Auto Calculate is an Excel feature that lets you see the results of some basic calculations without having to enter a formula or function. This can be used for quick calculations that you don’t want to enter into the worksheet, or even for troubleshooting simple formula errors. (Is my formula result the same as the Auto Calculate result?)

To use auto-calculate, just select a range of cells with some numerical data in it.

You can see the sum of your selection in the status bar at the bottom of the Excel screen.

If you right click on the status bar, you will see a menu of auto calculate options.

You can now place a check mark next to the operation you want auto calculate to perform on a range you select.

You can find the minimum or maximum of a selection by using Min and Max. You can get a count on the number of cells that you have selected by checking the Count option, or you can get a count of the number of cells in your selection that contain numbers by checking the Count Nums option. The Sum and Average options will calculate the sum or average of your selection respectively. Finally if you put a check by the None option, no calculations will be performed.

You can also use the auto calculate feature with nonadjacent ranges or cell selections. This is a topic that will be explored further in the practice exercise.