Comments on: MAX function in Excel: formula examples to find and highlight highest value

MAX is one of the most straightforward and easy-to-use Excel functions. However, it does have a couple of tricks knowing which will give you a big advantage. Continue reading →

Comments page 2. Total comments: 99

  1. I'm trying to calculate my students' grades. They take 4 exams. The highest (max) is weighted a bit more than the other 3. So, I'd like to create a function to identify the max of the 4 #s, multiply it by .2, and then take the other 3 #s and multiply each by .15, and then add them all together. I appreciate your help!

    1. Hi!
      If I understood you correctly, determine the maximum value using the MAX function and subtract it from the total grades.

      =MAX(A1:A4)*0.2+(SUM(A1:A4)-MAX(A1:A4))*0.15

  2. Hello Everyone,

    How to automatically find the amount using the cut-off date?
    just so happened no dates for 01/31/2021, instead, the date before that could be taken
    Result must be 700.00

    Cut-off Date: 01/31/2021
    Amount: ?

    Date Amount
    12/31/2020 1,000.00
    12/31/2020 700.00 (this must be the result)
    02/28/2021 900.00
    04/14/2021 800.00
    04/30/2021 1,200.00
    05/14/2021 500.00
    06/30/2021 600.00

    I cannot find the right formula, pls help me do it correctly.
    thank you very much.

  3. I have cell address written in text. Would like to know how to find the max value from the defined addresses.
    Example:
    Cell A1 input text as $C$56
    Cell A2 input text as $C$12356
    Would like to find max($C$56:$C$12356)

    Instead of selecting the cell range manually, the formula should success based on the text input in A1 & A2.

    1. got the solution. Using indirect().
      Max(indirect(A1):indirect(A2))

  4. Hello!

    In one of the data's column (let's say it's "A") I have DATE information (formatted like this: 03/14/01) and in the other column (let's say "B") I have PERCENTAGE value that changes based on some other data. Now, what I'd like to obtain is to have a MAXIMUM value of the PERCENTAGE column based on any given MONTH (January, February, March and so on). For example: what is the maximum percentage value for a month of January or February or March, etc..?
    Can someone please help me with a formula here?

    Thank you,
    Julia

  5. Hi,
    I am trying to return the Highest value from the below row considering the condition if A>B>C>D. The formula should return the highest value meeting the condition.

    A Approved
    B Approved with Comments
    C Resubmit
    D Rejected

    A>B>C>D

    D D C C C B B B A A "=FORMULA"

    1. Hello!
      If your values are written in separate cells, then you can extract the desired letter using the INDEX + MATCH formula:

      =INDEX(B2:K2,MATCH(MIN( MATCH(B2:K2,{"A","B","C","D","E","F","G","H","I","K","L","M", "N","O","P","Q","R","S","T","U","V","X","Y","Z"},0)), MATCH(B2:K2,{"A","B","C","D","E","F","G","H","I","K","L","M", "N","O","P","Q","R","S","T","U","V","X","Y","Z"},0),0))

      1. Hi,
        I got the solution by below formula:-

        =IFERROR(CHAR(MIN(CODE("A"),CODE("B"),CODE("C"),CODE("D")),"")

        Thanks for your help .

  6. I have a spreadsheet that calculates used/monthly accrued vacation time based on hours and minutes.
    Example: Hours/Minutes total for May shows 150:10 (the formula used to arrive at this figure is =SUM(F6-B7+E7). I need to add or edit this formula to tell it to max out and never exceed an accrual of more than 283:30. I tried =MAX(F36-B37+E37,&TIME(“283:30,0,0”), but that was not successful. Do you have any suggestions?

    1. Hello!
      With the TIME function, you cannot set the time for more than 24 hours. Convert your time to days with this formula
      =283.5/24
      If I understand your task correctly, use MIN function and try the following formula:

      =MIN(F36-B37+E37,283.5/24)

      1. That worked! Thank you.

  7. Can I use the MAX formula on a cell range that uses IF formula's to display a number?

    Ex.
    2 Mild ("2" is displayed using [=IF('Severity Rating'.I3="Yes";"2";"0")])
    3 Moderate ("3" is displayed using [=IF('Severity Rating'.I4="Yes";"3";"0")])
    4 Severe ("4" is displayed using [=IF('Severity Rating'.I5="Yes";"4";"0")])

    I want to create a function to identify the max number (4 in this case) and sum all the severity ratings in each category (the above is just one category). The IF formula identifies if Mild, Moderate, or Severe ratings were indicated by the client, but I don't want to add all of them, as that would be inaccurate. There are 5 separate categories with 20 being the highest score possible. I only want to sum the highest number displayed in each category.

    Hope that makes sense! Thanks for any help you can offer!

    - Catinreno

      1. Except apparently that won't work in open office Calc. Any other options?

  8. Heya! I'm trying to create a football playoff scores tracker/spreadhseet, and I want to answer the following question: 'Out of this column of scores, what is the highest score?' Except, I need it to return the team name (adjacent to the cell containing their score), not just the highest number. I grasp how to use the max function for this, just not sure how to extend it to return a different field.

    Thanks!

      1. Can you please be more specific on this. where to use that formula?
        I have a sheet to record performance. So names, in column A, then figures for each day of the week in B to F. I've got the highest values for each row selected in column L, but now i Struggle to sort them in order, so names and the highest values respectively, in highest to lowest order?

  9. Hi, I am trying to find the max value in cells containing letters in the beginning and numbers aftewards. i.e AB22002, CC22021, CB22003. Can I get the max of the numbers only. I am trying to avoid to have to split them in different cells.
    Thanks,
    Tony

  10. Hello! How to find the highest number using the IF condition?

  11. Hello,
    I would like to count the the latest date in each row (spanning columns B through F) that are equal to or less than another date in a separate row (Column A). I though maybe the Max feature might be helpful. Am a bit frustrated. What I am trying to do is retroactively count (based on a specific date in Column A) the number of students that had attained various levels of academic achievement (signified by Levels 3,4,5 etc) by that date is Column A.

    1. Hello!
      To conditionally count, use the COUNTIF or COUNTIFS function. You can find examples and detailed instructions in this article. I hope I answered your question. If this is not what you wanted, please describe the problem in more detail.

  12. how to find a maximum items?
    like in your example here I want to get the highest cost fruit if it is grapes,lemon, apple
    I want a function that writes a word (which is items in your example) not a number.

    thank you!

    1. Hello!
      To select the product with the maximum price from the list, use the INDEX+MATCH functions

      =INDEX(B3:B8,MATCH(TRUE,$C$3:$C$8=MAX($C$3:$C$8),0))

      I hope I answered your question. If something is still unclear, please feel free to ask.

  13. Is it possible to do an index match lookup between 2 tables and also find the highest value? The index match + max formulas I am finding all seem to be for within a single table.

    For example, if you have a list of cities and hotel prices at different times of the year in one table.
    Then in another table, you have a list of cities, with columns for different values and you want to pull in the highest hotel price from the other table. Is that possible with any kind of lookup?

  14. I have a customer list with three columns representing stage1, stage2 and stage3. some customers have balance only in one stage while others have balance in two stages. I want to find out the stage with maximum balance for each customer. how to find the same.
    Customer STAGE1 STAGE2 STAGE3 Result I want
    ABC 100 400 STAGE3
    DEF 3000 2000 STAGE1
    MNO 5000 50 STAGE2
    KPL 250 STAGE1
    GHI -250 STAGE2

    How can I find the result with a formula for larger amount of data

    1. Hello!
      The formula below will do the trick for you:

      =INDEX($B$1:$D$1,MATCH(MAX(B2:D2),B2:D2,0))

      You can learn more about searching with INDEX + MATCH in Excel in this article on our blog.

  15. I have 2 columns of values, i have conditionally formatted each to show top 20%. I want ones that are in the top 20% of each category to be highlighted in another colour. e.g top 20% in column A Green, top 20% in column B Green. In top 20% in A and B Blue.

    Any assistance is appreciated

    Thanks,
    Luke

  16. After I find the MAX value, do I use a CONCATENATE formula to show which is the highest value? Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you.

  17. i have in
    column A: 34,34,34,33,33,33,35,35.
    column B: 3,2,1,5,4,3,2,2,1

    what function i can use to gate max value of B compare to A: 34,33,35 for each
    like in column C: 3,nil,nil,5,nil,nil,2,nil.

  18. Hi,

    Could you please help me out on how to calculate max time from an array of 3 time stamps of 3 systems placed horizontal in range? How can I get the system names too after I try the formula or it can directly show system names that has highest time? How can I use maxifs with criteria range?

    System 1, 00:30:23
    System 2, 00:57:20
    System 3, 00:11:05

    1. Hello!
      If I understand your task correctly, the following formula should work for you:

      =INDEX(A1:A10,MATCH(MAX(B1:B10),B1:B10,0))

      1. Hi,

        The 3 time stamps are placed horizontal on a row.

        A. B. C
        00:30:23. 00:57:20 00:11:05

        How can I get max value from the columns A,B,C with names system 1, system2 and systems 3 respectively in formula? Please help me out on this.

  19. Hello,

    Does anyone know how to apply this function with data that is not in a consecutive range?

    Instead of a range like B5:G5, my data is B5,D5,F5,

    Can anyone help?

    Thanks!

  20. Hi,
    I have a data sheet that I need to extract information from, in one column I have the NAMES of persons, in another I have either "yes" or "no" answers for each person.
    I'd like to extract everyone's name who answered "yes" into either one cell, separated by commas, or each into a vertical list.

  21. Hi, I am involved in stock trading and i have my trading records in Excel; ie bunch of profits and losses.

    My question is, how do i find the lowest and highest profit and loss that i make in my records?

    =MAX(IFERROR(P23:P79, "")) + CTRL + Shift + Enter only return highest profit, while
    =MIN(IFERROR(P23:P79, "")) + CTRL + Shift + Enter returns highest loss.

    How do i find lowest profit and lowest loss? Where can i fit the criteria "0" ?

    Do note that i have multiple blanks (intentionally left) and #DIV/0! (formula i keyed in in advance for future trading but i havent filled in respective fields)

    Thank you in advance. God bless and have a nice day.

  22. hello
    Can I get help to write a formula that will highlight the lowest price for an article that repeats in several rows. If that article only shows once then that price would be highlighted too. for example only the first line would be highlighted.

    article 1 300
    article 1 548
    article 1 2500

    Thank you for your help

    1. Hello!
      I recommend using the FILTER function to find the article you are looking for. Find the minimum price using the MAXIFS function.

      =FILTER(A1:B8,(A1:A8="article 1")*(B1:B8=MINIFS(B1:B8,A1:A8,A1:A8)))

      I hope my advice will help you solve your task.

  23. I'm struggling with this a bit.
    My challenge is that I've got a list of results in a column, and want to identify the largest value in that column and then add a bonus prize in the next column for the largest row value.

    I would describe it BADLY as:
    in the column next to the data: +IF("the data in this cell is greater than the cells in rh column, give me A point" otherwise 0)
    Does that make sense?

    thanks

    1. Hello!
      In the next column, you can write the formula

      =IF(MAX($A$1:$A$30)=A1,100,"")

      After that you can copy this formula down along the column.
      Hope this is what you need.

  24. I am trying to find a formula that returns for example to find which State had the highest sales for a specific month. Column A is the State and Column B is the sales for the specific month. Does anyone know a formula for this? Thanks.

      1. Well if my range is - A2:D10 and I need to find the highest value with the name the person

      2. Thanks it worked.

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