Blog · AVERAGE

AVERAGE for Beginners — Step by Step

Beginner-friendly tutorial for AVERAGE in Google Sheets.

What is AVERAGE?

Returns the numerical average value in a dataset, ignoring text.

Syntax

AVERAGE(value1, [value2, ...])

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Understand the arguments — AVERAGE requires specific inputs. Review the syntax above and make sure you understand each argument.
2. Set up your data — Organize your data with clear headers and consistent formatting before applying the formula.
3. Write the formula — Start typing =AVERAGE( in any cell and Google Sheets will show you the argument hints.
4. Test with sample data — Verify the output matches your expectations before applying to your full dataset.
5. Handle errors — Wrap in IFERROR() to gracefully handle edge cases: =IFERROR(AVERAGE(...), "N/A")

Expert Tips

Ignores empty cells but treats 0 as a value. Use AVERAGEIF to exclude zeros.

Related Functions

Check out our complete formula reference for more Google Sheets functions.

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