Let’s take a look. Again, we have a simple worksheet with several highlighted cell references. Following the instructions in the table, let’s build formulas that use subtraction. The first two examples don’t require cell references and can be input directly. Don’t forget to add the equals sign: = 11 - 6 = 31 - 13 The next example is D6 minus F7. As expected, we get thirteen as the answer. In the last example we have H8 minus H11. Notice that we get 27, since subtracting a negative number is the same as adding it. No special formatting is required. As before, we can check that we entered cell references correctly by selecting the cell that contains our formula and using the F2 key. Like addition, you could receive a VALUE error if any of the cells you are adding contain text. Blank values do not cause an error, because Excel evaluates them as “0.”
Dave Bruns
Hi - I’m Dave Bruns, and I run Exceljet with my wife, Lisa. Our goal is to help you work faster in Excel. We create short videos, and clear examples of formulas, functions, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and charts.
