in the results cell know what has been selected in the cell to its left. Please provide detail explanation.

    Thanks,

    David

  30. akarin says:

    Excellent tips here. It was easy to find help on the syntax of subtotal, but this rare gem told me why and where it was a good idea to use it. This should be incorporated into Excel's local and online Help

  31. Walt H says:

    I am in the process of testing 2010 before our company converts. I am finding that subtotals is taking much longer in 2010 then in 2003 or 97. Any suggestions as to why?

    Thanks
    Walt

  32. Laurie says:

    Is it possible to create a formula that looks for the subtotal and uses it?
    Example worksheet:
    COL A1:4 COL B1:4:
    a code1
    a code1
    a code 7
    a code 7

    b 125
    b 25
    SUBTOTAL code 1 150
    b 50
    b 75
    SUBTOTAL code 7 125
    This is what I want to do in column C1:C4
    c 125/150*.25 (i.e. value in b1/subtotal of code 1*x)
    c 25/150*.25
    c 50/125*.25
    c 75/125*.25

    I know I could set this up manually by looking for the rows with the subtotals, but the data in column a (i.e. code 1 could have 4 rows one time and 7 rows the next time I need to do the calculation)

  33. Piramu says:

    The post is so good.

  34. MOHAN says:

    POINT NO 5 - You can automatically create SUBTOTALs using Excel Data Tools

    Kindly refer to the table with sub totals in the above point.

    Can we transfer/shift each set of data with its sub total to a different sheet in the same workbook or another workbook.

    For example 2007 data is to move to a sheet, 2008 data to another sheet and so on......

  35. [...] want to subtotal in the subtotal options. There's an issue with it entering subtotals in the row? http://chandoo.org/wp/2010/02/09/sub...formula-excel/ You can use the outliner on the left (Plus / Minus buttons... or click 1,2,3- to collapse to show [...]

  36. Excel Chimp says:

    Regarding point 4:
    "4) If there are subtotals in SUBTOTAL range, they will be neglected

    This is a killer feature of SUBTOTAL. If you have any SUBTOTAL formulas in the input range of another SUBTOTAL formula, these values are neglected so that double counting is avoided. Need I say more? "

    I wonder what the differences would be in processing speed between using SUM or SUBTOTAL in a situation with a large model with lots of financial subtotals. Would using SUM or SUBTOTAL be faster for processing? I would think SUM would be faster due to referencing less cells, but I may be wrong.
    Just curious.

  37. Ninad says:

    Can median be calculated using sub totals ? How

  38. Brenda says:

    I have trouble sometimes getting the subtotal to work when using tables. The option is greyed out and I can't seem to find any info on the reason for this. Any ideas? Thank you, Brenda

  39. Harshit says:

    Hello,
    After using subtotal formula there appears 1 2 3 in square box on the Left hand side of the sheet so that we may collapse the fields or expand them as per our requirements.

    Can someone please tell me how to control those buttons with keyboard? 
    Thank you 

  40. Mark says:

    Anyone ever try to use =subtotal(4, range) to pull the top 5 values. I can't seem to pull the 5 largest items from the entire column ignoring the imbedded subtotals.  I've tried the Large function but that does not ignore the subtotal lines. 
    Any help is greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

  41. AJIT SINGH says:

    Dear all, 
    I have a question that how can i do sub total of subtotal rows for ex.
    if we have 3 floor and every floor has 5 shops from evry shop we get 3 type of income then how can i put subtotal formula so i can get total of every shop 
     

  42. Jacqueline says:

    Can you please give an example of #3: Using SUBTOTAL to dynamically summarize data?
     
    Thanks!

  43. [...] you can do a subtotal on the count of filtered records but countif will not work (as a subtotal) that is. see here for seperate subtotal numbers What is Excel SUBTOTAL formula and 5 reasons why you should use it | Chandoo.org - Learn Microsoft E... [...]

  44. Angela says:

    I love the subtotal but I am having a problem being able to ask the subtotal if the value is greater than 0 then to return that info or delete any subtotals that equal 0. I am sure this is a simple question to most on this site but I have tried everything I know and can not get it to work.

  45. Roopali says:

    HI, I am trying to use the subtotal function to sum a bunch of different account in balance sheet but I am not getting the result right since all the account have different names.

    How can I use the subtotal function in this case? What should I use in the "At Each Change In" section ?

    Thanks!

  46. Noori says:

    HI,
    I have applied the subtotals formula to get total of filtered data but the formula do not sum the filtered data automatically. i have to select the cell containing formula, press enter button so that i get the new total. it is quite irritating. i would be thankful to one with a solution

  47. Payal says:

    I want to create my own functions that are as wise as subtotal - do you have actual code of subtotal function?

  48. Aamir says:

    Nice

  49. Krishanaprasad says:

    It is very useful and interesting.

  50. sandy says:

    Do anyone know shortkey for subtotal "Formula) i.e =subtotal(9,criteria)

  51. Erin says:

    I am using Excel 2010. When I use the subtotal formula, function 102,to count non blanks in a column, I get the same value as if I use the regualar count formula, when I hide rows. Shouldn't this disregard hidden rows and adjust the output? Please help!

  52. hELEN says:

    Thank you. Very helpful! I only use it for small personal spreadsheets but this was very helpful.

  53. Mozz says:

    appears to be a little confusion esp Steve re subtotals...

    The subtotal (9, ....) will add up all cells including hidden ones UNLESS the data is filtered..in that case it adds up what you can see is visible.
    ...I would not use this if there are hidden cells

    The subtotal (109, .... ) will add visible cells only... good for reports..and is the opposite to what Steve said.

  54. Soumis aux aléas de santé de l'individu,
    ils présenteraient des symptômes de rigidité ou d'affaissement,
    d'encombrement ou de perte de vitalité.

  55. lauren says:

    Can someone please provide the formula for #4? I already have subtotals in my range and I either need to only sum those subtotals or the individual rows that are rolling into those subtotals. Not both, because it is double-counting. Thank you in advance for your help!

  56. Heather says:

    Hi, someone up above mentioned Excel 2010 having subtotals being extremely slow... can anyone recommend a solution?

    I have tried: turning Calculation off, removing conditional formatting, changing to an .xls file, paste special values only.

    I have used subtotals extensively in the past and only just in the last few months having a problem... is there an update that anyone knows of that fixes the issue ?

    Thanks

  57. vikash yadav says:

    nice sub total

  58. […] =subtotal can produced the same sum of a column as the more well known sum formula but it works with filtering, =subtotal has a lot of tricks actually. […]

  59. Carlos says:

    Thank you so much for this!!!! I never understood what the Subtotal function meant.. this saved me with my huge statistics assignment where we have to handle big amount of data and apply filters.

    Thank you also for including gifs and showing how the subtotal action does its wonders! This made things sooo much more convenient. I even appreciate Excel more now.

  60. Aditya says:

    I have a major question here : I have a data set where

    column A has close to data in 55000 rows for which subtotal comes around : D = 66058988.62 (=SUBTOTAL(9,A:A))

    If I would go ahead and apply filter to column A and un-select the value 0.00 the subtotal in row D where the formula (=SUBTOTAL(9,A:A)) was applied will change to 41463493.75.

    I fail to understand here that how will 0.00 bring a difference to sub total. (Apologies for my ignorance but I am not really from accounts background so I might be missing something here)

    Please help me understand here.

  61. JessC says:

    I use subtotal daily. I copy paste just the information needed to another tab (i always wonder if thats necessary) then i subtotal i then only need the subtotal amount to do a Vlook up later so then copy and paste values of subtotal amount column then filter by total copy paste values on another tab then i have to text to columns the info to remove the word total i then have info to be able to vlook up the subtotal amt later i wish there were an easier way lol.

  62. Suh says:

    How to have a cumulative total not the running total

  63. Anthony says:

    Never use subtotals. There is nothing subtotals can give you that pivot tables cannot. Subtotals screw up nice clean flat file data sets. Learn pivot tables.

  64. SpannerB says:

    One amazing feature missed off this list; Subtotal can output a spillable array. The formula =SUBTOTAL(9, OFFSET(A1#,0,0,SEQUENCE(ROWS(A1#)))) will output an array that cumulatively adds up the dynamic array A1#, no matter what size A1# is. SUM() can't do this as it only ever outputs a single value.

  65. Chandoo says:

    That is CRAZY!!!
    Donut for you SpannerB.

    I have been using SCAN for this.
    =SCAN(0,B2#,LAMBDA(a,b,a+b))

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