I am trying to write an average formula that takes into account the blank
cells.

I had only cells A2, A4, A6 filled out, but when I do =average(A1:A6), it is
not treating the blanks as zeros so the answer is much higher than it should
be.

Should I do a logic formula within the cells?

1. In a new column, say column B, enter the following formula in cell B1: =IF(ISBLANK(A1),0,A1)
2. Drag the formula down to fill the rest of the cells in column B.
3. Now, use the AVERAGE function on the range B1:B6 instead of A1:A6. This will treat the blank cells as zeros and give you the correct average.

Alternatively, you can use the AVERAGEIF function to achieve the same result without having to create a new column:

1. Use the following formula: =AVERAGEIF(A1:A6,"<")
2. This formula will only consider cells that are not blank in the range A1:A6 and treat the blank cells as zeros.

If you know the range, you could do the division yourself:

=sum(a1:a6)/6

But this would include other non-numeric cells in the count of cells (6), too.



krwelling wrote:

I am trying to write an average formula that takes into account the blank
cells.

I had only cells A2, A4, A6 filled out, but when I do =average(A1:A6), it is
not treating the blanks as zeros so the answer is much higher than it should
be.

Should I do a logic formula within the cells?

--

Dave Peterson

=AVERAGE(IF($A$2:$A$6<0,$A$2:$A$6)) AND HIT Ctrl+Shift+Enter to enter the
array formula.


"krwelling" wrote:

I am trying to write an average formula that takes into account the blank
cells.

I had only cells A2, A4, A6 filled out, but when I do =average(A1:A6), it is
not treating the blanks as zeros so the answer is much higher than it should
be.

Should I do a logic formula within the cells?

=AVERAGE(IF($A$2:$A$6<0,$A$2:$A$6))

I think the OP wants to include empty cells and evaluate them as numeric 0.

Try one of these this array formulas** .

This one assumes the range contains numbers or empty cells only. No TEXT, no
formula blanks "".

=AVERAGE(IF(A2:A6,A2:A6,A2:A6))

This one will account for (ignore) TEXT but will evaluate blank/empty cells
as numeric 0.

=AVERAGE(IF(ISNUMBER(A2:A6),A2:A6,IF(A2:A6="",0)))

** array formulas need to be entered using the key combination of
CTRL,SHIFT,ENTER (not just ENTER). Hold down both the CTRL key and the SHIFT
key then hit ENTER.

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"Nadine" wrote in message
...
=AVERAGE(IF($A$2:$A$6<0,$A$2:$A$6)) AND HIT Ctrl+Shift+Enter to enter the
array formula.


"krwelling" wrote:

I am trying to write an average formula that takes into account the blank
cells.

I had only cells A2, A4, A6 filled out, but when I do =average(A1:A6), it
is
not treating the blanks as zeros so the answer is much higher than it
should
be.

Should I do a logic formula within the cells?

Or, it might be as simple as:

=SUM(A2:A6)/ROWS(A2:A6)

We'd need more details as to what the possible entries are in the range.

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"T. Valko" wrote in message
...
=AVERAGE(IF($A$2:$A$6<0,$A$2:$A$6))

I think the OP wants to include empty cells and evaluate them as numeric
0.

Try one of these this array formulas** .

This one assumes the range contains numbers or empty cells only. No TEXT,
no formula blanks "".

=AVERAGE(IF(A2:A6,A2:A6,A2:A6))

This one will account for (ignore) TEXT but will evaluate blank/empty
cells as numeric 0.

=AVERAGE(IF(ISNUMBER(A2:A6),A2:A6,IF(A2:A6="",0)))

** array formulas need to be entered using the key combination of
CTRL,SHIFT,ENTER (not just ENTER). Hold down both the CTRL key and the
SHIFT key then hit ENTER.

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"Nadine" wrote in message
...
=AVERAGE(IF($A$2:$A$6<0,$A$2:$A$6)) AND HIT Ctrl+Shift+Enter to enter
the
array formula.


"krwelling" wrote:

I am trying to write an average formula that takes into account the
blank
cells.

I had only cells A2, A4, A6 filled out, but when I do =average(A1:A6),
it is
not treating the blanks as zeros so the answer is much higher than it
should
be.

Should I do a logic formula within the cells?