Subtract in Excel
This article teaches you how to subtract the contents of one or more Excel cells from another cell.
Contents
[hide]10 Second Summary
1. Open Excel.
2. Enter data if necessary.
3. Click a blank cell.
4. Type = followed by a cell name.
5. Type - followed by another cell's name.
6. Press ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return.
Steps
Subtracting Cell Values
- Open Excel. It's a green app with a white "X" on it.
- If you would rather use a pre-existing Excel document, instead double-click the Excel document in question.
- Click Blank workbook (PC) or Excel Workbook (Mac). It's in the top-left side of the "Template" window.
- Enter your data if necessary. To do so, click a cell, type in a number, and press ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return.
- Click an empty cell. This will select the cell.
- Type "=" into the cell. Exclude the quotation marks. You'll always type an "equals" sign prior to inserting a formula in Excel.
- Type in a cell's name. This should be a cell with data from which you wish to subtract other cells' value(s).
- For example, you would type "C1" to select the number in cell C1.
- Type - into the cell. You'll see it appear after the number you entered.
- Type in another cell's name. This should be a cell whose value you wish to subtract from the first cell's name.
- You can repeat this process with multiple cells (e.g., "C1-A1-B2").
- Press ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return. Doing so will calculate the formula entered in the cell and replace it with the solution.
- You can click on the cell to view the original formula in the text bar directly above the row of letters.
Subtracting Within a Cell
- Open Excel. It's a green app with a white "X" on it.
- Click Blank workbook (PC) or Excel Workbook (Mac). It's in the top-left side of the "Template" window.
- Click a cell. Unless you plan on creating data using this workbook, the cell you select is not important.
- Type "=" into the cell. Exclude the quotation marks. This will set the cell up for a formula.
- Type in a number from which you wish to subtract. It will appear in your selected cell to the right of the "equals" sign.
- For your budget, for example, you might type your month's income into this cell.
- Type - into the cell. You'll see it appear after the number you entered.
- If you decide to subtract multiple numbers (e.g., X-Y-Z), you'll repeat this step after each subsequent number excluding the last one.
- Type in a number you wish to subtract from the first number.
- If you're calculating budget, you might type an expense into this cell.
- Press ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return. Doing so will calculate the formula entered in the cell and replace it with the solution.
- You can click on the cell to view the original formula in the text bar directly above the row of letters.
Subtracting a Column
- Open Excel. It's a green app with a white "X" on it.
- If you would rather use a pre-existing Excel document, instead double-click the Excel document in question.
- Click Blank workbook (PC) or Excel Workbook (Mac). It's in the top-left side of the "Template" window.
- Click a blank cell. Doing so will select it.
- Enter your main number. This is the number from which the rest of the column will be selected.
- For example, you might type in your yearly salary here.
- Enter any subtractions in the cells below. To do so, you'll type in a negative version of the number you wish to subtract (e.g., if you wish to subtract 300, type in "-300").
- You'll type in one subtraction per cell.
- Make sure each of the numbers you enter are in the same column as the main number.
- For the salary example, you'd likely type "-" followed by an expense for each box.
- Click a blank cell. This time, the cell doesn't need to be in the same column as the main number.
- Type "=" into the cell. Exclude the quotation marks. Doing so will set up the cell for a formula.
- Type SUM into the cell. The "SUM" command adds items together.
- There isn't an official "subtract" command, which is why you enter numbers in the negative format above.
- Type (CellName:CellName) in after SUM. This command adds all cells in a column from the first cell number value through the last cell number value.
- For example, if the K1 cell is your main number and the last cell in the column with data in it is K10, you'd type "(K1:K10)".
- Press ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return. Doing so will run the formula in your selected cell, thereby replacing the formula with the final total.
Tips
- You can also use Excel to Add-in-Excel.
Warnings
- Failing to type = into a cell before entering a formula will prevent the calculation from occurring.
