Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 23, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Alma has a worksheet that has a column of data containing both positive and negative values. She would like to sum only the positive values in the column and is wondering if there is a way to do it.
Fortunately, Excel provides a convenient worksheet function you can use for just this purpose. Suppose, for instance, that all the values were in column A. In a different column you could enter the following formula:
=SUMIF(A:A,">0")
The SUMIF function returns a sum of all values in the range (A:A) that meet the criteria specified (>0). Any other values—those less than or equal to 0—are not included in the sum.
If you don't want to use SUMIF on an entire column, a simple modification in the range being evaluated can be made:
=SUMIF(A1:A100,">0")
Here only the range of A1:A100 is being evaluated and included in the sum.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3349) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Summing Only Positive Values.
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