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A to Z of Excel Functions: The MINA Function

16 May 2022

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

The MINA function

Is there a MINA function in Excel..?  The MINA function returns the largest value in a list of arguments.  It has the following syntax:

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

where:

  • value1 is required and represents the first number argument for which you want to find the smallest value
  • value2, ... are optional arguments.  These are numerical arguments 2 to 255 for which you want to find the smallest value.

It should be noted that:

  • arguments may be any of the following: numbers; names, arrays or references that contain numbers; text representations of numbers; logical values, such as TRUE and FALSE, in a reference
  • logical values and text representations of numbers that you type directly into the list of arguments are counted
  • if an argument is an array or reference, only values in that array or reference are used.  Empty cells and text values in the array or reference are ignored
  • arguments that are error values or text that cannot be translated into numbers cause errors
  • arguments that contain TRUE evaluate as 1; arguments that contain text or FALSE evaluate as zero (0)
  • if the arguments contain no values, MINA returns zero (0)
  • if you do not want to include logical values and text representations of numbers in a reference as part of the calculation, use the MIN function instead.

Please consider the following example:

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.

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