Calculating an average is one of the basic equations you might need in your spreadsheet. Google Sheets offers a few different ways to average numbers or cells.
You may use Google Sheets to keep track of grades for your students or sales for your company. When you want to get an average of a group of cells, specific numbers, or a combination of both, you have options to pick the best method for you. Let’s take a look.
View a Quick Average
Google Sheets provides a few calculations that you can view at a glance. If you don’t want to add the average of your cells to your sheet, but simply see it, this is ideal.
RELATED: How to See Basic Calculations Without Formulas in Google Sheets
Select the cells containing the numbers you want to average. Then, look down on the bottom right corner of Google Sheets. You’ll see a box containing a basic calculation, likely Sum.
Click the arrow to display the other options and you’ll see the average.
If you plan to adjust your numbers or view the average for another set of cells, you can select the average to keep it displayed in the box.
Use the Functions Button
If you want to add the average to your sheet, you can do this using the Functions button in the toolbar.
RELATED: How to Calculate Average in Microsoft Excel
Select the cells containing the numbers that you want to average. Click the arrow next to the Functions button to view the available calculations and pick “Average.”
You’ll the temporary spot for the function which is at the bottom of a column or furthest right of a row. Confirm that the range selected is correct in the formula and press Enter or Return.
The average formula is then added to the cell for you.
Enter the Function Manually
Maybe you want to get an average of nonadjacent cells, numbers, or a combination of cells and numbers. In this case, entering the AVERAGE function manually is your best bet. This gives you the flexibility to add what you need to the formula.
RELATED: 9 Basic Google Sheets Functions You Should Know
The syntax for the function in Google Sheets is AVERAGE(value1, value2,...) where value1 is required and value2 is optional.
Select the cell where you want to display the average. For this first example, we’re going to average two nonadjacent groups of cells, B2 through B12 and E2 through E12. You would enter the following formula replacing the cell references with your own.
=AVERAGE(B2:B12,E2:E12)
If the numbers you want to average do not exist within cells, you can simply enter those numbers into the formula to obtain their average.
=AVERAGE(5,10,15,20,100,120)
You can also combine cells and numbers in the formula. Here we’ll average numbers 10 and 15, the cell range B2 through B12, and cell E12 using the following.
=AVERAGE(10,15,B2:B12,E12)
With different options to calculate an average in Google Sheets, you can pick the one that best fits your needs.
Be sure to take a look at how to multiply numbers in Google Sheets or how to use the MEDIAN function too.
