AVERAGE & central tendency
AVERAGE, AVERAGEIF/AVERAGEIFS, MEDIAN, MODE, moving averages, weighted averages — every way to summarize a set to one number.
9 pages · 9 how-to
How-to guides
How to calculate an average
Use the AVERAGE function to calculate the arithmetic mean of a range of numbers in Excel or Google Sheets.
How to average ignoring zeros
Use AVERAGEIF with a "<>0" criterion to calculate an average that excludes zero values from the calculation.
How to average ignoring blank cells
AVERAGE naturally ignores blank cells; use AVERAGEIF with "<>" to also ignore text placeholders like dashes.
How to average with a condition
Use AVERAGEIF to compute the mean of values in one column where a corresponding column meets a specified criterion.
How to calculate a moving average
Compute a rolling average for each row using AVERAGE with a fixed-window OFFSET or INDEX formula anchored to each row.
How to find the median of a range
Use the MEDIAN function to find the middle value in a dataset — the value that half the data falls above and half below.
How to find the most common value
Use MODE for numbers or COUNTIF-based logic for text to find the value that appears most frequently in a dataset.
How to average the last N values
Average only the most recent N entries in a column with AVERAGE, OFFSET and COUNTA — ideal for a trailing average.
How to calculate a weighted moving average
Calculate a weighted moving average in Excel or Google Sheets with SUMPRODUCT — apply custom weights to a rolling window of values without helper columns or VBA.