AutoSum is one of Excel's most-used features. The shortcut guesses the range you want to add up and writes the SUM formula for you.
Step by step
- Select the empty cell directly below a column of numbers (or to the right of a row).
- Press Alt+=. Excel inserts =SUM() with a suggested range.
- Check the highlighted range, adjust it with Shift+Arrow keys if needed, then press Enter.
Tips & troubleshooting
- Select a whole block of numbers plus an empty row and column, then press Alt+= to total every row and column at once.
- AutoSum stops at blank cells, so check the range if your data has gaps.
How AutoSum chooses its range
AutoSum looks up from the active cell first. If it finds numbers directly above, it selects them up to the first blank cell or text cell. If there is nothing above, it looks left instead. That is why a gap in the column cuts the total short, and why a year typed as a number in the header row can be swept into the sum. Always glance at the moving border before you press Enter.
Total several rows and columns in one go
- Several columns: select the empty cells underneath all of them and press Alt+=. Each column gets its own total.
- Rows and columns together: select the block of numbers plus one empty row below and one empty column to the right, then press Alt+=. Excel fills in every row total, every column total and the grand total.
- Part of a column: select just the cells you want added, and AutoSum places the total in the first empty cell beneath them.
More than SUM
The arrow beside the AutoSum button on the Home and Formulas tabs offers Average, Count Numbers, Max and Min, which pick their range the same way.
If you only need to see a total, you don't need a formula at all. Select the cells and read the Sum, Average and Count in the status bar at the bottom of the window.
On a filtered list Alt+= writes a SUBTOTAL formula instead of SUM, so the total covers only the rows you can see. In a table, Ctrl+Shift+T switches the Total Row on and off.
When the total is wrong
- The answer is 0 or too low. Some numbers are stored as text, usually after an import. They sit on the left of the cell and may show a green triangle. Select them, click the warning icon and choose Convert to Number.
- The formula appears as text. The cell is formatted as Text. Change it to General, press F2 and then Enter.
- The range stops early. There is a blank cell in the column. Drag the range, or type it, before pressing Enter.
On a Mac
In Excel for Mac the AutoSum shortcut is Cmd+Shift+T.