MINUS
TheMINUS
formula is a math operator that subtracts value2 from value1 and returns the result. It can be used to perform simple arithmetic operations in Google Sheets.
- How to use
MINUS
formula? - Examples of using
MINUS
formula MINUS
formula not working?- Similar formulas to
MINUS
Usage
Use the MINUS
formula with the syntax shown below, it has 2 required parameters:
- value1 (required):
The first value to be subtracted from. - value2 (required):
The second value to subtract from value1.
Examples
Here are a few example use cases that explain how to use theMINUS
formula in Google Sheets.
Subtracting numbers
You can use the MINUS
formula to subtract one number from another. For example, to subtract the value in cell A2 from the value in cell B2, you would use the formula =MINUS(B2, A2)
.
Calculating differences
You can use the MINUS
formula to calculate the difference between two values. For example, to calculate the difference between the value in cell A2 and the value in cell B2, you would use the formula =MINUS(A2, B2)
.
Counting down to a date
You can use the MINUS
formula to count down to a specific date. For example, if you have a date in cell A2 and you want to know how many days are left until that date, you can use the formula =MINUS(A2, TODAY())
.
Common Mistakes
MINUS
not working? Here are some common mistakes people make when using the MINUS
Google Sheets Formula:
Incorrect argument types
One or both of the arguments provided to the MINUS formula are not numbers or valid cell references.
Incorrect order of arguments
The order of the arguments provided to the MINUS formula is reversed, resulting in an incorrect calculation.
Using MINUS instead of subtraction operator
The MINUS formula is used instead of the subtraction operator (-), resulting in a longer and less efficient formula.
Related Formulas
The following functions are similar to MINUS
or are often used with it in a formula:
-
SUM
The
SUM
function in Google Sheets adds up a range of numbers. This function is most commonly used to sum the values in a range of cells. -
PRODUCT
The
PRODUCT
formula in Google Sheets multiplies all the numbers given in the arguments and returns the product. It is commonly used to calculate the total product of a range of cells. -
AVERAGE
The AVERAGE function calculates the average (arithmetic mean) of the values passed to it. It is commonly used to find the average of a range of cells containing numerical data.
-
MAX
The
MAX
function returns the maximum value from a range of cells or a set of supplied values. It is commonly used to find the largest value in a dataset. -
MIN
The
MIN
formula is a statistical function that returns the smallest value in a set of numbers. It is commonly used to find the minimum value from a range of cells or a list of values.
Learn More
You can learn more about the MINUS
Google Sheets function on Google Support.