What is the most useful function in Excel?

Answer 1

There is no simple answer to that question. Excel has hundreds of functions. Some are used very frequently, like the the SUM function, so that could be the most useful. Then there are others that are very powerful, like the IF function, which enables Excel to make decisions. It is very useful. A lot of users have specialised areas that they work in, so they might make use of functions in a particular category, like the financial functions. For those users, functions in those categories might be very useful. A lot of formulas have a combination of functions, and lots of functions work together with other ones. So it is very hard to pick a single function and say it is the most useful, as there are lots of opinions.

Answer 2

There is no real answer to that. If you are not used to a function or do not understand what it is for, then it can be difficult to use. There are many categories of specialist functions in Excel, like Financial, Statistical, Engineering etc. If you are someone involved in work that relates to one of those categories, then its functions will be familiar to you, so you will find them easy to use, whereas someone who knows nothing about areas like accountancy or statistics etc. will not understand them. So the same function could be very simple for one person and very difficult for another person. For any one individual, there are a large amount of functions that they would never use because they have no relevance to them. Excel can be used by all kinds of people, so there is something there for everyone. Nobody uses all the functions in Excel. Then there are functions that almost everyone uses, like the SUM function. They are easy for everyone because they use them all the time. It is only when you first use those functions that they seem complicated, but very quickly you learn how to use them.