This article will teach you how to perform a subtraction on one or more Excel cells.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Subtracting Cell Values
Step 1. Open Excel
It has a green icon with an "X" inside.
If you want to use an existing document, double click on it
Step 2. Click Blank Workbook (Windows) or Excel Workbook (Mac)
This option is on the upper left side of the "Template" window.
Step 3. Enter your details if necessary
To do this, click on a cell, type in a number, and press the ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return key.
Step 4. Click on a blank cell
It will be selected.
Step 5. Type "=" inside the cell
It is not necessary to use the quotes. In Excel, you must type the equal sign before entering a formula.
Step 6. Enter the cell name
You must type the cell name with the value you want to subtract from the value of another cell.
For example, type "C1" to select cell number C1.
Step 7. Type - into the cell
This sign will appear right after the number entered.
Step 8. Enter the name of the other cell
You must type the name of the cell whose value you want to subtract from the first cell.
It is possible to repeat this process with multiple cells, such as "C1-A1-B2"
Step 9. Press the ↵ Enter key or ⏎ Return.
Doing so will calculate the formula typed in the cell and replace it with the result value.
You can click on it to view the original formula in the text bar directly above the line of letters
Method 2 of 3: Subtracting Within a Cell
Step 1. Open Excel
It has a green icon with an "X" inside.
Step 2. Click Blank Workbook (Windows) or Excel Workbook (Mac)
This option is on the upper left side of the "Template" window.
Step 3. Click on a cell
Unless you intend to create data using this workbook, the cell selected is not important.
Step 4. Type "=" inside the cell
It is not necessary to use the quotes. Doing so will set up the formula in the cell.
Step 5. Enter a number you want to subtract from
It will appear in the selected cell to the right of the "=" sign.
For a budget, for example, you can enter your salary in this cell
Step 6. Type - into the cell
This sign will appear right after the number entered.
If you decide to subtract multiple numbers (such as X-Y-Z), repeat this Step after each subsequent number, excluding the last one
Step 7. Enter the number you want to subtract from the first number
If you are calculating a budget, you can enter an expense in this cell
Step 8. Press the ↵ Enter key or ⏎ Return.
Doing so will calculate the formula typed in the cell and replace it with the result value.
You can click on it to view the original formula in the text bar directly above the line of letters
Method 3 of 3: Subtracting a Column
Step 1. Open Excel
It has a green icon with an "X" inside.
If you want to use an existing document, double click on it
Step 2. Click Blank Workbook (Windows) or Excel Workbook (Mac)
This option is on the upper left side of the "Template" window.
Step 3. Click on a blank cell
The cell will be selected.
Step 4. Enter the main number
This must be the number from which the rest of the column will be selected.
For example, you can enter your annual earnings
Step 5. Enter any subtraction in the cells below
To do this, enter a negative version of the number you want to subtract (for example, if you want to subtract 300, enter -300),
- Enter one subtraction per cell.
- Each number entered must be in the same column as the main number.
- For the salary example, you can type "-" followed by an expense for each box.
Step 6. Click on a blank cell
This time, the cell does not need to be in the same column as the main number.
Step 7. Type "=" inside the cell
It is not necessary to use the quotes. Doing so will set up the formula in the cell.
Step 8. Type SUM into the cell
The "SUM" command serves to add items.
There is no official subtraction command, which is why you type numbers in negative form
Step 9. Type (CellName:CellName) after SUM
This command sums the cells in a column from the value of the first cell to the value of the last one.
For example, if the cell K1 is the main number, and the last cell in the column with the data is the K10, type "(K1:K10)".
Step 10. Press the ↵ Enter key or ⏎ Return.
Doing so will run the formula in the selected cell, replacing it with the final total value.