A to Z of Excel Functions: The MAXIFS Function

Welcome back to our regular A to Z of Excel Functions blog. Today we look at the MAXIFS function.

The MAXIFS function

The MAXIFS function returns the maximum value among cells specified by a given set of conditions or criteria. It has the following syntax:

MAXIFS(max_range, criterion_range1, criterion1, [criterion_range2, criterion2], ...)

where:

• max_range is the actual range of cells in which the maximum is to be determined
• criterion_range1 is the set of cells to evaluate with the criterion specified
• criterion1 is the criterion in the form of a number, expression or text that defines which cells will be evaluated as a maximum
• criterion_range2 (onwards) and criterion2 (onwards) are the additional ranges and their associated criteria. 126 range / criterion pairs may be specified. All ranges must have the same dimensions otherwise the function returns an #VALUE! error.

It should be noted that:

• the size and shape of the max_range and criteria_rangeN arguments must be the same, otherwise these functions return the #VALUE! error.

As an example:

This example is preferable to its standard Excel counterpart:

Array formulae are cumbersome and not readily understood, which is why MAXIFS may be a highly viable alternative.

We’ll continue our A to Z of Excel Functions soon.  Keep checking back – there’s a new blog post every business day.

A full page of the function articles can be found here.