Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel are tools predominantly used for storing and analyzing numerical data on spreadsheets. They offer a chunk of mathematical functions and formulas to work with numbers and summarize the data. Subtraction is one of the fundamental operations used in data analysis. Hence, every user needs to know how to subtract in Google Sheets.
You can use the subtraction function to modify data if you work on graphs or trendlines in Google Sheets. If you are a beginner to Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel, this is one of the basic operations you need to start with on the road to learning the art of data analysis.
How To Subtract In Google Sheets? 3 Ways To Bookmark
There are three simple ways to execute the subtraction operation in a Google or Excel spreadsheet. Without losing more time, let’s get into the details.
How To Subtract In Google Sheets
1. Open Google sheets and select the cells.
2. Enter the subtraction formula with cell references in the function bar.
3. Next, press Enter and view the result.
These are the basic steps to carry out the subtraction in a sheet. Now, let’s look at each step in detail.
How To Subtract In Google Sheets Using Cell References
Using cell referencing is the best and the simplest way to subtract numeric values and specified numbers in a Google Sheets spreadsheet. By cell referencing, you can perform simple subtraction of numbers and calculate the difference between dates in a Google sheet.
Enter The Subtraction Formula With Cell References
To know how to subtract in Google Sheets, select the cell and enter the simple formula. The Sheets or Excel formula for the given sample sheet would be as shown below.
=B1 - A1
Here, cell A1 contains the first number, and cell B1 has the second number. The result of the calculation will show up in Column C, cell C1.
View The Result
Press Enter key to view the result of the calculation in the selected cell. Similarly, you can drag the cursor down to fill the formula in all the required cells – like cell a2, cell b2, and the result will be in cell c2.
If you want to calculate results for multiple cells, you can calculate the result for only one equation and then use the Google Sheets fill-down method to calculate the results for the remaining equations.
How To Subtract In Google Sheets Using MINUS Function
If you wish to avoid using the cell reference, here’s how to subtract in Google Sheets with the MINUS function.
Enter The MINUS Function
To begin with, enter the MINUS function in the selected cell. This is how the syntax of the function looks like.
=MINUS(value1,value2)
Here, the values can be either direct numbers, dates, or cell references of numbers or dates.
In the following example, we have considered the cell references of the two numbers in the MINUS function.
=MINUS(B1,A1)
View The Result
Press the Enter key to view the result.
If you calculate the result for a series of cells, you can calculate the result in one cell and then drag it through the entire column to get results for the remaining cells.
How To Subtract A Range Of Cells From A Value
You can also carry out complex subtractions using the first method we saw previously. However, you need to form the proper equation and then enter it into the cell.
Enter The Formula
First and foremost, formulate the Google Sheets function and enter it into the cell or the formula bar.
The formula would be as given below.
=A1-SUM(A2:A6)
View The Result
Press the Enter key and view the result.
As an alternative, you can also subtract numbers directly in individual cells, as shown below. In short, you can use the Google spreadsheet like a standard calculator in this method.
That’s everything about using the subtraction operation in Google Sheets. You can opt for any of these methods as per your requirements.
How To Subtract Values In Multiple Worksheets
If the numbers you want to subtract don’t exist in the same worksheet, you can use a simple Google Sheets formula to subtract these numbers in multiple cells by referring to the sheets.
Enter The Formula
First and foremost, select the sheet and the cell in which you want to enter the formula.
In this example, we have the number ‘21’ in cell A1 of Sheet5 and ‘15’ in cell A1 of Sheet6.
The formula for calculations in multiple sheets will look as given below. ‘Sheet5!’ is known as the Sheet ID.
=Sheet5!A1 - Sheet6!A1
View The Result
Press the Enter key to view the result.
That’s all about how to subtract in Google Sheets. You can use any of these formulas, provided they fulfill your requirements. You can also use the subtraction function in the array formula function to calculate results for multiple equations.
Conclusion
Subtraction is one of the most basic operations when it comes to number-crunching in Google Sheets. It belongs to a set of core operations that is mandatory for any user to know if they wish to work with numerical data in Google Sheets.
Regarding how to subtract in Google Sheets, there are three methods you can opt for based on your convenience. You can either use cell referencing or the MINUS function to subtract data. You can also enter your numbers directly in the subtraction syntax in a cell and obtain the result.