Excel has thousands of formulas and functions that you can use to work with your data. But chances are, you’ll find yourself using only a few of these over and over. Instead of typing in or searching for functions, Excel stores your most recently used functions in one, easy-to-access menu. This saves you precious time. Let’s learn how to use Recently Used Functions in Microsoft Excel.
How to Use Recently Used Functions in Excel
Let’s face it: many of us use the same functions again and again. Common functions include SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, and more. But no matter what functions you use, Excel logs those that you’ve used most recently. It doesn’t make a difference if they’re common or extremely specific, esoteric functions. This Excel feature works for you.
For example, imagine that you use Excel’s COUNT function on a daily basis. You have a row of numbers and want to quickly count them. Instead of typing in the COUNT function, or finding it on the menu, you can simply insert it using Excel’s Recently Used feature.
To get started, click into the cell where you want to place your function. In this example, that’s cell E3. Then, go to the Formulas tab. You’ll find this on Excel’s ribbon. Go ahead and click to open it up.
You’ll see a plethora of options on the Formulas tab. The one you’re looking for is the Recently Used dropdown, found on the left side of the Formulas tab. Click on its dropdown arrow to see a list of frequently and recently used Excel functions.
Excel shows the top-10 most recently used functions. Again, these are customized to you. You’re looking for the COUNT function, so go ahead and click on it.
Excel will insert the function formula into your selected cell. When you’re finished, hit Enter on your keyboard. Excel returns your count: 4.
As you can see, the Recently Used Functions feature in Excel is a quick and easy way to build formulas quickly, based on your favorite functions.
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