In this tutorial, we will show you how to quickly and efficiently sum data from multiple worksheets within a single Excel workbook. Whether you have a small or large amount of data to summarize, we have the solution for you. By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to easily sum data from multiple worksheets and make your data analysis more efficient.
In this example, we have a list of products and their sales for each month in their own respective worksheets. We want to have the sum of all the products in the first quarter on a separate worksheet. To do this, there are two easy methods for summing up the sales: the traditional method and using the SUM formula.
The Traditional Method
The traditional method simply involves adding up all the cells from each worksheet into one cell. This method can be time-consuming if you have a large amount of data to sum, but it is a simple way to add cells from multiple worksheets.
- Open the Excel workbook that contains the worksheets you want to sum.
- In the worksheet where you want to display the sum, enter the “=” operator in the cell where you want the sum to appear. This tells Excel that you are going to be calculating something.
- Go to the first worksheet (e.g. Jan) and select the cell that contains the value you want to sum (e.g. B2, which contains the quantity sold of chips).
- Enter the “+” operator in the formula bar, then go to the second worksheet (e.g. Feb) and select the same cell (e.g. B2, which contains the quantity sold of chips).
- Repeat step 4 for the third worksheet (e.g. March).
- Press the enter key. You should now see the sum of the cells from all three worksheets in the cell you selected in step 2.
- To apply this formula to all the other cells, you can copy the formula and paste it in the other cells.
Using the SUM Function
Using the SUM function is faster and more efficient than the traditional method of adding cells across multiple worksheets in Excel. The function functions almost identically to the traditional method. Here’s a step-by-step guide to using the function:
- In the worksheet where you want to display the sum, type the SUM function in the cell where you want the sum to appear.
- In the parentheses of the SUM function, type the name of the first worksheet followed by a colon and the name of the last worksheet and an exclamation mark. For example, if you want to sum the cells from the worksheets Jan, Feb, and March, you would type “SUM(Jan:Mar!”.
- Then type the cell reference for the cells you want to sum. For example, if the cells you want to sum are in column B and row 2, you would type “B2”.
- Press the enter key. You should now see the sum of the cells from all the worksheets between Jan to March in the cell you selected in step 2.
Advantages of using the SUM function
In the same example, in the first quarter, we want to add a worksheet in between Jan and Mar and want to add it to the total in the first quarter. Since we used the =SUM function the total will be automatically added to the Q1 worksheet.
Note: The formula will only add the worksheets in between the Jan and March worksheets. If the Jan 2 worksheet is after the March tab, the function will not add the Jan 2 in the total.
Conclusion
There are two easy ways to sum multiple worksheets in Excel. The traditional method can be time-consuming, especially if you have a large amount of data to summarize. However, using the SUM function allows you to quickly sum data from multiple worksheets, making this method more efficient and advantageous by automatically updating the sum if you add or remove worksheets.
