Microsoft Office users may find that some of their applications are failing to open when called on by third-party applications. It’s an issue that has emerged after the latest round of Microsoft updates.

The problem affects Word, Excel, and other Office applications opened from third-party offerings including CCH Engagement, Workpaper Manager, Zotero, or dental office software such as Dentrix or Softdent.

The update issued on June 9 appears to have triggered problems with the OLE automation that these third-party applications use to interact with Office. Users have reported that files are failing to open, with no error message indicating what has gone wrong,

According to one Windows user forum, the issue is particularly frustrating because of this lack of error message. As one user put it, “‘Word won’t open from our workpaper system’ is functionally the same as ‘Word is broken.’ To an administrator, the difference determines whether the next hour is spent repairing Office, rolling back Windows, calling a line-of-business vendor, or opening a Microsoft support case.”

Microsoft has said that it is aware of the issue and is working towards a resolution.

Deleting mystery file

The company is also looking to fix a minor issue that has emerged from this latest round of updates: Users are finding that when items are deleted, the confirmation dialog box displays the internal Recycle Bin file name (for example, $Rxxxxx.ext) instead of the original file name. However, Microsoft stressed that in the Recycle Bin, the item still appears with its original name.

One of the most commonly used Microsoft programs, Excel is highly useful for data collecting, processing, and analysis. To fully harness Excel’s powers, though, you need to make use of formulas.

Excel formulas allow you to perform calculations, analyze data, and return results quickly and accurately. The usefulness of formulas is even greater once you start dealing with large data sets. With the correct formula, Excel can process vast amounts of information in a matter of seconds.

In this article we’ll look at five useful types of formulas and functions that will get you started performing data analysis in Excel. Along the way, you’ll learn several different ways to enter formulas and functions in Excel.

We’ll demonstrate using Excel for Windows under a Microsoft 365 subscription. If you’re using a different version of Excel, you might not have exactly the same interface and options, but the formulas and functions work the same.

If you have the right kind of M365 subscription, you can have Microsoft’s generative AI assistant, Copilot, create formulas for you. This requires an M365 Personal, Family, or Premium plan for individuals or an M365 business or enterprise plan with a paid Copilot add-on subscription — which means not everybody has access to Copilot in Excel. Even if you do, it’s helpful to know what formulas can do and how to work with them so you can write better prompts for Copilot. We’ll cover using Copilot to create Excel formulas later in this story, but first we’ll give you a solid understanding of how to work with formulas and functions.

In this article:

• What is a formula in Excel?
• What is a function in Excel?
• Basic mathematical formulas and functions
• The IF function
• The SUMIF and COUNTIF functions
• The CONCAT function
• The VLOOKUP function
• Using Copilot to create Excel formulas

What is a formula in Excel?

A formula is an expression that operates on values in a range of cells in Excel. Using formulas, you can perform calculations and data analysis on the contents of the cells. Formulas can be as simple as adding a column of numbers together or as complex as returning the kurtosis of a data set. They can be incredibly useful when you want to turn spreadsheet data into meaningful information for driving business decisions.

What is a function in Excel?

A function is a built-in formula in Excel — basically, a shortcut for performing a calculation or other operation on cell data. There are around 500 Excel functions, and the list continues to grow every year. Fortunately, most of the actions that a typical business user would want to perform can be done with just a handful of functions.

1. Basic mathematical formulas and functions

We’re going to group these formulas together since they are very simple and have similar syntax. All formulas in Excel start with the equal sign (=) and build from there.

Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing

To add the numbers in two cells together, first click the on the target cell where you want the total to appear. Then type = in the cell to start the formula.

Next, click on the cell that contains the first number you want to add, and its cell reference (such as A2) will appear next to the equal sign in the formula.

Type + next to the first cell reference. Then click the cell that contains the second number you want to add, and its cell reference (such as A3) will appear next to the + sign. The full syntax for the formula to add the values in cells A2 and A3 is:

=A2+A3

Note that in addition to appearing in the target cell, the formula also appears in the formula bar directly above the worksheet. Once you’ve inserted the initial = sign in the target cell, you can type your formula in the formula bar. It’s sometimes easier to see the whole formula and work with it in the formula bar than down in the worksheet page.

If you wanted to add additional numbers to your total, you’d type another + sign, select another cell, and so on. Once your formula is complete, press Enter, and the result appears in the target cell.

Subtraction, multiplication, and division calculations work the same way. You simply change the operator — the symbol that tells Excel what math operation you want to perform — from the + sign to the – sign for subtraction, the * sign for multiplication, or the / sign for division.

Adding numbers with the SUM function

There’s a quicker way to add together a group of numbers. This is where Excel’s built-in SUM function comes in.

First click on the target cell where you want the total to appear. Then type =SUM to start the function.  A list of options will come up. Click the first option, SUM. You’ll now see =SUM( in the target cell.

Just underneath the cell with the SUM function is a tooltip showing the SUM syntax:

=SUM(number 1, [number2],…)

To add individual cells together, select a cell, type a comma, select another cell, and so on. (Alternatively, you can type a cell reference, type a comma, type another cell reference, and so on.)

If you want to add consecutive cells (such as in a row or column), select the first cell, then hold down the Shift key and select the final cell in the group. (Or you can type in the cell references for the first and last cells separated by a colon — for instance, A2:A7 selects A2, A7, and all the cells in between.)

Once all the cells you want to add together are selected, hit Enter.

Now you should see the final result, which is the sum of the numbers you highlighted. If you highlight that target cell again, you’ll see the full formula in the formula bar — in our example, it’s:

=SUM(A2:A7)

One important thing to note for all Excel formulas is that they produce relative values. This simply means that if any of the values in the selected cells changes, then the final number will change to reflect that.

If you want to make it an absolute value, a number that will not change even if the cells that were used to calculate it change, then you need to right-click the cell and select Copy from the pop-up menu. Then right-click the cell again and, under Paste Options, select the Values button (the icon of a clipboard with 123).

Now when you select that cell you’ll just see the plain number, not a formula, in the formula bar.

Tip: Excel provides a SUM shortcut in certain circumstances. If you have a series of numbers in a row or a column, Excel assumes you want to add them together. So if you place your cursor in the cell to the right of a row of numbers and click the AutoSum (Σ) button toward the right end of the Ribbon’s Home tab, Excel automatically selects the numbers in the row, then adds them together when you press Enter. Likewise, if you place your cursor in the cell below a column of numbers, click AutoSum, and hit Enter, Excel totals up the numbers in the column.

Calculating the average with the AVERAGE function

To calculate the average of a group of numbers, repeat the same steps but using the syntax =AVERAGE and highlighting the cells containing the numbers that you want to use in the calculation.

Tip: As with SUM, there’s a shortcut for using the AVERAGE function if you have a series of numbers in a row or a column. Place your cursor in the cell to the right of a row of numbers or in the cell below a column of numbers. Click the tiny down arrow at the right side of the AutoSum button, select Average from the menu that appears, and hit Enter. Excel calculates the average of the values in that row or column.

Find more details, examples, and best practices for these functions at Microsoft’s SUM function and AVERAGE function support pages.

2. The IF function

This function helps you automate the decision-making process by applying if-then logic to your data. Using this function, you can have Excel perform a calculation or display a certain value depending on the outcome of a logical test. For example, you can create a test that checks if the value of a cell is greater than or equal to the value of 18 and enter “Yes” or “No” accordingly.

While we’re learning this function, we’ll cover another way to enter functions in Excel: by using the Formulas tab on the Ribbon. Here you’ll find buttons that provide quick access to functions by category: AutoSum, Financial, Logical, Text, Date & Time, and so on. Being able to browse through functions by category can be helpful if you can’t remember the exact name of a function or aren’t sure how to spell it.

To enter the IF function, select the target cell, and on the Formulas tab, click the Logical button, then select IF from the list of functions that appears.

Alternatively, you can click the Insert Function button all the way to the left of the Formulas tab. An “Insert Function” pane appears, showing a list of commonly used functions.

Select IF from the list and click OK. (If the function you want isn’t in the “Commonly Used” list, select a different category or All to see all available functions.)

The Function Arguments pane appears, and you’ll see =IF() in the target cell.

The IF function syntax is as follows:

=IF(logical_test,”value_if_true”,”value_if_false”)

You’ll notice that the Function Arguments pane for the IF function has fields for Logical_test, Value_if_true, and Value_if_false. In our “greater than or equal to 18” example, the logical test is whether the number in the selected cell is greater than or equal to 18, the value if true is “Yes,” and the value if false is “No.” So we’d enter the following items in the pane’s fields like so:

Logical_test: B2>=18

Value_if_true: “Yes”

Value_if_false: “No”

or just type the full formula into the target cell:

=IF(B2>=18,”Yes”,”No”)

This tells Excel that if the value of cell B2 is greater than or equal to 18, it should enter “Yes” in the target cell. If the value of cell B2 is less than 18, it should enter “No.”

Tip: When using functions like this, rather than entering the function repeatedly for each row, you can simply click and drag the tiny square on the bottom right of the cell that contains the function. Doing so will autofill each of the rows with the formula, and Excel will change your cell references to match. For example, when the formula we used in cell C2 that references cell B2 is autofilled into cell C3, it changes to reference cell B3 automatically.

Find more details at Microsoft’s IF function support page.

3. The SUMIF and COUNTIF functions

SUMIF is a more advanced SUM function that allows you to add up only the values in a range that meet the criteria you specify. To use this function, you must specify the range of cells to apply the criteria to, the criteria for inclusion, and, optionally, the sum range, which is the range of cells to total if that’s different from the initial range. The syntax is as follows:

=SUMIF(range,criteria,[sum_range])

Note that any criteria with text or mathematical or logical symbols must be enclosed in double quotes.

In the sales spreadsheet shown below, for example, suppose you want to total up only the sales that are more than $100. The criteria range is C2 to C9, and the criteria is “greater than 100.” Since you’re adding up the values in that same cell range (C2 to C9), you don’t need to supply a separate sum range. So your formula is:

=SUMIF(C2:C9,”>100″)

What if instead you want to find the total for all sales in the East region only? To do that you’ll have to specify both the criteria range (cells B2 to B9) and the sum range (cells C2 to C9). This is the formula:

=SUMIF(B2:B9,B2,C2:C9)

Note that you don’t have to type out “East” for the criteria. You can simply type B2 or click the cell B2 to have Excel search for the text it contains.

There is a similar function called COUNTIF that lets you create a count of values that meet specified criteria. The syntax is as follows:

=COUNTIF(range,criteria)

So to count the total number of sales in the West region, for instance, you supply the range of cells to apply the criteria to (B2 to B9), followed by the criteria (“West” or cell B3). The formula is:

=COUNTIF(B2:B9,B3)

What if you want to apply multiple criteria to your data, such as calculating total sales for books in the East region, or counting the number of sales over $100 in the West region? Excel can do that too, via functions called SUMIFS and COUNTIFS. These functions use more complex syntax than SUMIF and COUNTIF. For more details, use cases, and best practices for all four of these functions, see Microsoft’s SUMIF, SUMIFS, COUNTIF, and COUNTIFS support pages.

4. The CONCAT function

This function is useful for piecing together text from different cells into one complete string. For instance, maybe you have a worksheet with different columns for people’s first and last names, but you want to put first and last names together. Other common use cases are completing an address, reference number, file path, or URL. The syntax is as follows:

=CONCAT(text1,text2,text3,…)

In this example we will use CONCAT to combine a list of first names and last names into a full name with a space in between. To do so we simply place the cursor in cell C2, type =CON and select CONCAT from the list of options that appears. Next, select the cell that contains the first name (A2) and add a comma, a blank space surrounded by quotation marks, and another comma. Then add the last name by selecting the adjacent cell (B2) and hit Enter. Here’s the full formula:

=CONCAT(A2,” “,B2)

Next, click and drag the bottom right of cell C2 to autofill the formula in all the other rows.

For more details and examples, see Microsoft’s CONCAT function support page.

5. The VLOOKUP function

This is one of the most commonly used functions in Excel and a valuable data analysis tool. VLOOKUP lets you look up a value in a table and return information from other columns related to that value. It’s very useful for combining data from different lists or comparing two lists to find matching items. To use this function, you need to provide three to four pieces of information:

1. The value you want to look for. This is known as the lookup value.
2. The range of cells to look in. This is known as the table array.
3. The column that contains the information you want to return, called the column index number.
4. Optionally, the type of lookup you want to perform: TRUE or FALSE. This is known as the range lookup. FALSE means you want an exact match for the lookup value, while picking TRUE returns the best approximate match. If you don’t specify a range lookup, VLOOKUP defaults to TRUE.

The syntax is as follows:

=VLOOKUP(lookup_value,table_array,column_index_number,[range_lookup])

The lookup value must be in the first column of cells you specify in the table array. The leftmost column in the table array has a column index number of 1, with subsequent columns numbered 2, 3, and so on.

In this example, we’ll look up what region our employees work in. To do so, we first need to specify the value that we are going to search for: the employee name Mike (cell A2). Next, we need to highlight the entire cell range (table array) that we want to look in: cells F2:G8.

Then we specify which column holds the information that we want. Rather than picking the column itself, we count from left to right within the table array. Since the column that contains the region is the second from the left, type in 2.

Lastly, we enter the TRUE (best approximate match) or FALSE (exact match) option. TRUE is typically only used with numbers or when you aren’t sure if the value you want is in the table. Since we know the value we want is in the table, we will pick FALSE. Generally, FALSE is the better option, as it returns more accurate results.

This is the full formula:

=VLOOKUP(A2,F2:G8,2,FALSE)

This is an oversimplified example using a small data set, but when you need to search through a spreadsheet with thousands (or tens of thousands) of cells, VLOOKUP is a huge time-saver and reduces the possibility of errors. For more details and examples, see Microsoft’s VLOOKUP function support page.

Using Copilot to create Excel formulas

Remembering all these different formulas and functions can be difficult, so another good approach for those who have access to Copilot in Excel (see details at the top of this story) is to use the AI tool to dynamically create formulas that meet your needs. Using Copilot, you can describe what you want the formula to do  and have the AI generate the syntax for you. In this section we’ll demonstrate with two sample data sets.

To access Copilot, click the Copilot icon on your ribbon toolbar or at the bottom right of your screen.

The Copilot sidebar opens along the right side of your spreadsheet. Type in a prompt describing the formula you want created — in this example, a simple formula that adds up all the sales values in the data set. Be sure to instruct Copilot where to place the formula:

Create a formula in B7 that sums all of the sales

Click the submit arrow in the chat window, and Copilot will create and insert the formula to give you the result you want.

That was a simple one. Now try a more advanced example working from a more complex data set, as shown in the screenshot below.

Try the following prompt:

Create a formula in G2 that calculates total revenue per unit while accounting for the discount on each purchase. Then fill the formula down for all rows and create a summary table showing total revenue by Region.

Click the submit arrow, and it should create something like this:

(There’s a lot more you can have Copilot can do in Excel besides creating formulas. See our story “11 cool things Copilot can do in Excel.”)

Tip: It’s not required, but it can be helpful to format your spreadsheet as a table when working with Copilot. This helps define more clearly the exact cells for Copilot to use when it creates formulas or takes other actions on your data.

You’re just getting started

In this story you’ve seen how powerful formulas and functions can be in Excel — and we’ve only the scratched the surface of what they can do. Once you get comfortable using them, you can explore some of the myriad prebuilt functions Excel offers and learn how to build more complex formulas (including nesting functions). That’s all beyond the scope of this article, but a great place to start is Microsoft’s “Overview of formulas in Excel” support page, which includes links to several helpful tutorials.

For those who have access to it in Excel, experimenting with Copilot is another great way to learn. You can review the steps it took and the formulas it created to get a better understanding of how formulas work and what they’re capable of.

This story was originally published in May 2023 and updated in June 2026.

More Excel tips and how-tos:

• Excel basics: Get started with tables
• Excel for Microsoft 365 cheat sheet
• 11 cool things Copilot can do in Excel
• How to use PivotTables and PivotCharts in Excel
• Excel basics: Get started with charts and sparklines
• How (and why) to use conditional formatting in Excel
• More Microsoft tips and tutorials

Google’s latest and greatest Android version is officially now out in the world and available — but if you’re using any phone other than a Pixel, that doesn’t mean much for you just yet.

The reason why is simple: Despite Google officially launching Android 17 and starting to send it out to Android phone-owners this week, it’s up to each individual device-maker to process the software and deliver it to its customers. And outside of Google itself, unfortunately, most Android device-makers are exasperatingly unreliable about making that happen — some of ’em to almost comically bad extremes (insert exaggerated sigh here).

Hold the phone, though — ’cause there is some good news here: While we can’t force any Android phone-maker to start treating software support as a priority, we can get creative and find ways to bring interesting new Android features to devices running older Android versions. In fact, all four of the Android 17 features I called out earlier this week can be emulated on any Android phone this instant. All it takes is a teensy pinch of inspiration and a dash of tenacity — and, of course, the right roadmap to make it all come together.

The tenacity’s on you, but if you’re game, I’ve got your roadmap ready. Here’s exactly how to enjoy a similar sort of Android-17-style sorcery on whatever phone you’re using right now — as far as some of the more surface-level highlights, at least — without having the actual Android 17 upgrade in front of you.

[Get fresh Android tips in your inbox with my free Android Intelligence newsletter — one new and useful thing to try every Friday!]

Android 17 feature #1: Bubbles multitasking magic

The most shape-shifting Android 17 of all, without a doubt, is Bubbles — a snazzy new way to turn any app into a floating, collapsible window that’s readily available for on-demand access but also out of your hair when you aren’t actively using it.

I wrote about Bubbles and ways to achieve similar feats just a few months back. It’s surprisingly easy to accomplish, even without Android 17 in the picture.

Look over this list of crafty Bubbles-bringing workarounds and see which makes the most sense for you. One way or another, you’ll find yourself facing a fantastic new option for multitasking anytime you want it — no waiting or out-of-reach upgrades required.

Android 17 feature #2: Smarter location access

Our next Android 17 addition is a little trickier to emulate without the actual operating system update in the equation. But fear not, for this is Android — and when there’s a will, there’s a way.

The feature of which we speak is an expansion of Android’s framework for how apps can access your location. It’s a two-parter: First, whenever any app is accessing your location, you’ll now see a blue dot appear in the upper-right corner of your screen — and if you swipe down once from the top of your screen to open your notification panel, you can actually tap on the location icon that appears in its place to get detailed info about exactly which app or apps are involved. Second, when an app asks to access your precise location, Android 17 adds in the option to allow such access only temporarily — for that one brief moment and purpose — without giving the app permanent permission for ongoing use.

The second part, unfortunately, is challenging to achieve without Android 17 being present. But the first part is something we can make happen with a sliver of creative zest.

The trick revolves around a classic third-party app called Privacy Dashboard. Privacy Dashboard came about back in the Android 12 era, when Google first introduced a full-fledged privacy dashboard into Android and certain devices were lagging behind and taking too long to adopt it.

With Android 12 now being five years old, the app hasn’t had much need in recent years — until now. Interestingly enough, the ability to see full details about ongoing location access and then tap to adjust the associated app’s settings is something Privacy Dashboard has long offered. And it’s consequently a great way to bring that newfound native ability from Android 17 onto a device running an older Android version.

The catch is that because of the limited need for the app all this time, it’s no longer being actively developed — and as a result, if you hadn’t previously downloaded it, the Play Store will probably give you an error saying it’s made for an older Android version and can’t be installed on your device.

It will still work, though, and it’s perfectly functional and effective.

Provided you’re comfortable and that this won’t violate any of your company-associated policies, you can download the original verified Privacy Dashboard app package from my own personal Drive storage. I saved it using the Google Files file manager and then uploaded it directly to Drive. It’s quite literally the same exact app you’d get from the Play Store, if the Play Store would let you download it — and while I wouldn’t often advise installing apps from unknown sources, I don’t exactly consider myself to be “unknown” (most of the time). So as long as you share that same trust, you can grab the app from me and put it on any device you want.

Once you get the app installed and give it the permissions it needs to operate, open ‘er up and tap the “App Settings” options on its main screen. Tap the line that says “Indicator Customization,” beneath “Privacy Indicators,” then flip the toggle next to “Click action” into the on and active position.

Aaaaand, that’s it: Anytime an app is accessing your location, you’ll see a green location icon appear in the upper-right corner of your screen. And tapping it will take you to the system-level timeline of exactly which apps have accessed your location recently, for added context.

Before you install Privacy Dashboard, you might also want to try just opening an app that you know accesses your location — like Google Maps — and seeing what, if any, indicator appears in the corner of your screen and if you can tap it. While that ability is technically associated with Android 17, it was actually included in an earlier Android quarterly update, and it’s possible your device may already have that piece of the puzzle in place even if it isn’t yet running Android 17.

Android 17 feature #3: More dynamic dark mode

Android’s dark mode is better than ever as of Android 17, with a nifty new way to force each and every app to respect your device-wide dark mode setting and adjust its interface to a less glary look — even if it doesn’t technically support the option.

Well, get this: If your phone’s Android software is reasonably recent, it’s entirely possible you can unlock the very same function by adjusting a few out-of-sight system settings.

Try this:

• First, you’ll need enable Android’s developer options, if you haven’t done that previously.
  • That’s a special, typically hidden section of Android’s system settings with all sorts of advanced options that aren’t typically intended for average phone-usin’ folk to futz around with.
  • There’s no risk to you or your phone with enabling ’em, and as long as you follow the instructions here exactly and enable only the one single setting we’re about to go over, it’s actually quite easy. (It’s also quite easy to undo, if you ever decide you aren’t into it and want to go back.) But we are pokin’ around in an area of Android that’s meant mostly for developers, and if you veer off-course and mess with the wrong setting, you could make a mess — so follow the steps closely, capisce?
• The process for enabling Android’s developer options may sound strange, but I swear it works: Head into the “About phone” section of your system settings, tap “Software information,” if needed, then find the line that says “Build number.” Tap your finger on it seven times, then enter your PIN or password, if prompted, and confirm that you want to activate the developer options.
• Now, go back to your main settings screen and either tap on the “Developer options” that appears within that list or tap “System” and then tap “Developer options” from there.
• Scroll down through that section until you see an option called “Force Dark mode.” Flip the toggle next to it.

And there ya have it: You should now be able to open any app, even if it doesn’t officially support dark mode, and see it shift into a darkened state whenever you have dark mode enabled at the system level. 

Easy peasy, no?

Android 17 feature #4: A more comfy all-around view

Our final Android 17 feature is a saucy little somethin’ called Comfort View. It applies a softer, pastel-oriented filter to your display with automatic adjustments based on your current viewing environment in order to make your screen easier on the eyes.

If you’re using a Samsung device, you may already have something similar in place even with an older Android version. Look in the Display section of your system settings and see if you see something called “Adaptive color tone,” then try activating it if it’s there — and/or look for “Screen mode” and play around with some of the settings in that area to see vaguely similar sorts of adjustments. It isn’t quite as intelligent or automatic as the new incoming Android-level equivalent, but it’s a start!

In any other scenario — or if you just want more nuance and control, even with a Samsung gizmo — grab an app called Twilight. It’ll let you tweak all sorts of specifics about the appearance of your screen, and while it’s presented mostly for nighttime optimization, you can use those same controls to create your own custom modes for any scenario imaginable.

The app doesn’t collect or share any manner of data, and while it does offer a $10 Pro upgrade, the free version is perfectly functional for most purposes.

And with that, give yourself a pat on the back: Your phone is officially now set up to showcase some of Android 17’s finest flavors — even without the software itself being available to you yet.

That, my friend, is quite an accomplishment. Well done.

Don’t stop there: Come check out my free Android Intelligence newsletter to get something new and useful in your inbox every Friday — and get my awesome Android Notification Power-Pack today.